[vinit]

I recently got my tires replaced at Sears and wanted to get a wheel alignment. Unfortunately, my passenger side outer tie rod was "loose" or had some give and they offered to change it for ~86 $ for the part and like ~55$ for the labor. Being a college student I said no thinking there has to be a cheaper solution.
I did some research and found that I could replace it myself and by an OE part from Moog (ES800249 passenger side 248 for driver side) for ~30$. I was about to do it when I realized that the symmetry on the OE part is different than the factory part on my car. This is what I got: Moog ES800249 passenger side part

This is the symmetry my car currently has on the passenger side: Moog ES800248 (driver side part)

So essentially its as if Moog switched the curve of the outer tie rods from curving to the front of the car to curving to the rear. Here is a mechanical parts drawing from NissanUsa that shows the outer tie rods curving forward:

So I was wondering what is going on... why did Moog switch the orientation. I am not mistaking part numbers (I hope I'm not but please verify). There is a small "R" engraved on my part which I am assuming means right side, yet it is not the same as what my car has on the right side! You can see them all over ebay and Amazon. My three options were:

1) buy the factory part (last resort)

2) by the driver side OE part as well and replace both outer tie rods essentially changing the factory symmetry from curve facing the front to facing the back. I am just wondering why Moog designed the part like this and if there could be any problems. According to a Moog representative, this would mess up your steering/alignment so this option is BAD!

3) Send back the right side and buy the driver side part 248 to install in the passenger side.

I have contacted Moog again and was told basically that the part should match my car. He agreed that the designers probably flipped the orientation! He said there were no customer complaints surprisingly which means either no one has bought them yet or people just installed the part as is and had no problems? I am going to try option 3 if I can return the passenger side part. No one really replied helpfully, but I hope anyone else running into this will find it helpful. Basically, if you want to purchase this part from Moog, buy the part that looks like the one you need not the one they advertise is the left/right side!

 

[07Versa6MT]

Moog is one of the best aftermarket chassis/suspension parts companys out there. Theoretically it'll change where the ball joints specifically get loaded on the actual ball, and the stress on the rack, but it won't change significantly.

I remember that one time i put Chrysler 300 tie rods on backwards... haha, pulling out of the bay to go to the alignment rack "why won't it turn any more than that?"

 

[vinit]

Couple days ago I installed the advertised "passenger side" outer tie rod in the drivers side and the advertised "driver's side" part on the passenger side. Interestingly, when removing my old tie rods I discovered there is an "R" on the drivers side part and an "L" on the passenger side originals parts from the manufacturer (I don't believe mine were changed but I have not had the car for its full mileage).

I got an alignment and some major adjustments were made and the car seems to drive easier after the alignment. So Moog parts work since Goodyear never complained (the parts seem to be better than the manufacturer ones- they are greasable). Though perhaps Nissan makes greasable replacements now too, but I don't know.

Basically, I think the mix up is due to the manufacturer part having an L on the passenger side outer tie rod and an R on the drivers side. Moog probably designed their part from the manufacturer part but did not really look at the mechanical drawings. Moog is not the only ones to have done this but BECK ARNLEY has flopped the part as well as advertised on autopartswarehouse.com

Mavotech and CTR brands seem to have it right though.

So hopefully that helps anyone dealing with this dilemma.

 

[SomeTorque]

Just did the tie rod ends on my GF's 09 Versa with a set of Moog tie rod ends. I noticed this as well when installing and was initially going to install as suggested, but stumbled onto a few comments on amazon (where I purchased the tie rod ends) stating that someone else had contacted Moog about that, and that Moog had admitted that they inadvertently got the part numbers backwards.

I ended up installing them to match the OEM tie rod end symmetry and haven't had any issues thus far.