Tie rod mileage

My truck has 185K miles and the front is lifted 3". It still has factory tie rods. How long would the tie rods last? What's your typical mileage when you change them?

2 weeks ago, the front lower ball joint was busted. It was replaced last year with aftermarket brand Mevotech ($40 each). I then replaced with Toyota ball joints for a piece of mind. That makes me think about changing the tie rods, too.

 

Mine had a little play at 160k miles. You can always jack up the front end and check the tire for side to side movement. Grab it at the 3 and 9 position.

I'd hate for you to throw any unnecessary money at the truck but at 185k you might be do for a front end redo. Sounds like you did the right thing by replacing the ball joints with toyota units.

 

Have you used Proforged brand for tie rods? Are they good for off-road?

 

Inner tie rods can last a long time. Outer tie rods can wear but from my experience don't really go bad unless the grease escapes.

I have experience with OEM, Raybestos (they use rebadged Sankei 555) and Moog tie rods. Those three are pretty good but I recommend cleaning the metal and painting it prior to install, they will surface rust immediately if you dont.

Never heard of proforged.

 

I just put the proforged inner and outer tie rods on my 2006. The tie rods are great quality. They have a large and small retainer to keep the grease inside the boot. I ordered them from rock auto. Here’s a screen shot.

 

I just ordered Proforge inner and outer tie rods from Summit Racing. Proforge states that they have 1 million mile warranty. I hope that means their products are great; otherwise, they'll have to lose money.

 

My truck is approaching that of the OP.

My thought was to replace the entire tie rod with OEM tie rods, but then replace the outer tie rod ends with Coach tie rod ends.

Does this make sense and would this be a nice upgrade from stock. I have a 3" OME lift.

 

My friend's Tundra with 6" lift broke the tie rod while turning. It was about 120K miles. I notice with my 2" lift, the tie rods are angled down a lot more than normal. That's when the tie rods wear out faster than normal. If you lift 3", then you should replace them just to be safe.