ipd endlinks

Wrenchinjoe · Post by **Wrenchinjoe** » 26 Jul 2012, 12:39

Has anyone else had trouble with IPD's HD endlinks? I put a set on 3 years ago, have logged approx. 45K miles, and they are toast. The roads in East Tennessee are good, winter is mild, and we drive the car gently as a mommy carpool wagon. The driver's side link was creaking badly once warm, and the passenger side link had a joint that was plainly loose, floppy and had bad in/out play.

I'm not trashing IPD by any respect, they make superb products and lots of folks on the forum have had great results. My experience with the endlinks though was not so good.

ChiNorm · Post by **ChiNorm** » 26 Jul 2012, 14:09

Call IPD and tell them about it. They are easily the most agreeable company to do business with that I know of.

Chicago winters eat front end parts on my 96 854t5 due to road salt and potholes galore. They have always been very fair about providing replacements.

Post by **jblackburn** » 26 Jul 2012, 14:32

45 isn't bad for a set of end-links. My S70 went through them pretty quickly no matter what I tried (but I also cornered very hard on a pretty normal basis).

When you put on the endlinks, make sure that you stick a jack under the control arm and pump it up to ride height BEFORE tightening the bolts down. Otherwise, they can and will fail earlier than their expected lifespan.

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 26 Jul 2012, 18:50

Better than me - I got about 8k out of mine!

IPD did replace them, but in the meantime I had my mechanic install some of his $12 ones and they've gone about 20k so far a-ok.

KlubMarcus · Post by **KlubMarcus** » 26 Jul 2012, 20:43

I think 45k miles out of endlinks is awesome, that's longer than the usual 3yr/36k new car warranty. My local shop is about to install iPd's endlinks in my 1998 V70 XC. Paperwork says they are Made in Taiwan, some Taiwanese manufacturers are world class and some are worse than the Chinese. But iPd's warranty and customer service is top notch. So I am not worried.

The roads here are in disrepair: holes, patches, dissimilar surfaces, uneven pavement, dips, bumps, etc... Thank God there's no road salt. I beat my car the last 5 years because it was a used car bargain. Can't tell if the parts were originals from the factory or replaced by the previous owner(s). Will update with my experience after a week or two of driving around, see if they're worth their reputation.

Wrenchinjoe · Post by **Wrenchinjoe** » 30 Jul 2012, 20:16

I phoned IPD and they were pretty cool about the endlinks. The rep I spoke with offered to sell me a couple of new ones for half price and free shipping. Given that the warranty is 2 years and these were nearly 3 years old, and these did have 45K miles on them, I can't complain really.

I went a different route for replacement, however. FCP sells the Lemforder endlinks for $28 each with free shipping (over $50), and they also offer a lifetime guarantee on the parts you buy from them. So, if I understand things correctly, if these crap out in 3 years/45K miles, then FCP will send me a new set free except for the shipping cost.

I still have IPD's spring seats, shifter fix, tailgate fix, and I purchased OEM engine mounts from them as well. I will certainly continue to shop IPD, but FCP wins the day on the endlinks.

Post by **erikv11** » 31 Jul 2012, 00:00

FCP's lifetime warranty has several lines of fine print associated with it, don't be fooled into assuming you are getting it for free when you buy something.

IIRC the conditions are:
- part must be installed by a certified mechanic
- OR, if you DIY the install, you must request a DIY warranty and pay an extra 10% up front
- no matter who installs it, you must somehow register for warranty (not sure how that works, never did it, but it is independent of purchasing)

Post by **cn90** » 31 Jul 2012, 09:13

I have Meyle endlinks and it is warranted for life.
Just call Meyle and they ship you new Meyle for free!

Wrenchinjoe · Post by **Wrenchinjoe** » 31 Jul 2012, 10:49

Thank you for the heads up about the warranty Erik. I phoned FCP and purchased the warranty for an additional 10% ($5.59) since it is a DIY installation. The rep made it super easy, the call took less than two minutes, so now I have new OEM endlinks with a lifetime warranty for grand total of $61.49. Thanks for all the feedback folks.

ChiNorm · Post by **ChiNorm** » 31 Jul 2012, 15:47

One thing that is perhaps overlooked, the IPD versions will last far longer than the other choices. I have had OEM fail in 90 days.