sockr1

iTrader: (5)

so i just got some moog front endlinks off the BM, thinking it might solve some noises i had from my suspension, but when i went to put them on the moog seemed much less robust than the OEM ones. the link shaft is smaller by 0.050" and the threaded ends and the ball joints are smaller too. there are some pics below

is this really an upgrade from OEM? or should I just stay with oem on this? i installed the moog on one side but am hesitant to install it on the other side until i hear some feedback.
both have the same internal hex design so there is no benefit there either or a zerk fitting (unlike the rear Moog ones)

OEM left, Moog right



OEM top, Moog bottom



OEM top, Moog bottom

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

i have the moog front endlinks. honestly I got them because i saw a tear in my oem endlink boot. no difference driving wise from what i can tell.

"robust" or stiffer endlinks arent necessarily better though. I mean you can have a shaft that is 2" thick and I still dont think it'll ride any differently than stock. A part is only as strong as the weakest part, which is always the ball joint. I never took apart the boot to examine the quality of moog ball joints though. I bought it cuz of the name and reputation moog has, I'm sure they can't be bad.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

yea i see what you're saying. thanks.

hard to get a measured torque in there...did you just wrench it down as hard as you can while holding it with an allen key?

oem manual asks for 58 ft lbs but no way i can give that with just a crescent wrench haha

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

i used a long handle 17mm wrench. surprisingly i didnt need to use the allen key, sometimes they spin but sometimes you get lucky and they hold pretty still. are you sure its 58 ft lb? that seems like an awful lot just for a small nut. but in any case I gave it a firm push on the wrench and used a hammer and hit it a little more.
long handle wrenches go a long way, helps a lot for tasks like this

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

yea 58 ft lbs, but i just tightened it the best i could. unfortunately i couldn't install the driver side since the oem nut rounded and i couldn't get it off. will either have to vise grip it and hammer it off or just put the oem back on the passenger side.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

Or dremel it off. That's what I did.

mickey513

Thanks a lot and much appreciated for the pictures, it has help a lot of people here I'm sure on what to get.

Can I ask you a quick question, where are the Moog endlinks made? From what I can tell on the Net, it appears a lot of Moog products are now made in China or rebox from another brand. Cost cutting measures .....

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

The factory torque setting for the front endlinks is 38NM (28ftlbs) for the top end connected to the sway bar and 29NM (22ftlbs) for the bottom end connected to the LCA.

You can hold the center part with an allen key and use a crow's foot on the torque wrench, I have a dial-type torque wrench I use for those so the crow's foot doesn't move since there's no ratcheting mechanism.

The service manual actually has a diagram using a crow's foot on those, so I'm pretty sure the SM torque settings is accounting for you using a crow's foot.

Also supposed to load the suspension with the car's weight with a jack when tightening those.

JnC

iTrader: (12)

I can vouch for moog products. Not sure if any of you guys have worked with the 2G lexus GS but the tie rods and end links for that car are known to fail often, I went through two OEM sets of tie rods before ending up buying moog ones. Needles to say they have been awesome so far, been on the car for 2 years without any signs of fatigue or deterioration. I am glad moog offers suspension components for the TL as parts are reasonably priced, especially when compared to OEM and equal, if not better, in quality.