79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
Who's making decent stuff these days? I know it used to be Moog, but I've heard their quality isnt what it used to be. I need to do pretty much everything on my 06 Silverado.
CK5
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Parts store Steering and suspension parts
- Thread starter 79rustyk10
- Start date
i have had no problems with my moog stuff i have installed for me or friends .
my friend who owns his own shop does moog and mevotech ( ex moog guys ) plus a few other name brands .
just stay away from economy stuff / ebay pacgake deals to good to be a deal / economy parts store stuff . i had a guy bring me 4 ball joints 1 time from chain store and they were house brand . 1st one i went to tighten the nut down on pulled the threads off the stud of the ball joint .
if your not in a super hurry rockauto for great prices . just watch the locations for multi ship locations .
my friend who owns his own shop does moog and mevotech ( ex moog guys ) plus a few other name brands .
just stay away from economy stuff / ebay pacgake deals to good to be a deal / economy parts store stuff . i had a guy bring me 4 ball joints 1 time from chain store and they were house brand . 1st one i went to tighten the nut down on pulled the threads off the stud of the ball joint .
if your not in a super hurry rockauto for great prices . just watch the locations for multi ship locations .
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What he said. I have also had good luck with both Moog and Mevotech recently. Bought the parts real cheap from RockAuto. They also list a front end kit for many models which can save even more.
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
I've seen a lot of mevotech on rock auto. Just wasn't familiar enough with it to invest. With 235K on the truck its only gotta last 2-3 years now.
wasted wages
1 ton status
Occasionally rock auto has a fire sale on old stock for older vehicles... I bought every front end part for my 79 LUV truck for about about 45 bucks.... ball joints, tie rod ends, drag link, sway bar links, bushings...
two weeks later, I got an email from them saying that they were doing a clearance on all in stock parts for my LUV, so I bought every front brake part they had, Pads, ,calipers,wheel bearings, seals etc for about 60 bucks.
two weeks later, I got an email from them saying that they were doing a clearance on all in stock parts for my LUV, so I bought every front brake part they had, Pads, ,calipers,wheel bearings, seals etc for about 60 bucks.
I bought the long tie rod and short one,plus the adjusting sleeve at NAPA for my K2500 for $75,that was less than any other parts store or online option...I got the heavier duty 1" version vs the 7/8" one ,since that was what was on my truck..
They came in a plain white box with no brand name I can recall though,which made me a bit uneasy,none that I heard of before--but GM used such large ball & sockets on 4x4 tie rod ends I figured they will outlast the truck anyways..
My friend at his auto repair shop has had several Moog ball joints not last long on newer GM's with the independent front suspension and on a few Dodge Durango's,but those trucks seem to eat ball joints rapidly no matter what brand you put on them..
They came in a plain white box with no brand name I can recall though,which made me a bit uneasy,none that I heard of before--but GM used such large ball & sockets on 4x4 tie rod ends I figured they will outlast the truck anyways..
My friend at his auto repair shop has had several Moog ball joints not last long on newer GM's with the independent front suspension and on a few Dodge Durango's,but those trucks seem to eat ball joints rapidly no matter what brand you put on them..
lots of newer I.F.S suspension stuff you have to watch the clocking of the ball joint on the upper A-arms or it will fail fast as there designed to swing in/out in 1 range of motion . if you install them wrong ( not reading the directions ) it will fail fast .
The ones he installed came with new control arms,he said the cost was not that much more than ball joints alone,and since the trucks had rusted control arms and old worn out bushings he decided to go the easier way out and replace both at once..
Maybe the ball joints weren't installed right at the factory..?
Maybe the ball joints weren't installed right at the factory..?
China installed, the last upper A arms for my ranger at Napa and made in China. The price was still Moog.
I went to NAPA and requested Timken parts (wheel bearings)and the counter guy told me they buy from Mexico or China before American! I thought he was joking then he assured me he was VERY serious! Said if they could buy it elsewhere THEY DID! Company policy. Was the guy right? I don't know, I'm not a buyer for NAPA. That said, I don't go to NAPA for anything I can buy somewhere else.
