Tf outer tie rod ends quality? - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

e30gangsta · 08-04-2014, 08:02 AM

Hey guys I am looking into upgrading my inner and outer tie rods. The car at the moment is still on the stock front suspension setup besides coils. I purchased the gk bolt up RC correction knuckle, along with their steering rack spacer that I will run in the future, but for now I need a new inners and outers before sending the car off to get aligned.

I am looking at these and I am wondering if anyone can comment on the quality?

http://www.tf-works.com/nissan-240sx...r-tie-rod-set/

The inners are made by peak and the outers by TF apparently.

I am just trying to see if any has ever used this product and if so what is the quality? I have search and I haven’t been able to find a review of these.

I am trying to stay away from circuit sports, Megan etc. due to all the bad reviews of those.

Thanks for your time.

- G

Kaifd3s · 08-04-2014, 01:33 PM

Ive heard mixed reviews on em. For the price, they are not that bad.

BTW, its Ali

e30gangsta · 08-04-2014, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaifd3s

Ive heard mixed reviews on em. For the price, they are not that bad.

BTW, its Ali

Figures the 787B kind of gives it away. I just dont want to spend $350 on inners and outters when I might have to change them in the future. ( z33/s32 inners with spl outters )

Kaifd3s · 08-04-2014, 01:56 PM

Honestly, I have the Tien inners and outers. I have never had a problem with them, and when I was changing my wheel bearings the other day everything was still tight. I have had them on the car since 08' I believe.

But then again, I am not super "slammed". I would do the TF ones if mine were to go out. For the price point, if I get 5+ years out of them it was money well spent. Plus TF has great customer service, and products IMO. SPL is badass tho...

ayuaddict · 08-04-2014, 02:10 PM

SPL has never given me any issues regardless of how much i didnt ever clean them or how much abrupt force was applied to them on multiple cars.

niGht_kraWler · 08-04-2014, 07:21 PM

They are fine if youre not slammed or if its just on your daily. If you drift or road race, SPL is the way to go. Worth every penny.

xoxide · 08-04-2014, 07:54 PM

For an extra $50 you can purchase a set of PBM Inner Tie Rods (Which will never break), and a set of Abercrombie Motorsport Outers....

This is the setup ive been abusing for awhile now and have been extremely happy with them.

fondandkit · 08-04-2014, 08:23 PM

SPL has never given me any issues regardless of how much i didnt ever clean them or how much abrupt force was applied to them on multiple cars.

Matej · 08-04-2014, 08:52 PM

Get 1988-1994 Maxima outer tie rods.

SwissPatriotRG · 10-08-2014, 09:41 AM

I hope I'm not too late here. I ordered a set of TF tie rods that had Tein inners and the TF branded outers on them. The inners are nice, the outers are pure garbage. This is my situation right now:

I put the tie rods on the car and my mechanic buddy takes the car to his shop to align it. He notices one of the tie rods has some play in it already. I sent a message to TF noting the problem and they agree to ship me a new rod end for the joint. Upon arrival, I decided to take the rubber boot off to see what kind of joint they were using, as I was promised a high quality Japanese rod end.

Here is an album with lots of pictures and descriptions for the curious. Proof that they're selling cheap (probably Chinese) junk, not what they describe.

I ended up ordering a pair of M14x2 teflon rod lined rod ends from Midwest Control Products (USA made) to replace this bullshit because I don't trust them on the car.

Should I make a thread somewhere more visible here?

beems240sx · 10-08-2014, 01:39 PM

I have moog inners with TF outers. Zero problems. Zero complaints. They are just fine.

*brndck* · 10-08-2014, 02:26 PM

PBM inners, moog outers. /thread. (As long as you have Roll center corrected knucks)

tougefactory · 10-08-2014, 04:54 PM

SwissPatriotRG - Sorry for the inconvenience. You forgot to mention that we have already talked and we even compensated you for the rod ends that you purchased and even offered a full refund on the kit if you were not satisfied.

