Technical Speedway tie rod end quality

Does anyone have experience with these tie rod ends? I'm considering using them to build a traditional 4 bar front end like the Kookie Kar or Lightning Bug runs. Just curious what your thoughts are concerning quality of the joints.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/1948-52-Ford-Truck-Inner-and-Outer-Tie-Rod-Kit,379634.htm

 

$10 for a tie rod? REALLY ! Think about it CHINESE for that price, Get the thread size you need and buy MOOG at your local parts store.. you will have a warranty atleast also.

 

What he said^^^^
That's what I did. NAPA.

 

I was kinda thinking the same thing. Thanks

 

I agree totally, what kind of quality do you get in a $10 tie rod end? Cheap is very seldom better. Go Moog and get a quality product.

 

https://www.suspension.com/blog/where-are-moog-parts-made/

 

I think most of us know that they aren’t always made in the USA, however their quality standards are still used. At $10 quality standards are in serious doubt.

 

I double this.. how good is the steel @$10 FULL RETAIL price

 

I see I can get Moog ES416 for about $17 each on Rock Auto. I may bump up to the ES150 3/4 thread ones for my radius rods anyway. They're about the same price.

Didn't mean to start a fight about this. I'm usually all about buying the best quality either US made or NOS but just trying to figure out what is the most cost effective way to go. To do the radius rods I'll need 8 tie rod ends and then there are 4 for the steering.

I think that I'll end up buying 4130 tubing for the radius rods.

 

4130 moly tubing would be a great idea for the radius rods!

 

I get an error with your link but I used 20 of their chrome tie rod ends all over the Mysterion clone. Also used them on my Willys front end tie rod & drag link as I recall. Been 25 years ago!! Show quality chrome and they seem really high quality. Anyone have stats on how many catastrophic accidents have been blamed on Speedway tie rod ends over the years?

 

just more of the buy 'merican BS anti-speedway stuff with no facts to back it up

 

Doesn't matter if the part was at fault, it'd still get the blame anyway. Prejudices are hard to overcome.

 

no fight being looked at... it all good, Just something to ponder on.

 

I have many purchases from speedway... Just NOT a critical steering part that is $10 retail and no warranty.

 

I buy from Speedway all the time. Including some cheap tie rod ends about 15 years ago when I put together my car. But, about 7,000 miles later I could twist the tie rod back and forth with no effort, very loose. I replaced with new Moog parts and could feel a difference in the steering immediately.

 

If the Chinese can't make a quality part, why in the hell is the USA, along with the rest of the world, worried about their nuclear weapons program. Pretty sure they're not using 'made in America' parts.....

 

Had Speedway tie rod ends on my truck and with very few miles of use they failed a NSRA safety inspection. When I questioned the inspector he said that they had seen several other almost new rod ends that were bad. Switched to Moog and so far so good.

 

The Chinese can make quality parts as long as the buyer is willing to pay for it. The cheap end of it comes mostly from the consumers of said parts.

 

Did they use 4 bar front ends on those? only pics I could come up with were hidden behind the exhaust.

 

Not according to the HAMB. Here, all the Chinese can make are shitty parts. Just ask 'em….

 

I doubt their Chinese made part is any better than the Speedway made part. Looks like you can at least go to the local retailer and search through the boxes for a US made one. (Or Germany)

But that opens a can of worms that this site really isn't about.

 

Used them on about 10 model A builds and never had a problem....

 

Here're some of Ivo's, Grabowski's, and Von Franco's clone.

 

I have a friend that used a MII kit from Speedway on his 50 Chevy pickup. Not to many miles the upper ball joint broke when he was turning into the motel, luckily. Had he been going down the highway, it wouldn't have had a good outcome. I will never buy stuff like that from Speedway and they are only a couple miles from my house.

 

I once heard it said "If you've got a $10 head, buy a ten dollar helmet"

Thinking kind of the same thing here. Brakes and steering are absolutely not the place to save money.

 

Spent a bunch of money with speedway in 30 years, never had an issue with anything I've bought from them, but there's always that chance, kinda like walking across the street. But i do service and grease my junk quite often. Not a fan of the grease they put this stuff together with. That said, I've bought moog parts before that didn't hold up well either. It's all aftermarket.

 

I don't think buying from Speedy 25 years ago is comparable to buying from Speedway today. Just my personal opinion. They seem to have gone down hill quickly. I won't skimp on suspension parts, I just spent $275.00 for ball joints for my jeep. China ones are about $40.00 for the set.

 

I'll jump in on this as I do get to see some of their stuff especially during the summer months...

First off the Chinese can build good stuff if the contractor wants to pay for that quality.... The problem lies in the fact that most u.s. contractors don't want to pay for that quality they just want a cheap ass product to throw on the market to compete with other low quality parts...


Second, I get to see lots of cheap parts from all different vendors, speedway, rock auto, etc. And there is a difference. Sure you can build a car with them that see's 100 to 150 miles a year on it and brag how great the parts are after 5 year but put it on your daily driver, give it 5000 miles then check it out.

The ball joints in most of the mk2 front end kits are junk, cheap Chinese junk. We have cars come in with under 500 miles with these kits installed and it's usually 1 of 2 reasons, 1- car squeaks turning or thru dips, 2- popping noise in the front end. They tell use its a new mk2 kit and we pretty much know right off its the junk ball joints.

There are things that I have used that are Chinese and have no problem using them but suspension parts is not 1 of them. Again I replace numerous b. Joints every year that are cheap replacements. And at least 2 or 3 b.joint sets from cheap rock auto kits a year.

 

The issue with the whole parts made in china deal is pretty simple. Nobody buys or manufactures goods from china because they are seeking the "best". It is almost without exception a cost cutting measure. Do they squeek out something decent here and again? Of course they do, but knowing what not to buy is the question.