Topic: Tie Rod Ends

[03_A4_Ike]

I need to replace my tie rod ends on my 03 A4, anyone have suggestions on where to get them?  I was going to order them through ECS and get the Meyle OE Heavy Duty ones. 

Also I'm about to trip over the 100K mark and plan on doing the following some is just the usual maintenence that is due, is there anything else I should consider having done.  I'll be doing an alignment after the tie rods get replaced.

- Oil change with oil filter and drain plug (was planning on trying Amsoil 5W40)
- Air filter
- Cabin filter
- Fuel filter
- Spark plugs (BKE7E since I have the APR 1+ set up)
- Front and rear brake pads and rotors are good, only question is brake fluid so I flush it?
- Timing belt was done ~10-15K ago

Joe

[ChiMaster]

ECSTuning.com - good prices, shipping sucks though

[ken]

If the brake fluid has never been done then you should flush that too. Purems.com also sells common parts like that too.

[Theta Tau 87]

I would stay away from anything Meyle.  They are the lowest cost parts, but they tend to fail sooner.  Meyle is pretty much universally avoided for anything suspension/steering related on the AW UrS forum.

Audicarparts.com has good prices on several alternative brands.  TRW, Lemfoerder and Febi should all be better quality than Meyle and for what an alignment costs on a quattro ($167 @ Auto Europe) I always go for the best brand/highest quality I can get and save money by shopping around for the best price online for the brand I trust.

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure that only outer tie rods are bad?  I just had the outer RH end go bad on my wife's C5 and the inner LH wore out during the time I was procrastinating replacing the outer RH.  I did the inners and outers on both sides to make sure that I wouldn't be doing the job over again and getting another alignment any time soon because the parts I didn't replace wore out.

You can get just the outers
http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/autopartsplace/wizard.jsp?PBJ=080724_135303_0106893429_AUD&year=2003&make=AU&model=A4-QT-004&category=M&part=Tie+Rod+End

or the complete inner/outer assembly together
http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/autopartsplace/quote.jsp?PBJ=080724_135303_0106893429_AUD&year=2003&make=AU&product=M3000-126680&application=000567037

One more thing.  You should check the rest of the suspension arms/busings for wear and the struts too.  At 100k if the suspension hasn't been rebuilt at some point it's probably about due for a refresh.  I just rebuilt my friends B5 front suspension.  It was in at GMW for a rear bearing replacement and Stephan noted that the front tie rods were a bit worn and that the front upper control arms were just starting to wear.  The car is a 98 w/ just over 100k on it so my friend decided to get a full kit and replace everything in the front suspension in one shot and only get one alignment and not have to worry about it for another 100k or so.  The one thing we over looked were the struts.  When we got them out it was obvious they were toast, so the car was out of comission an extra couple days while we ordered replacement shocks.  All the parts cost around $750, but now EVERYTHING in the front suspension is new and he only paid for 1 alignment, not several by replacing parts only as they wear out.

GermanAutoParts.com has a good price in it's kit, but you'd have to call and make sure it's not Meyle.
http://www.germanautoparts.com/Audi/A4/Suspension/60/1

I would add new struts and inner tie rods if you're going to do everything in the kit.  Maybe even the front bearings too if you really want to cover all your bases in one shot.

[ken]

I made the mistake of getting the Myle control arm kit a few years ago for my car, and the front suspension is creaking.  It's still tight- for now.  I hear the Febie Bilstein kit is OK.  You probably want to stay away from the cheap Ebay ones too.