We did have some issues with only the last batch of bearings we received from our original factory. Which came to our attention just recently and decided to use our US based manufacturer. Since than we have already switched to a US manufacturer and have changed the bearings on the current inventory.

The new bearing is 2 piece PTFE race bearing and here is an updated photo of our complete kit.

Thank you!

SwissPatriotRG · 10-08-2014, 06:16 PM

I appreciate you coming in here to reply.

Quote:

We did have some issues with only the last batch of bearings we received from our original factory. Which came to our attention just recently and decided to use our US based manufacturer. Since than we have already switched to a US manufacturer and have changed the bearings on the current inventory.

I'm just curious, when did you change the kit? If you recall, I ordered these last Monday, why would you ship out a product that you know has problems and then ship out a replacement part for that product that also has problems? If you knew that I was one of those customers affected by the issue, why wouldn't you ship out the improved bearings from your "current" inventory?

Look at this from my perspective. It's not about the $35 I had to spend to get the new rod ends on short notice. It's about receiving a sketchy product that I have to drive on until I get my replacement parts on (this is my only car at the moment). It's about going to the mechanic TWICE for the same job, and having the car aligned again. It's about the extra down time. It's about the extra hassle of doing all this extra work just for some tie rods. In this industry, it's pretty easy to make a customer unhappy, but it's also pretty easy to rectify the situation so that customers don't go on message boards and complain about your stuff. What you just admitted to is sending me a part that is not from your current inventory, that you knew was part of a bad batch of rod ends, and then when I asked for a replacement part, you sent ANOTHER bad part to me, potentially causing me to have to revisit the tie rods a THIRD time.

I'm just glad I checked the part out before I installed it, someone less savvy probably wouldn't have. You probably should have checked the part out before you sent it to me. After all, a tie rod failure at highway speeds has pretty serious ramifications.

tougefactory · 10-08-2014, 06:42 PM

We found out after your purchase, unfortunately. We have not had issues like this before and because of that we also didn't expect it.

The previous bearing manufacturer does OEM production for Yamaha Japan and we have been using them for many years now without major issues until recent.

We're also very disappointed with what has happened and resolved it as soon as possible. We're going to be using US made bearings so that we can address these types of issues and fix it right away.

Thanks!

SwissPatriotRG · 10-08-2014, 11:13 PM

You're telling me that in less than a week, you have identified a problem with a manufacturer from a customer complaint, changed your parts supplier, manufactured a new kit, and already took photos and started stocking that new kit? You are either the most responsive company in the world or are full of shit and trying to dump your old inventory of junk parts on customers hoping nobody figures this out. Don't forget that you said you would ship out the replacement rod end Oct 3 and on Oct 7 when I detailed the problem you already knew about the bad batch of rod ends. I'd really love to know if you knew about this bad batch and still sent me this bad rod end or if somehow you accomplished this feat in less than 4 business days. Either way, I had to come to you both times to detail the problem, and if you knew you had a bad batch of rod ends you should have come to me first and told me before I put them on the car. Keep in mind that a tie rod failure on a car is really dangerous, and could get people killed.

I'd also really love to know if you have contacted everyone who has bought this kit and asked them to inspect it for defective parts. I shudder to think people are driving around with these tie rods on their cars unknowingly.

bataangpinoy · 10-28-2014, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tougefactory

We found out after your purchase, unfortunately. We have not had issues like this before and because of that we also didn't expect it.

The previous bearing manufacturer does OEM production for Yamaha Japan and we have been using them for many years now without major issues until recent.

We're also very disappointed with what has happened and resolved it as soon as possible. We're going to be using US made bearings so that we can address these types of issues and fix it right away.

Thanks!

