New set of tie rod ends dead in under 5k

[Jadu108]

Title is the summary, and the TLDR question is, is this just shit duralast parts being shit duralast parts, or is this a pattern that will repeat regardless of brand... Details and specifics below. Feel free to ask questions and any advice is helpful...

 

As some of you may know, I was given this strong but beat up stallion of a 95 wagon. And ive been having to do a lot of replacing of stuff in the steering/suspension/ and braking departments.

Among these were of course the Tie rod ends(the old ones were dead and i was alrdy replacing the rack and inner tie rods).

So after 3k miles, somewhere on the hell that is the i75 in Georgia outside of Macon, my caliper bolt fell out, and while investigating that, i discovered lo and behold my driver side new tie rod was completely dead... I mean it was barely holding on i mean BARELY holding on. Whatever. I have a spare, was close enough to a friends house, got it over there put the spare on and continued on my journey.

Okay. Now between Macon GA, and Topeka KS(where im at now at another friends house, thank the lord for friends)... I discover my other new tie rod is biting the dust, not as bad as the other one, but i can still twist it by hand and wiggle it in the joint by hand...

Okay. Cool. 2 tie rods dead in under 5k, i now i do not have a spare... And i we just did an alignment....UUUUUHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG.

Im getting ready to throw on the warranty replacements but im actually pretty curious if there may be a reason why they failed in under 5k that is related to a greater issue in the car... Or if its because duralast crap is well... Crap.

Thanks guys.

[Brighton96]

Those style ball joints that you find in tie rods and sway bar links are just a metal ball in a plastic socket. I've seen the plastic get brittle and break just from an assumed long time of sitting on a parts shelf. But if it's actually a production defect then there's virtually no way you had two of them back to back like that. I have worked for a different auto parts retailer for like 7 years at this point and I've never seen the same part fail so quickly and when there IS a manufacturing defect then we have to send back all the defective unsold parts. So in short, I think those particular parts are cheap quality or are old stock. I wouldn't put the warranty units back on, I'd rather return defective vs defective exchange. And then go get a different brand part.

[doublechaz]

I think the only way the car could kill those new parts is if you had a front end vibration so bad you would hardly be able to stay in your lane, or if you were driving rally speed without the use of a road.

 

If you didn't win the 'first in a bad manufacturing batch of parts' lottery then abused in stock or counterfeit parts.

 

FWIW, a few weeks ago I went much slower than rally speed without the use of a road and didn't hurt my tie rods or ball joints. I did take out the oil pan and a tire once it got dark out. Lesson: no rally driving without rally lighting.

[08SpecB_DE]

Tie-rods are meant to pivot being they are a ball in socket design. If you Jack up the front end and grab the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock, is there play? If not, your tie-rods are fine. If this is what you meant to begin with, are the duralast greaseable? If not, find some that are and install them.

[Jadu108]

Tie-rods are meant to pivot being they are a ball in socket design. If you Jack up the front end and grab the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock, is there play? If not, your tie-rods are fine. If this is what you meant to begin with, are the duralast greaseable? If not, find some that are and install them.

 

They were mush. Sneezing at the wheel gave me play in the tie rods lol.

I decided to follow the first commenters advice and out of the box i could tell a difference from when the last set was new.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the input!