Bad Turbo Tie Rods!!

[jgporsche]

I bought a set of Turbo Tie Rods from this vender before I became active on this board.
Big learning experience, the set I received didn’t last three months. Tried to send them back, their story line is these aren’t ours. Buy from a honest source!! I have receipts and pictures to back this up. Ebay is ok, but there are crooks out there!

BAD TURBO TIE RODS ON EBAY!!

[Zeke]

What exactly happened to them?

[jgporsche]

Both joint boots on the tie rods themselves were cracked and had a lot of play. The rack accordion boots on both sides were literally pulled apart. Looked a lot worse than the 16 year old factory tie rods I pulled off. I had to have the car aligned twice so this was an expensive lesson. I was surprised to see this vender at it again. He’s in La Mesa, CA. So stick with a reputable merchant.

[JRISER]

Looks like he's in La Mesa, which is in San Diego County. Thanks for the heads up!

[ubiquity0]

Any seller that refers to himself as "Bigbabbo" has to be suspect

[aigel]

I had the boot split on mine, bought at a reputable local dealer. Need to bring it back. Am sure I get replacements - free. That's where the difference is. I think these kits are all questionable quality, the response of the seller to your quality problem is where the difference lies.

George

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by aigel
I had the boot split on mine, bought at a reputable local dealer. Need to bring it back. Am sure I get replacements - free. That's where the difference is. I think these kits are all questionable quality, the response of the seller to your quality problem is where the difference lies.

George

The ones we sell are very high quality, and we almost never get returns or complaints about them (can't remember one).

There is information in the archives on this. We researched these "repro" turbo tie rod kits many years ago. Needless to say, they are poor quality reproductions made in some country in Asia. The ones we currently sell are OEM from Germany (or made by German companies somewhere else).

I keep hearing stories like these about Turbo Tie Rod kits purchased elsewhere...

-Wayne

[aigel]

You need to get a PP outlet here in the Bay Area. Then I can quit supporting the local outlets. I hardly ever have a serious wrenching weekend where I don't need thisandthat NOW!

George

[john70t]

The Lemfoerder brand is suppossed to be good. I previously bought an unknown set labeled "made in germany"(it had nylock instead of a castle-nut) that lasted only a few months before all the rubber split.
I think a lot of people have had this problem with that brand and would love to get their $ back..

[jdowty3]

I had this problem last year with a set of Lemfoerder from Performance Products. They did replace them at no charge but wouldn't even consider some compensation for having to get the car another $140 alignment. I would have been happy with a $50 PP coupon and might have considered buying from them again, but not now. Pelican is my #1 choice now, even if the price is a little higher, the quality is assured.

[azasadny]

jgporsche,

Thanks for letting us know about this!

[thabaer]

Lemförder is a ZF brand along with Sachs and Boge. Never had any trouble with replacement CVs from them, I wonder if you guys have been sold counterfeit parts.

BTW: funny subject line in spite of the bad news, Bad Tie Rod! No biscuit!

[jdowty3]

I heard it was a fairly wide spread problem across more than 1 manufacturer. Something about a bad batch of rubber used for the boots and bellows.

[jgporsche]

The brand I bought for close to the average price at the time $90.00, wasn't Lemfoerder, they said "made in Germany"(it had nylock instead of a castle-nut) also.

MERCEDESPARTS.COM INC. (BIGBABO) tried to tell me that someone (My mechanic) had swapped out their good ones with the bad ones I had returned to them for replacement. Problem is like must of us fanatics; I don’t use a mechanic, except for really hard problems! Looks to me this vendor, most likely knew these were bad and is dumping them on eBay. He definitely doesn’t stand behind his products. Saving $10 - $15 actually cost me two alignments and another set of tie rods.

[Wayne 962]

Originally posted by jdowty3
I had this problem last year with a set of Lemfoerder from Performance Products. They did replace them at no charge but wouldn't even consider some compensation for having to get the car another $140 alignment. I would have been happy with a $50 PP coupon and might have considered buying from them again, but not now. Pelican is my #1 choice now, even if the price is a little higher, the quality is assured.

In all fairness, we don't offer any compensation for labor involved in replacing parts. It's a pandora's box. What happens if someone claims a main bearing goes bad after an $8K rebuild? Our sales and return policy specifically states this.

We're pretty strict on this as well, although I probably would have spotted you at least a partial credit for the trouble.

-Wayne

[jdowty3]

And I can understand that on most items where the installation process/quality can have a significant effect on the longevity of the product. But when all the rubber goes bad in 6 months on an item that should last 10 years or more, many other consumers have experienced the same issue, and requires additional costs to replace correctly, I think a concienttious seller will put customer service before first (as your statement reflects). If the expense had been $20 or $30, no problem, but $140 is money I could have spent on other upgrades and a monitary gesture on their part to help me feel better about purchasing from them again.

[jgporsche]

I agree with jdowty3, the manufacture in this situation is ALMAX, they in turn have a responsibility to the retailer. And the retailer would have the responsibility to make it right to the buyer. This retailer (MERCEDESPARTS.COM INC) is utterly ridiculous; he had me send them back at my cost and then tells me they aren’t his a month later only after I’ve reminded him that it needed to be taken care of. Putting this all together I’ve found that on eBay; they have had three different names; but the same address: 6035 Lake Murray Blvd, La Mesa CA. Kind of makes eBay look bad. I hadn’t really thought they would compensate me for the alignments, but a coupon or discount voucher would have been a nice touch!

[fastpat]

These Almax (alledged to be German made) tie rods are still being sold on eBay, by the same guy apparently. Now importbaron, still in La Mesa, California.

Just an update.

[anthony]

but wouldn't even consider some compensation for having to get the car another $140 alignment.

You shouldn't need a full alignment after just changing tie rods. All that needs to be done is a toe adjustment which isn't that hard to do for DIYer.

[boyt911sc]

I got all my suspension upgrade components from our host except for the turbo tie rod kit. Saved a few bucks. Tthe rubber boots are too hard and do not flex evenly. I knew there was something odd with my new kit when I installed it.
Lesson to learn: Deal with reputable vendor/s only!!!

TD