Rock auto any more for them . Use to be autozone but they quite them a few years ago in favor of there house brand crap .
I gave up on "brand loyalty" many years ago,after I saw what the parts stores I worked at did when they got a better offer from a different supplier..
They would have a factory rep come in the store,take inventory of all the part numbers of a certain item,like front end/suspension parts,then determine which numbers were still "fast movers" and sold frequently,and which ones were duds that would likely sit there and rust for years..
Then they would get a bunch of new boxes with their brand & part number on it and cross reference the other brands numbers to their,and put them in their boxes.."Re-boxing" was very common back in the 80's and 90's ..
Sometimes this worked out in favor of the customer.like when one store changed their front end/suspension parts from Mquay-Norris and TRW to an "economy" line whose name I cant recall at the moment,the boxes were plain white with stick on labels that had moog and several other part numbers listed on the box--so you'd get a quality TRW or Mquay-Norris part for a bargain price..
Until all the "old stock" that was re-boxed anyways..then once those were all sold,the replacement ones from the "economy" line made wherever,were put in the boxes..many customers noted the "switch" too,and had gotten a false impression of the quality of the parts when the re-boxed "good stuff" suddenly didn't look the same or hold up like the "name brand" re-boxed ones did..
Most shops opted to buy elsewhere,or have us special order moog or TRW stuff in for the next day,which made the boss livid,he didn't make much profit on things we had to order from the warehouse,and tried going around to all the commercial garages trying to upsell the "bargain brand" saying "A ball joint is a ball joint.most are made in the same factory and put in 20 different brands boxes"..but many didn't buy that..or his bargain brand !..
So,no matter who's name is on the box,the part inside "might" be a good name brand one that was re-boxed--or a good brand name box might have a china cheapie in it at twice the price..
Many "good brands" names have been bought up by other companies ,they just wanted the "good reputation" ( like Callahan brake pads !) and are used to sell much lower quality parts than their former quality was too,profits over ride quality now..(and our safety sometimes too!)..
They would have a factory rep come in the store,take inventory of all the part numbers of a certain item,like front end/suspension parts,then determine which numbers were still "fast movers" and sold frequently,and which ones were duds that would likely sit there and rust for years..
Then they would get a bunch of new boxes with their brand & part number on it and cross reference the other brands numbers to their,and put them in their boxes.."Re-boxing" was very common back in the 80's and 90's ..
Sometimes this worked out in favor of the customer.like when one store changed their front end/suspension parts from Mquay-Norris and TRW to an "economy" line whose name I cant recall at the moment,the boxes were plain white with stick on labels that had moog and several other part numbers listed on the box--so you'd get a quality TRW or Mquay-Norris part for a bargain price..
Until all the "old stock" that was re-boxed anyways..then once those were all sold,the replacement ones from the "economy" line made wherever,were put in the boxes..many customers noted the "switch" too,and had gotten a false impression of the quality of the parts when the re-boxed "good stuff" suddenly didn't look the same or hold up like the "name brand" re-boxed ones did..
Most shops opted to buy elsewhere,or have us special order moog or TRW stuff in for the next day,which made the boss livid,he didn't make much profit on things we had to order from the warehouse,and tried going around to all the commercial garages trying to upsell the "bargain brand" saying "A ball joint is a ball joint.most are made in the same factory and put in 20 different brands boxes"..but many didn't buy that..or his bargain brand !..
So,no matter who's name is on the box,the part inside "might" be a good name brand one that was re-boxed--or a good brand name box might have a china cheapie in it at twice the price..
Many "good brands" names have been bought up by other companies ,they just wanted the "good reputation" ( like Callahan brake pads !) and are used to sell much lower quality parts than their former quality was too,profits over ride quality now..(and our safety sometimes too!)..
rampage
3/4 ton status
Illegal as f***. That’s called bait and switch. Any company that wants to stay in business will avoid doing that.
my local napa just swapped to car quest and they just stickered over the old box . so you know what your getting just there part # .
It may be "illegal" now,but as I said,every parts store I worked at from 1979-1994 all switched brands of parts from one to another,and 90% of the time the old stock was put in new boxes with the new manufacturers name on it..sometimes they did just slap a different label over the old boxes too though..
