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autozone parts

88k5blazin

88k5blazin

1/2 ton status
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Nov 27, 2006
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Location
clark new jersey
Im looking to replace my upper and lower balljoints and shocks on a 2004 dodge ram pickup soon. I know autozone is generally cheaper then most parts stores but how is the quality of their duralast parts compared to something i may get from napa or another local parts deal. i'm scared to even see what parts may cost from the dealership. Would anyone advise against using non dealership parts for my daily driver or are they still reliabe enough. is there another company that actually makes the parts for duralast or are they their own parts manufactuerer?
 
Something like ball joints, go for the best, MOOG. Nothing less. Cheap parts cost less for a reason.
 
TECH IN THE LOUNGE RUN SAVE YOUR SELF . :zombie15:

i dont care for there suspension and steering parts quality even on prem stuff.

been doing auto repair for over 10 years now . i tend to buy parts all over for the quality level and it takes a bit longer but i have much less comebacks and better life span in the end.

if i want timken = autozone . if i want trw = advanced . if i want monro shocks = napa . you get the point. for top quality its not 1 stop shoping anymore.

there is lots of much better than off the self ball joints for these trucks now. cost more up front but way better in the end.

if me i would also plan on spicer u-joints on the axles when there out since your in there now.

just did 4 b/j and spicers on buddys truck 2500 cummins truck. send him a pm for the brand he had me install. http://coloradok5.com/forums/member.php?u=52422
 
ya so i will sell you old worn out for that price .

tellin ya years of doing this every day and being a front end 4x4 guy in the shop i get lots of them over the years.

autozone stuff in my opinion is JUNK for ball joints and steering . it works but not the best bang for the buck . and time / labor to install why do it 2x.

had one guy do his own 4 ball joints with autozone ones. come in for alignment and i checked the front end out like a good tech does and all 4 new b/j from autozone were bad. ( the bag and empty boxes with recipt on pass seat ) that was a bad day for that guy . he had to do it 2x cause he tryed to save a buck in the wrong area.

and some of there steering parts dont use locknuts or cotter pins when the factory and other aftermarkets do . what is up with that.

just be warned you might not like the results.
 
I buy OEM parts if at all possible.

Im sick of replacing parts store junk multiple times.

I did however use a cheapie tie rod end 6 months ago jut to get by for a while, knowing there will be a full front suspension rebuild in the near future.
 
Any thoughts on national ball bearing parts. I am also in need of a throwout bearing for a jeep. Last i heard these parts were will made in usa. Are they considered a quality manufacturer?
 
The Duarlast suspension parts are Moog. Was told this fom the store manager and a few other people I know that work their. i need to try and get the paper that has the info.
 
bronc3buster842001 said:
The Duarlast suspension parts are Moog. Was told this fom the store manager and a few other people I know that work their. i need to try and get the paper that has the info.
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They may be manufactured by Federal Mogul, But highly doubt that they are the Flagship Moog parts. Moog chassis and steering in my opinion is by far ahead of any other OE replacement part. I can't imagine they would let them be branded Duralast with the amount of technology that they put into them. I attended any product knowledge courses I could when they came through my area. But then again I've been wrong one other time in my life :rolleyes:
 
I worked for an independent shop for 10 years. Then went to a jeep/Chrysler/dodge dealer about 7 years ago. Nowadays, There are very few things that i will buy or install that aren't factory parts. 95% of the time they are far superior to aftermarket. Buy the O.E parts and they will last for the same amount of miles the first ones did.
 
I'm assuming we're talking about a solid axle truck, as I have no experience with IFS parts on anything.

Do yourself a favor, spend the money on carli or dynatrack balljoints and dont look back. I've been saving for awhile to do this myself.

1BEATK5 said:
I worked for an independent shop for 10 years. Then went to a jeep/Chrysler/dodge dealer about 7 years ago. Nowadays, There are very few things that i will buy or install that aren't factory parts. 95% of the time they are far superior to aftermarket. Buy the O.E parts and they will last for the same amount of miles the first ones did.
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So you'd put factory balljoints back in a HD dodge truck with an AAM front end if you were paying for it out of pocket? :popcorn:

I'll have to disagree with this statement for chrysler suspension components. I've had nothing but problems with ball joints, Tie rod ends and track bars. All of the parts I had replaced under warranty failed fairly quickly. I had my second set of ball joints fail in 9,000 miles. The tie rod ends I had done at the same time failed in 30k, one actually dropped out going down the road. Started replacing steering components with moog parts. Seem to be good so far. Put moog bushings in the track bar, they wear out in 5-10k, but they keep replacing them under warranty, so I keep replacing them.

Here's a link to some information on Moogs..

http://carlisuspension.blogspot.com/2009/09/carli-upper-ball-joints-w-moog-lowers.html
 
bronc3buster842001 said:
The Duarlast suspension parts are Moog. Was told this fom the store manager and a few other people I know that work their. i need to try and get the paper that has the info.
Click to expand...

