ltooz_a6_a8_q7

I did replace the new tires a few weeks ago, the alignment was checked and adjusted but not completely since the tie rod ends were frozen. I checked the tire today after a few hundred miles and the outside seemed to be worn out.
I'm not going with a cheap brand this time, which brand is OEM? There are 2 sections in the assembly, can I reuse the inner metal part one? I only care about the knuckle to be good. Do OEM sell as assembly?
Beck Arnley 101-5992 Tie Rod Assembly
The same one is used on both sides? I need 2 of the same one?
Thanks,
Louis

MP4.2+6.0

OES is Lemforder. From experience I would NOT just replace the outers. First, they are likely frozen on the shaft so much that heat and vice level force still wont crack the threads, and you have to pull the assembly out often even to try to separate them. More importantly, the inside ball is probably the smaller of the two. From my 2000 A6 4.2 experience, it was the inners rather than outers that first showed the wear and play. If (when) the steering rack starts to leak slightly at the end seals, one or both sides also end up bathed in a weird mix of their precision assembly HD grease and then 10+ year old dirty hydraulic fluid.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

The only way is to remove the wheels and check? I'm so lazy working in the cold, although it's sunny. Hopefully the tires will hold until Summer. OEM don't sell the whole assembly?
Cheers,
Louis

MP4.2+6.0

The assembly is just the outer screwed into the inner, whether bought as a set or bought as two parts and then screwed together. Thus easy to assemble anyway. That is, it doesn't have the old intermediate sleeve that joins the two like classic American car designs. Seems like the Beck Arnley choice may be the only one sold as a set; Rock Auto has it too. RM European and sometimes AutohausAZ are often my go to places for these OES type parts.

Hardest part of job is the inner boot clamp. You have to pull boot off to get it in between the two rod components--another reason the combined set type don't matter except for hope of lower price. Major pain in butt if you use the OE single use squeeze type like you find on CV boots. The problem is there is almost no side access to squeeze the clamp given where it falls relative to the frame. I use a type that squeezes it from the (out)side akin to jointed pliers. Prep for that too, including whatever you plan to use for clamps, whether OE style or otherwise. Honestly I have seen some just use a decent sized plastic tie strap pulled as tight as possible. I personally prefer to keep things OE/stock.

03_AR_CO

These might work well for the inner clamp:

https://www.belmetric.com/oetiker-ea...qc297980c5p512

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

Thanks, but why no one is using the screw clamp instead of these?

MP4.2+6.0

Same problem. Take a look. There is no space to access the clamp along its side edge--where the screw would be on that sort of clamp, whether hex head or screw head. If you did it, you would have to use a little ignition type wrench and turn it a whole bunch of times a fraction of a revolution. Like Mister Bally says, when they build Audi's, the very first part they lay down on on the assembly line is not the body, it's the steering rack.