Well shit, I bought a set off your site and havent installed them yet, can you send me the correct bearings?

joshg51 · 10-09-2014, 10:37 AM

Subscribed as I've had my eye on these

e30gangsta · 10-09-2014, 10:55 AM

Great, Good thing I havent aligned my car yet. I purchased mines from TF late august. Installed them last night with my new gktech bolt on rc correction kit. I guess I now have to take them off and look for new outters. Or see if TF supplies me with the new ones. Not to mention the new kit comes with castle nuts now, and not nylon lock nuts

theboy · 10-09-2014, 11:15 AM

swiss thank you for bringing this to light as i too just recently purchased their inner & outer setup. Only difference is that you got the Tein inners and i got the Peak Performance. I have been driving on them daily so i guess its time to check the outers.

SwissPatriotRG · 10-09-2014, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theboy

swiss thank you for bringing this to light as i too just recently purchased their inner & outer setup. Only difference is that you got the Tein inners and i got the Peak Performance. I have been driving on them daily so i guess its time to check the outers.

No problem man. There probably aren't too many people out there qualified to judge the quality of a part. I'm just doing my part to make sure anyone who needs to know gets informed.

That being said, if you have one of these kits and want different rod ends, I'll let you guys know what you need to do to get your own. The shank will have to be cut down from the one you'll need to order, but that's about it.

e30gangsta · 10-10-2014, 07:30 AM

Swiss can you post a link to the good quality rod ends you purchased? Thanks.

10-10-2014, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwissPatriotRG

I appreciate you coming in here to reply.

Starts off good...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tougefactory

We have not had issues like this before and because of that we also didn't expect it. We're also very disappointed with what has happened and resolved it as soon as possible.

You know what would have been nice, testing your product before selling it.

Just saying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwissPatriotRG

You are either the most responsive company in the world or are full of shit...

Temper temper. You gotta be civil when dealing with vendors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwissPatriotRG

I had to come to you both times to detail the problem, and if you knew you had a bad batch of rod ends you should have come to me first and told me before I put them on the car. Keep in mind that a tie rod failure on a car is really dangerous, and could get people killed.

Well, thats the difference between a company that tests their product and is pro-active about repairing and replacing defects -- and a company that does not.

I dont see what the big deal is though, because its quite obvious and doesnt require cornering the vendor to get a proper answer. Simply put, they dont build nor do they test their product. Recalling any product post-sale is not a priority. If your part fails, tough titty.

venom2034 · 10-10-2014, 09:41 AM

Come to think about it, I've been dealing with play in my TF outer tie rods for months now and I haven't for the life of me been able to figure out what it was. I thought it was not tight enough and over the past few weeks decided that it was the bearings but I didn't know what to do next. I wish I would have seen this a while ago when I first purchased them. sucks.

tougefactory · 10-10-2014, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by venom2034

Come to think about it, I've been dealing with play in my TF outer tie rods for months now and I haven't for the life of me been able to figure out what it was. I thought it was not tight enough and over the past few weeks decided that it was the bearings but I didn't know what to do next. I wish I would have seen this a while ago when I first purchased them. sucks.

Venom - Shoot me an email!

tougefactory · 10-10-2014, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixfxi

Starts off good...

You know what would have been nice, testing your product before selling it.

Just saying.

Temper temper. You gotta be civil when dealing with vendors.

Well, thats the difference between a company that tests their product and is pro-active about repairing and replacing defects -- and a company that does not.

I dont see what the big deal is though, because its quite obvious and doesnt require cornering the vendor to get a proper answer. Simply put, they dont build nor do they test their product. Recalling any product post-sale is not a priority. If your part fails, tough titty.

We do test all of our products by installing them on our own cars, which sees track and street. Any parts that are designed in house is designed in CAD and we use FEA to test and weak points that might occur in most extreme conditions.

We put our kit together after seeing taiwan and china brands fail within weeks after installing. We wanted to offer higher quality yet still affordable kit to our customers. We have many local customers that track their cars hard with our kits without any issues.

We're doing our best to take care of our customers and make sure they only receive highest quality products.

Thank you!

derek king · 10-10-2014, 09:37 AM

TF with out a doubt tests their products.