Hold the duralast next to the moog parts and you will see the difference! The moog parts are beefy!
 
if its a moog part in that duralast box it will have MOOG on the part.

i used to work for an auto parts store and we supplied the dealers with our aftermarket parts, so beware when having a dealer install something, it may not be OEM.

only two things i will by from autozone is TIMKEN and SPICER and even then i look up the part numbers myself, ive never met an autozone employee who knew what the hell they were doing. ive had an autozone employee call me when i worked for the competitor and ask how many spark plugs a 454 took.
 
tomtom said:
Hold the duralast next to the moog parts and you will see the difference! The moog parts are beefy!
Click to expand...

I have, and they are the same thing. **** the grease caps are even plated the same goldish color and have damn moog numbers around the edge of them.

Im sorry but Im going to have to disagree here. Duralast suspension components are Moog, thats not a lie. And the price reflects that. Durlast isnt cheap like Advance autos "OEM Replacement" line.


That being said I wouldnt buy a factory type balljoint from anywhere for a 4wd chrysler vehicle. Not sure if your rig is a 2500/3500 with a straight axle up front but polyperformance/synergy suspension has superior redesigned balljoints for a lot of applications that came with the plastic liners.

They basically made good old style spicer design balljoints to replace the new crappy design.
 
Its just a 1500. The worst part is that i dont even want this truck anymore. Id like something newer and bigger but i just cant convince myself to jump back into the truck payment club. Unfortunately the front end is getting pretty bad so i def need to do something about it
 
There has to be a reputable aftermarket company out there that supports the IFS dodge platform with something similar to what Im talking about.
 
You know, I've always believed that the Autozone ball joints were junk, so I've been waiting for them to fail. The thing is - they haven't. They've been in my 10-bolt for like 6 years - the last couple with H1 wheels and tires.:dunno:.
Lifetime warranty is nice, but doing 4 balljoints takes like a 1/2-day almost, so a truly durable part would be best.

You never know with a place like Autozone, though. When you go back for warranty parts, they may have changed suppliers, designs, etc. and the new ones could be better or worse. So you can't draw sweeping conclusions like "Duralast is junk" because they slap that brand name on parts from countless manufacturers. So brakes could be dramatically better than starters, for example. Even if you know the manufacturer, you don't know if the parts are really identical to the name brand. Then when you think you have it figured out, they will change the part numbers, change suppliers or make some changes to save a few cents. But I think the price will tell you something. When Valuecraft is $26 and Duralast is $68, there is probably a big difference in what you get.
 
After seeing how many "name brand" parts like Moog have come back defective in a short time,my friend who runs a repair garage now just buys whatever brand he finds that is cheapest...just because Moog once HAD a good reputation ,doesn't mean they dont "re-box" other imported parts into their boxes and sell them for higher prices...its a crap shoot as to what part is really IN that "name brand" box nowadays....Moog now has factories in Mexico and China just like every other brand does,also....................................................................................................when I worked in auto parts stores,it was common for the owners to take on a different brand of parts,and a factory rep would come in,and have a stash of new boxes,and they would take the "old" brands parts and swap them into the new boxes...so that "Airtex" water pump I sold as "new" may well have been an A-1 Cardone rebuilt 2 weeks ago!--and those "National" seals may have been in Mquay-Norris boxes a month ago!.....you never know what your getting really...especially today!..............................................................................................Dealer parts "might" be higher quality,but many aren't too,and the price there is almost always higher ...I buy from dealers only if no one else has listings for the parts--and more often than not,FORD is the worst offender for having "dealer only" parts...they are the last to let patents expire so aftermarket brands like Dorman can start reproduction on former "dealer only" parts...often I go to junkyards and get a "good used part" instead of paying the ransom Ford dealers charge for them...(and usually there is always more than one choice of parts when dealing with Fords,and if you happen to guess wrong and order the one that dont fit--no refunds!)................................................................................................I recently bought an es-2026R draglink end for my truck---looked online and saw places like Rock Auto had numerous choices of brands,with prices ranging from 15 bucks to as high as 60 bucks...................................................................................................I decided to call around locally,and I was surprised to find Autozone was nowhere near as low as Napa and many of the other stores I called...I ended up buying one for 13.99 + tax just a mile from my house at an Allied Auto parts store,for a "Parts Master" brand one,being unemployed and unable to afford anything costing more...when I opened the box,I saw "MOOG" stamped on the gold cap that had the grease fitting in it...after seeing how some MOOG parts haven't held up for long lately,I'm not sure if I should have been happy,or dissapointed to see that!...but anything was safer than the one I replaced,that was ready to pop apart any day..........................................lately,being broke,I shop for the cheapest price,and hope the part I get isn't "counterfit" and made of recycled crap from China...so far everything has worked OK...
 
Autozone sucks donkey balls. I would guess if there are a few particular ball joint applications that are the same as Moog, it's because their cheap supplier doesn't make that model so they have to use the Moog.

I would only use Moog or Dana/Spicer for a ball joint if they make it. I agree with everyone else, I don't like doing stuff twice.

It's like Farley said in Tommy boy, "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed I will. I got spare time. But for now, and for your customers sake, for your daughters sake, you might want to think about buying a quality product from me." :cool1:
 
i try to use moog parts on my suspention if possible.i didnt know they werent a good brand anymore.i have moog balljoints in now,but not much miles on them.maybe a couple thousand.my truck isnt daily driven anymore either.i also stick to 35 inch tires for now as well so they should last a while.
 
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