I've got to replace a tie rod end this weekend; any reason to go with the $84 OEM over the $32 Pepboys part?

 

Any responses from owners not currently on Thorazine?

 

Oh God!! I busted out laughing when I read that

I'd save the money, buy some beer to drink whilst installing tie-rod end. Tom

 

i would personally go with the oem part to be safe. i'm not sure how the generic part compares but it could save some headaches in the future for a mere $50 difference

 

The OEM tie rod ends are more like $35 each. I just replaced mine a few months back.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. I got the $80 quote from one dealership for OEM, but maybe I'll do some more calling around tomorrow to see if I can find a lower price. Rotary-tt--did you get that part from a dealership?


I'd spend the extra $50 if I thought I would notice a difference in the steering response, but I don't think the ball joint is going to change anything. I don't see aftermarket tie ends, so I figure I'll go with the 'boys.

 

I got them from my local Mazda dealer but I get a discount. MazdaFormance is a Mazda dealer so you might get a good price from them. Since you are in MD why don't you go to Malloy Mazda and tell them you belong to the Mazda Sports Club of DC http://www.mscw.com/ . You'll get a pretty good discount that way.

 

BTW, the PepBoys tie rod end seems to work just fine. I'll remember the Malloy discount for future work. Thanks!

 

Cool, I'll keep that in mind for future use. Nice to hear the end results. Take care, Tom