They have been using a supplier for a long time and got a bad batch..... Unbelievable right??

Are you suggesting they test every single individual part before selling? Makes total sense...

e30gangsta · 10-10-2014, 01:36 PM

I havent been contacted by TF yet. Ill be sure to send them a Pm thanks.

beems240sx · 10-10-2014, 08:05 PM

So I checked mine today as they've been on a few thousand miles. And guess what?! Both sides have play in them. Werd. Pretty disappointed

racepar1 · 10-10-2014, 08:52 PM

The Touge Factory outers are trash, just like EVERY other company that makes outers and uses that style of rod end. Two-piece rod ends ALL tend to develop play very quickly, if not immediately. I've had Aurora two-piece rod ends that were loose brand new. The SPL's are the best by leaps and bounds, but they still use the two-piece rod ends and they don't last very long before developing play. These companies SHOULD be using over sized 3-piece rod ends with high mis-alignment spacers. The three piece design lasts MUCH longer from my experience.

OP, if you've got knuckles why in the world are you going for fancy rod ends that are adjustable to correct bump steer? The bump steer is corrected with the knuckles. All you'll be doing by buying fancy outers is fucking up the geometry that was designed into the knuckles. Get TEIN's and call it a day...

08-04-2014, 08:02 AM	#1
e30gangsta Zilvia Addict Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Denver Colorado Age: 40 Posts: 619 Trader Rating: (4) Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Tf outer tie rod ends quality? Hey guys I am looking into upgrading my inner and outer tie rods. The car at the moment is still on the stock front suspension setup besides coils. I purchased the gk bolt up RC correction knuckle, along with their steering rack spacer that I will run in the future, but for now I need a new inners and outers before sending the car off to get aligned. I am looking at these and I am wondering if anyone can comment on the quality? http://www.tf-works.com/nissan-240sx...r-tie-rod-set/ The inners are made by peak and the outers by TF apparently. I am just trying to see if any has ever used this product and if so what is the quality? I have search and I haven’t been able to find a review of these. I am trying to stay away from circuit sports, Megan etc. due to all the bad reviews of those. Thanks for your time. - G

08-04-2014, 01:33 PM	#2
Kaifd3s Zilvia Addict Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Tamarac, Florida Age: 39 Posts: 694 Trader Rating: (16) Feedback Score: 16 reviews	Ive heard mixed reviews on em. For the price, they are not that bad. BTW, its Ali __________________

08-04-2014, 01:56 PM	#4
Kaifd3s Zilvia Addict Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Tamarac, Florida Age: 39 Posts: 694 Trader Rating: (16) Feedback Score: 16 reviews	Honestly, I have the Tien inners and outers. I have never had a problem with them, and when I was changing my wheel bearings the other day everything was still tight. I have had them on the car since 08' I believe. But then again, I am not super "slammed". I would do the TF ones if mine were to go out. For the price point, if I get 5+ years out of them it was money well spent. Plus TF has great customer service, and products IMO. SPL is badass tho... __________________

10-08-2014, 01:39 PM	#11
beems240sx Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,135 Trader Rating: (10) Feedback Score: 10 reviews	I have moog inners with TF outers. Zero problems. Zero complaints. They are just fine. __________________

10-08-2014, 04:54 PM	#13
tougefactory Zilvia.net Advertiser Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,511 Trader Rating: (27) Feedback Score: 27 reviews	SwissPatriotRG - Sorry for the inconvenience. You forgot to mention that we have already talked and we even compensated you for the rod ends that you purchased and even offered a full refund on the kit if you were not satisfied. We did have some issues with only the last batch of bearings we received from our original factory. Which came to our attention just recently and decided to use our US based manufacturer. Since than we have already switched to a US manufacturer and have changed the bearings on the current inventory. The new bearing is 2 piece PTFE race bearing and here is an updated photo of our complete kit. Thank you! __________________ Performance Parts // Track Prep // Fabrication Follow us on Instagram @TFWorks For all the latest TF★ news visit our blog!!**

08-04-2014, 02:10 PM	#5
ayuaddict Post Whore! Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Socal Age: 36 Posts: 4,017 Trader Rating: (9) Feedback Score: 9 reviews	SPL has never given me any issues regardless of how much i didnt ever clean them or how much abrupt force was applied to them on multiple cars.

