What is the lifespan of your steering parts?

[rabbitman]

My ball joints last about 1 year, they've been meyle in the past then I tried Febi.

Tie rod ends are about the same except the last one I changed out I BOUGHT october 22 this year and put it on a week or two later, now the boot is split (moog) and barely hanging on so it's doom is sealed .

Outer CV boots tear every winter without fail, I've tried meistersatz and the latest GNK, they don't seem much different.

Today I found an inner one (empi) torn but it's a few months shy of 4 years old.

I'm thinking of trying Beck Arnley for the inner boot.

What brands have you guys liked?

[RadoTD]

Dang... how low are you?
I've never replaced any steering parts I've installed myself. Granted, I've never had one car for more than 30,000km, but I've never seen wear on any of them

Usually EMPI axles and febi for most other mechanical parts

[maxfax]

WOW..   Rough roads? A lot of dirt and debris? 

 I put cheapo Treadsaver parts on Frankenbunny and got about 150K miles before I sold it..   Current Bunny has all Meyle parts and is going strong after 80K miles.. THe Carquest issue axles have about 30K on em.. I have a half mile dirt driveway, romp it around the farm, through the woods, and junkyard..   No failures yet...

[rabbitman]

Dang... how low are you?
I've never replaced any steering parts I've installed myself. Granted, I've never had one car for more than 30,000km, but I've never seen wear on any of them

Usually EMPI axles and febi for most other mechanical parts

Stock height, maybe even a bit higher with the heavy duty springs.

I have wondered if the cold temperature (a lot of -30F and some -50F) has something to do with it but everyone drives in the cold and nobody else has these problems. I know of cars that haven't ripped any boots or wore joints out in a couple years

I drive 12,000-14,000 miles a year which is more than lots of people around here.

[rabbitman]

WOW..   Rough roads? A lot of dirt and debris? 

 I put cheapo Treadsaver parts on Frankenbunny and got about 150K miles before I sold it..   Current Bunny has all Meyle parts and is going strong after 80K miles.. THe Carquest issue axles have about 30K on em.. I have a half mile dirt driveway, romp it around the farm, through the woods, and junkyard..   No failures yet...

That sounds about like how I drive, off roading, trails, blasting through snow.........I'm not real easy on it .

We have quite a few gravel roads but I only drive on 'em maybe a quarter of the time. This is getting rather expensive and time consuming........sometime this winter I'll have to do the vac pump too.....

[RadoTD]

That's weird that everything seems to be going constantly, not just isolated parts

Is it just one car with this problem?
Has that car ever been in an accident?
When was the last alignment?

Just thinking that something might be skewed in the front end so that the tie rods and ball joints are getting some weird loads on them. The CV's I'm less surprised about given that you live in a fairly harsh environment.

I think you should just slam your car to the ground so you at least have an excuse for wearing everything out so quickly!

[Dakotakid]

My guess would be the extreme cold periods along with lots of salt...do they use a lot of salt up there?
Sorry, I've never had the priviledge of coming to Alaska.
I've noticed that many of the tie rods just don't have as good of rubber compounds as they used to. Seems like they split at like 1.5 years or so. I've gotten pissed at the cracking and popped a few of them loose and wrapped with tape to extend their lives a bit.

Is there a chance that you are over-tightening your CV clamps when installing?

[theman53]

I spray a lube on the rubber stuff before and after winter. Usually a silicone based lube. I think it just keep the atmosphere off of them so that they don't dry rot as fast. Since I have been doing that I haven't replaced any rubber suspension parts that I put on.

[maxfax]

I think too that no matter who makes it, nothing is made decently anymore..  Proof is in the pudding here, all the old 20+ year old vehicles with WELL over 100K I've had all had original suspension parts that were fine..  Yet now I see 4 year old cars with 50K on them in the shop for all sorts of ball joints, tie rods, etc... Some have been in for the SECOND time around by 100K...

[RabbitJockey]

on all the mk1s i have had i have not replaced any front end parts except for strut bearings and wheel bearings

[maxfax]

All my MK1's started with a failed ball joint after 250K + miles.. I've just always opted to replace everything while I'm at it..  Reality is though I think I could have just replaced the ball joints and been fine..  Knock wood, I've never had a front wheel bearing fail, yet....

[rabbitman]

Usually they only salt a little bit in the fall and after that it gets too cold for salt to have any affect. This year we did get lots of freezing rain (not normal) so they salted quite a bit.

X2 on new parts being poor quality.

[GEE-BEE]

Iam going with MK1 16 V spindles next, Going to remove the bearings, powdercoat and install fresh stuff
these will allow me to run 100mm outer cv joints

I use meyle everywhere else since I get it for cost from a dealer freind on trades of part's

I hope to make GAP a dealer for my scirocco stuff this year....

GB

[smutts]

Start of Rant............................................................
All those penny pinching managers and accountants that destroyed all of Britains industry, didn't all commit suicide after a job well done. . Notice to industry, there are still people who buy up to a specification, not down to a price. Crap Bosch nozzles from india spring to mind, but steering parts? Two weeks is my record for a failed pair of ball joints. If you let accountants do engineering, then the last 60 years of the UK will tell you to herd them all into a deep dark pit and let them be of use to one another. Apparently the UK has at least ten times the accountants that Germany has. Maybe that speaks volumes
............................................................End of Rant.

[maxfax]

Start of Rant............................................................
All those penny pinching managers and accountants that destroyed all of Britains industry, didn't all commit suicide after a job well done. . Notice to industry, there are still people who buy up to a specification, not down to a price. Crap Bosch nozzles from india spring to mind, but steering parts? Two weeks is my record for a failed pair of ball joints. If you let accountants do engineering, then the last 60 years of the UK will tell you to herd them all into a deep dark pit and let them be of use to one another. Apparently the UK has at least ten times the accountants that Germany has. Maybe that speaks volumes
............................................................End of Rant.

Totally agree.. It's far too much the same thing on this side of the pond...