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Why You Should Avoid Really Cheap Chinesium Steering Parts

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    Why You Should Avoid Really Cheap Chinesium Steering Parts

    Some of my steering woes were mentioned in a thread about my stabilizer bar issues (http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...-How-Bad-Is-It). Instead of continuing things there, I'll focus on the steering issues here.

    Since I don't drive much, and since money has always been an issue due to longstanding eye alignment issues, I ended up getting a cheap parts kit on fleaBay. Even if they only lasted 60,000 miles, that might have lasted me up to 10 years. Little did I know that some parts can be so badly made that they can crap out in a fraction of that mileage.

    A problem with the Pitman arm became obvious when I turned the steering shaft with my hand. I could see the Pitman arm moving back and forth. While replacing it with a cheap TRW from RockAuto (I can't help myself), I noticed some up-down movement in the idler arm. Here's what I noted in the stabilizer bar thread:

    Originally posted by IPreferDIY View Post
    ... There’s actually still a trace of slop somewhere. My first guess would be the idler arm. Is it supposed to move only back and forth? When the center link was off the Pitman arm, the joint on the end of the mounting bracket on the idler arm was able to rotate up and down as if it had a ball-type joint in there.
    I happened to see somewhere (I think on a truck site) that for idler arms, back and forth is good while up and down is bad. I finally got around to replacing it after getting a cheap Qualis idler arm on RockAuto. (I'm figuring at least these name brand cheapies have to be better than the no-name Chinesium crap that I got on fleaBay.) I ended up measuring about 4-5 degrees of up-down movement in the bad idler arm, resulting in just over 1/4" of deflection at the center link end. Maybe one of these days I'll cut into it to see what the heck is in there.

    Unfortunately, my test drive revealed the continuation of some slop, and I mucked around some more. While rocking the passenger side wheel from side to side, I found a small bit of play and figured it was one of the tie rod ends. Oddly enough, they didn't seem to be moving, but I could hear some kind of faint "schlock" sound when moving the wheel. It turned out that the clamp on the sleeve for the inner tie rod end was loose. Apparently all the oil that I spray was making the "schlock" sound in the threads. I tried tightening the nut, and it kept turning. I guess the alignment guy stripped the bolt, though I can't rule out that the cheap quality was a cause or contributing factor. Luckily, I still had the old tie rods and was able to scavage a bolt and nut. The passenger side seemed fine with the clamp tightened, but I can't say for how long.

    On the driver's side, the outer tie rod end clearly has some slop. FML. I've driven only somewhere around 16,000 miles since replacing all that stuff three years ago, and three things have crapped out already. It definitely pays to do things right the first time.
    Last edited by IPreferDIY; 05-15-2017, 03:20 AM.

    2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
    mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

    #2
    Steering parts and brake parts are not where you want to buy the cheapest thing you can get. I realize that money gets tight, but doing it twice is pretty much never cheaper.
    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

    Originally posted by phayzer5
    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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      #3
      Yeah, I try to get the top shelf moog when I can.
      Chris - A 20th Century Man \m/ ^.^ \m/

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