How long to tie-rods last? One data point....

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jeyjey
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1987 944, presumed original tie-rods, street car, 70,000 miles.

One steering rack bellows split in several places (but not separated), the other one OK. Both bellows show cracking around the circumference at the rack end.

One outer-end ball joint boot split, the other OK.

All four ball joints still tight.

So 40 years is a bit much for the rubber, but 70,000 miles isn't enough to wear out the mechanical bits.

I guess I have one other data point: I recently did the same on my 1996 M3 with 110,000 miles. None of the ball joints had any actual free play, but all were very loose. Slightly heavier car, slightly more tyre, 50% greater mileage.

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spacecad3t
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My cars odometer is long dead, but the carfax was well documented and I suspect my car has somewhere around 140,000 miles on it. Same situation last year, original rack/tie rods from what I could tell- rubber was completely gone, rods were fine. I also just did the ball joints, and I suspect those were original. The rubber/plastic bits were nasty, but the metal ball joints themselves were fine!
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danmartinic
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A new tie rod installed in 2020 got loose a few months ago... also happened to be same side as a blown strut

Not sure if related

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jeyjey
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@danmartinic dang, that's not great longevity. What brand was the tie-rod?

I put Prekom on mine, along with Elephant Racing stuff for the wishbones (which I suspect are also mostly Prekom). None had a country-of-origin, but I think all their stuff is made in Slovenia.

I got the RHS wishbone off today. Ball-joint a bit looser than the tie-rods were, but not awful. LHS still to go....

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danmartinic
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jeyjey wrote: Sun May 17, 2026 11:59 am @danmartinic dang, that's not great longevity. What brand was the tie-rod?

I put Prekom on mine, along with Elephant Racing stuff for the wishbones (which I suspect are also mostly Prekom). None had a country-of-origin, but I think all their stuff is made in Slovenia.

I got the RHS wishbone off today. Ball-joint a bit looser than the tie-rods were, but not awful. LHS still to go....
Yeah not sure what brand.. they are non-factory as this is a manual steering setup

I do DD about 20k a year (minus pandemic) and the potholes up here are bruuuutal 🤦‍♂️

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