08-04-2014, 07:21 PM	#6
niGht_kraWler Zilvia Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: wisconknight Posts: 256 Trader Rating: (5) Feedback Score: 5 reviews	They are fine if youre not slammed or if its just on your daily. If you drift or road race, SPL is the way to go. Worth every penny.

08-04-2014, 07:54 PM	#7
xoxide Post Whore! Join Date: May 2010 Location: Jacksonville Posts: 2,807 Trader Rating: (21) Feedback Score: 21 reviews	For an extra $50 you can purchase a set of PBM Inner Tie Rods (Which will never break), and a set of Abercrombie Motorsport Outers.... This is the setup ive been abusing for awhile now and have been extremely happy with them.

08-04-2014, 08:23 PM	#8
fondandkit Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: CA Age: 39 Posts: 2 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	SPL has never given me any issues regardless of how much i didnt ever clean them or how much abrupt force was applied to them on multiple cars.

08-04-2014, 08:52 PM	#9
Matej Post Whore! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N/A Posts: 9,423 Trader Rating: (39) Feedback Score: 39 reviews	Get 1988-1994 Maxima outer tie rods.

10-08-2014, 09:41 AM	#10
SwissPatriotRG Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Charlotte NC Age: 39 Posts: 6 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	I hope I'm not too late here. I ordered a set of TF tie rods that had Tein inners and the TF branded outers on them. The inners are nice, the outers are pure garbage. This is my situation right now: I put the tie rods on the car and my mechanic buddy takes the car to his shop to align it. He notices one of the tie rods has some play in it already. I sent a message to TF noting the problem and they agree to ship me a new rod end for the joint. Upon arrival, I decided to take the rubber boot off to see what kind of joint they were using, as I was promised a high quality Japanese rod end. Here is an album with lots of pictures and descriptions for the curious. Proof that they're selling cheap (probably Chinese) junk, not what they describe. I ended up ordering a pair of M14x2 teflon rod lined rod ends from Midwest Control Products (USA made) to replace this bullshit because I don't trust them on the car. Should I make a thread somewhere more visible here?

10-08-2014, 06:42 PM	#15
tougefactory Zilvia.net Advertiser Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,511 Trader Rating: (27) Feedback Score: 27 reviews	We found out after your purchase, unfortunately. We have not had issues like this before and because of that we also didn't expect it. The previous bearing manufacturer does OEM production for Yamaha Japan and we have been using them for many years now without major issues until recent. We're also very disappointed with what has happened and resolved it as soon as possible. We're going to be using US made bearings so that we can address these types of issues and fix it right away. Thanks! __________________ Performance Parts // Track Prep // Fabrication Follow us on Instagram @TFWorks For all the latest TF★ news visit our blog!!**

10-08-2014, 11:13 PM	#16
SwissPatriotRG Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Charlotte NC Age: 39 Posts: 6 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	You're telling me that in less than a week, you have identified a problem with a manufacturer from a customer complaint, changed your parts supplier, manufactured a new kit, and already took photos and started stocking that new kit? You are either the most responsive company in the world or are full of shit and trying to dump your old inventory of junk parts on customers hoping nobody figures this out. Don't forget that you said you would ship out the replacement rod end Oct 3 and on Oct 7 when I detailed the problem you already knew about the bad batch of rod ends. I'd really love to know if you knew about this bad batch and still sent me this bad rod end or if somehow you accomplished this feat in less than 4 business days. Either way, I had to come to you both times to detail the problem, and if you knew you had a bad batch of rod ends you should have come to me first and told me before I put them on the car. Keep in mind that a tie rod failure on a car is really dangerous, and could get people killed. I'd also really love to know if you have contacted everyone who has bought this kit and asked them to inspect it for defective parts. I shudder to think people are driving around with these tie rods on their cars unknowingly.

