Recently I have discovered some vibration in my steering wheel and after rebalancing the wheels and some troubleshooting I am 99% certain that the stock tie rod ends are somewhat worn and most likelly have excessive play in them. So at this point I am looking to replace both of the front tie rod ends and be done with it. The question is, what are the advantages of going to a chromoly/aluminum units such as the one soffered by SPL versus using generic replacement parts which can be had for less than 1/2 the price.
I should probably add that I don't drift, so don't need the extra steering angle and don't track the car (yet) so is there really going to be a noticable difference when doing some spirited driving with the use of hardcore aftermarket end links versus generic replacement ones with soft bushing?
Also with units such as the ones by SPL, would I notice more noise/vibration from the steering just because they are solid and don't have the cushioning that the stock (rubber/polyurethan/ i dont really know material) have.

Basically, is it worth it?

 

Basically what our outer tie rod ends offers is the ability to adjust bumpsteer, making the steering more predictable at the limit. There is no difference in noise/vibration because the stock unit is also a solid spherical bearing.

This is what SG Motorsport had to say about our outer tie rod ends (in conjunction with our other front end bushings), posted on timeattackforums:

"We replaced the front lower control arms with SPL's spherical press in bushings, and designed our own for the compression rod as nothing was available just yet.

SPL also sent us solid outer tie rods with adjustable bump steer spacers. With our alignment machine we were able to run the car through its full suspension travel range and machine a spacer that would eliminate "bump steer" in all positions of usable travel. We now have less than 0.02 degrees of total toe change (both wheels) over 3.5 inches of suspension travel, which is quite a lot when you're running 1300lb springs. If anyone wants to know the magic number, with the spherical bearing SPL uses the spacer you want is 8mm if you're running at a similar ride height.

The biggest difference I noticed right away when I drove the car (even around the shop - honest) was how responsive the steering was. You don't notice the delay in the steering until its gone, let me tell you. The car would point its nose in a different direction almost before you even knew you were steering. It felt like a go-kart, as much as that is a terrible expression.

On the track was exactly the same, the car was no longer moving around with vague steering feel at the limit, you could feel the tires through the wheel and knew exactly when they broke away.

The fastest we had previously gone on the track was a low 1:30, and with a cool qualifying session the car did a 1:28.500 on its ONLY clean qualifying lap."

 

you might want to have a qualified shop give the whole front end a once over. There are alot of things that can cause the steering wheel to shake at speed

 

unfortunately, I'm not aware of any qualified shops in the northern to central new jersey area. I just don't trust most of em, living around here has taught me that i can do better work on my own car than most of the shops around here.

 

my point is that there is little point in just throwing parts at the car, as you could very well end up chasing your tail

there are alot of individual and grouped pieces that will all manifest themselves in a shaking steering wheel

 

Anybody else running spl tie rod ends on their car?

 

Not yet, but i have a set ready to install in my garage.

 

mine should be here and installed next week

 

Have you got the car aligned? What are the specs of your toe on each wheel? Is there any noise coming from under the car during the vibration?