Fellow Chat members, just had changed all tie rods on my 2004 Scaglietti, 25.000 miles, with the complete ones changed in the rear and only the ends in the front. Reading from the forum this seems to be a weak point on the Scal., also was told that the rear tie rod specs have been changed by Ferrari to a new one which might be better. Any experience from anybody? To me 25K miles is not normal to change those parts. My Audi A6 has more than 150.000 miles on the clock without changing anything on the chassis. I am driving the A6 with almost the same speeds on German Freeways than with my Ferrari. Anything else expected to fail on the chassis at certain times in the 612 like shocks or wishbones? Thanks Stefan
You actually did well. Both my v12's needed them at more like 15k miles. It's an unusual item to be consumable, but on the 612, 599, and I believe the F430 as well, they are indeed consumables. My 599 also needed new ball joints at the same time, but sourced those from Hill, so my expectation is that's the last time I'll need ball joints. Magnaride shocks on the 599's are an issue. They often get leaky around the same mileage, 15-20k. Mine are. I don't know if OTO's were available with magnaride or not but I've not heard anything about early 612 shock problems.
Try the upgraded Hill Engineering ones: Ferrari Parts : 194794 BALL TIE ROD : Ricambi America They are less expensive, and will probably last much longer than the originals.
On my 2007 Lexus LS460 the control arms typically need to be replaced at anywhere between 40K and 70K. I had my uppers replaced at 70K. Thankfully it was still under warranty. It would have cost $1100, and if all the control arms had to be replaced it would have been about $3000. Lexus has since corrected the problem and cars built after 2008 do not have this problem. I'm not looking forward to this problem with my 612. I'm guessing it will be much more than the Lexus repair cost.
Ball joints only. Ferrari tries to sell you the whole assembly but have Hill as an option for the ball joint only.
Are you sure that Hiil is offering the inner part of the rear tie rod? Because that's what failed in my 612 and you're right, Ferrari offers either the whole part or the outer end only but not the inner part separately.
Thanks man. I regurgitate a great deal from better resources like Terry but have learned a little along the way from my own experiences. Sorry, I was only referring to the front ball joints, which Ferrari sells now as a complete assembly at $3000 a side. Hill offers a nice, beefy ball joint option at $800 a side. As for the rear tie rods, I don't know if there's an option other than genuine Ferrari. Both times I had them replaced, the seller paid for them so I didn't look into lower cost options, just let Ferrari of Washington take care of it.
I just had my car in for annual service and a few other changes. One of those was to replace rear inner ball joints, per initial PPI. It turns out it needed 6 ball joints replaced (2 front / 4 rear). From what I understand, there are 10 of those in the 612. All were lower joints, which I guess get majority of the abuse. I was also told the front ball joints were in worse shape than the rears that were replaced. They used the Hill Engineering ones, which get glued up into place. Ferrari believes only they can do that, which is why their dealers want you to replace the whole assembly instead. Glad I didn't do that. It still cost me plenty to complete, but I'll tell you that the car's ride is dramatically better. Much less jarring and the car doesn't jump around on road imperfections like it used to. I guess I've learned a new appreciation for ball joints.
Didn't realize I'd already commented on this thread when I saw the update on my phone earlier. Sorry to be redundant.