10-09-2014, 10:37 AM	#18
joshg51 Zilvia Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: DC, CA Posts: 171 Trader Rating: (1) Feedback Score: 1 reviews	Subscribed as I've had my eye on these __________________ Ayo that's crazy @originaldonjosh

10-09-2014, 10:55 AM	#19
e30gangsta Zilvia Addict Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Denver Colorado Age: 40 Posts: 619 Trader Rating: (4) Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Great, Good thing I havent aligned my car yet. I purchased mines from TF late august. Installed them last night with my new gktech bolt on rc correction kit. I guess I now have to take them off and look for new outters. Or see if TF supplies me with the new ones. Not to mention the new kit comes with castle nuts now, and not nylon lock nuts

10-09-2014, 11:15 AM	#20
theboy Zilvia Addict Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chicago Age: 36 Posts: 618 Trader Rating: (10) Feedback Score: 10 reviews	swiss thank you for bringing this to light as i too just recently purchased their inner & outer setup. Only difference is that you got the Tein inners and i got the Peak Performance. I have been driving on them daily so i guess its time to check the outers.

10-10-2014, 07:30 AM	#22
e30gangsta Zilvia Addict Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Denver Colorado Age: 40 Posts: 619 Trader Rating: (4) Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Swiss can you post a link to the good quality rod ends you purchased? Thanks.

10-10-2014, 09:41 AM	#24
venom2034 Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: flushing, Ny Age: 34 Posts: 453 Trader Rating: (10) Feedback Score: 10 reviews	Come to think about it, I've been dealing with play in my TF outer tie rods for months now and I haven't for the life of me been able to figure out what it was. I thought it was not tight enough and over the past few weeks decided that it was the bearings but I didn't know what to do next. I wish I would have seen this a while ago when I first purchased them. sucks.

10-10-2014, 09:37 AM	#27
derek king Nissanaholic! Join Date: May 2007 Location: in Age: 38 Posts: 1,962 Trader Rating: (6) Feedback Score: 6 reviews	TF with out a doubt tests their products. They have been using a supplier for a long time and got a bad batch..... Unbelievable right?? Are you suggesting they test every single individual part before selling? Makes total sense... __________________ IG DearDerekKing

10-10-2014, 01:36 PM	#28
e30gangsta Zilvia Addict Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Denver Colorado Age: 40 Posts: 619 Trader Rating: (4) Feedback Score: 4 reviews	I havent been contacted by TF yet. Ill be sure to send them a Pm thanks.

10-10-2014, 08:05 PM	#29
beems240sx Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,135 Trader Rating: (10) Feedback Score: 10 reviews	So I checked mine today as they've been on a few thousand miles. And guess what?! Both sides have play in them. Werd. Pretty disappointed __________________

10-10-2014, 08:52 PM	#30
racepar1 Post Whore! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Simi Valley, CA Age: 42 Posts: 9,006 Trader Rating: (106) Rides Gallery: racepar1 Feedback Score: 106 reviews	The Touge Factory outers are trash, just like EVERY other company that makes outers and uses that style of rod end. Two-piece rod ends ALL tend to develop play very quickly, if not immediately. I've had Aurora two-piece rod ends that were loose brand new. The SPL's are the best by leaps and bounds, but they still use the two-piece rod ends and they don't last very long before developing play. These companies SHOULD be using over sized 3-piece rod ends with high mis-alignment spacers. The three piece design lasts MUCH longer from my experience. OP, if you've got knuckles why in the world are you going for fancy rod ends that are adjustable to correct bump steer? The bump steer is corrected with the knuckles. All you'll be doing by buying fancy outers is fucking up the geometry that was designed into the knuckles. Get TEIN's and call it a day...