I remember one store having many issues with "Arrow" rebuilt water pumps--the store owners switched to A-1 Cardone,and the rep from the company came with a pile of new boxes and put the Arrow pumps in the box..a lot of our commercial garage customers wouldn't buy an Arrow pump after having poor luck with them,and the new box didn't fool them,the arrow pumps were painted orange,the A-1 Cardone pumps were blue or black..they raised a
storm with the boss ,saying he was selling "junk" in someone else's boxes..
We ended up having to order water pumps in whatever brand the garages prefered,and it took a long time to sell off the remaining Arrow pumps in the A-1 Cardone boxes to unsuspecting "walk in" customers..about half of them failed and leaked within a month of purchase..then they got a A-1 pump and they lasted a long time..
I hear that company's reputation went from one of the best in the industry,to poor lately...probably was bought out,like most every company and brand name I used to sell back then,many have gone out of business or other "big names" bought them up..
I remember one store having many issues with "Arrow" rebuilt water pumps--the store owners switched to A-1 Cardone,and the rep from the company came with a pile of new boxes and put the Arrow pumps in the box..a lot of our commercial garage customers wouldn't buy an Arrow pump after having poor luck with them,and the new box didn't fool them,the arrow pumps were painted orange,the A-1 Cardone pumps were blue or black..they raised a
storm with the boss ,saying he was selling "junk" in someone else's boxes..We ended up having to order water pumps in whatever brand the garages prefered,and it took a long time to sell off the remaining Arrow pumps in the A-1 Cardone boxes to unsuspecting "walk in" customers..about half of them failed and leaked within a month of purchase..then they got a A-1 pump and they lasted a long time..
I hear that company's reputation went from one of the best in the industry,to poor lately...probably was bought out,like most every company and brand name I used to sell back then,many have gone out of business or other "big names" bought them up..
rampage
3/4 ton status
It may be "illegal" now,but as I said,every parts store I worked at from 1979-1994 all switched brands of parts from one to another,and 90% of the time the old stock was put in new boxes with the new manufacturers name on it..sometimes they did just slap a different label over the old boxes too though..
I remember one store having many issues with "Arrow" rebuilt water pumps--the store owners switched to A-1 Cardone,and the rep from the company came with a pile of new boxes and put the Arrow pumps in the box..a lot of our commercial garage customers wouldn't buy an Arrow pump after having poor luck with them,and the new box didn't fool them,the arrow pumps were painted orange,the A-1 Cardone pumps were blue or black..they raised a
We ended up having to order water pumps in whatever brand the garages prefered,and it took a long time to sell off the remaining Arrow pumps in the A-1 Cardone boxes to unsuspecting "walk in" customers..about half of them failed and leaked within a month of purchase..then they got a A-1 pump and they lasted a long time..
I hear that company's reputation went from one of the best in the industry,to poor lately...probably was bought out,like most every company and brand name I used to sell back then,many have gone out of business or other "big names" bought them up..
Bait and switch isn’t some new thing. I learned about it in ‘80 and I’m sure it was illegal long before that. But from all the other stories you’ve told about your boss it doesn’t surprise me that he’d do something shady like this. Maybe that’s why he went out of business.
This went down at all 4 parts stores I worked at !..it was common practice back then I guess..and I bet its still ongoing today too..
As long as the 'new brand" stands behind the parts they re-boxed as if they were their own,I doubt its illegal ,but I agree its not good business practice..your paying for a "good" brand but might be getting a p-o-s !.
As long as the 'new brand" stands behind the parts they re-boxed as if they were their own,I doubt its illegal ,but I agree its not good business practice..your paying for a "good" brand but might be getting a p-o-s !.
Since all parts come off the same hand full of assembly lines it does not matter what brand you buy anymore. The only way to get a better part is if the parts store offers a premium line of parts or an O.E. line of parts.
I sell both Moog and CARQUEST(driveworks) I have noticed I am having more Moog warranties than before, including out of box failures. CARQUEST stuff is all Chinese crap....
I will still use Moog.
I will still use Moog.
I just picked these up on amazon for my 44
