Ball Joints/Tie Rod Ends What Brand????

[OkieFishMan]

Thanks for the info guys!! Any opinions on Rare Parts ball joints and tie rod ends??

 

[OkieFishMan]

Rock Auto reviews Mevotech Supreme as being good replacements. After looking, I may just go ahead and do complete control arms. I don't have a press to do the ball joints, and I figure at 33 years, the bushing in the control arm pivots are probably shot anyhow. Mevotech is engineered in Canada. I figure its either those or Delco Professional. Which shall it be? I'll be the guinea pig and report in periodically once I get it done.

 

[CSFJ]

Rock Auto reviews Mevotech Supreme as being good replacements. After looking, I may just go ahead and do complete control arms. I don't have a press to do the ball joints, and I figure at 33 years, the bushing in the control arm pivots are probably shot anyhow. Mevotech is engineered in Canada. I figure its either those or Delco Professional. Which shall it be? I'll be the guinea pig and report in periodically once I get it done.

Fwiw, the guy I used to work with that opened his own front end shop, uses Mevotech as his first choice for replacement parts. He's been really happy with the quality. I would hope the Delco Professional would be the same as OEM, but I haven't seen any yet to compare.

 

[Craig 85]

OkieFishMan I used Rare parts once before while building a '64 Cutlass. It had an a one year only center link and they were the only ones that carried it. It was a good quality part.

I went to my Napa store yesterday to get my tie rods and drag links. I moved to my current home 2 years ago from the SF Bay Area and had used NAPA forever. I found out the new local Napa is an independant store (this company has 12 stores) and actually does not always carry Napa brands. They also did not fill my on-line order that I placed 4 days ago. I went with the parts they had on hand as they were Federal Mogul parts. Moog is one of their brands. Napa has them listed as "Quick Steer."

I opened the box for one of my drag links and saw the part in photo #1. I was happy with the boot and it's retention. Well, I got home and opened the other boxes and those boots were all like photo#2. You can see even in the box the grease is already leaking. They move smoothly and look like quality parts except for the boots. I'll probably keep them, but buy urethane boots. My truck will probably only due 1-2k miles a year after restoration.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[OkieFishMan]

Fwiw, the guy I used to work with that opened his own front end shop, uses Mevotech as his first choice for replacement parts. He's been really happy with the quality. I would hope the Delco Professional would be the same as OEM, but I haven't seen any yet to compare.

I've had one other person locally that likes the Mevotech stuff. I may end up giving those a try. Thanks!!

 

[Crispy]

I usually go with Moog. But on my old Jeep XJ I used Mevotech tie rods and track bar. They held up well over the 25k miles I put on them before I sold the Jeep.

 

[Battlac40]

I'm surprised at that statement, too. I have never seen a Moog boot leak unless I pumped in too much grease. I've never seen one split, either. They must use some seriously good rubber that's unaffected by lubricants.

Awhile back the recession took its toll on Moog and the newer ones arent the same as they used to be.
The ones on my truck as sweet but I got some for my '69 T-Bird that were junk I had the guys dig me up some old ones..

 

[Battlac40]

ORD makes good ones and a line of other goodies.
No china parts!

 

[OkieFishMan]

ORD makes good ones and a line of other goodies.
No china parts!

Thanks for the info!!

 

[foamypirate]

I guess a little leaking grease never bothered me. It's a minor inconvenience if the part otherwise works fine, in my book. One minute with a paper towel after greasing them and all is well.

 

[OkieFishMan]

I'm leaning towards Rare Parts. Reviews of Mevotech are so so, but Rare Parts seems to have mostly great reviews. Feedback locally seems to like both.

Off Road Design only deals in 4x4 goods, so they are of no help to me on this project.

 

[OkieFishMan]

Rare Parts is more than double the cost of Mevotech though!!!

 

[MikeB]

I just did a bunch of research on-line for tie rods and drag links for my truck. I first looked at Rock Auto to get some part numbers and then started to look at local parts places. O'Reillys, Autozone and Napa all had the same part number as the Moog parts on Rock Auto. They were all branded under their inhouse names. .

Seems that using a major manufacturer's part numbers is common these days. It just makes things lot simpler for customers. In no way does that mean the cheaper parts are made by Moog. It's kind of like my post above mentioning the $3 and $17 tie rod ends. No way is the $3 version made by Moog, regardless of it's P/N.

 

[84c10Tony]

Hi guys,
Thinking about this and had an exstrainious'* weird odd goofy nerd thought for a test, and only a test, buy the absolute cheapest for one side, then the best Moog for the other side (most likely drivers side , give the same 2-3 hand grease pumps of Slick50 grease in each fitting which should just start to swell the boots. (or your preferred syn grease)
Log date and miles, inspect in 50 miles (photos and update for us), then 5k miles or every oil change (photos and update for us). Only a test for which would last longer, use at your own risk and on your own test track for safety reasons, always wear a helmet and safety glasses, and remember to wear good safety boots...lol.

For myself, I would want all Moog's best top of the line, then Oem top of the line.

I bought a complete full Moog front end part set for my 83 Toyota pickup, Koyo bearings, even Italian Brembo rotors and drums, it all sits here in my cabin due to the spine and hands quit working...sigh.
Still glad I had bought Moog, (and a Lot of Japan OEM other stuff) it is nice to look at and dream about lol. Oh well, the next guy will have a Ton of great parts for the future lol.

Either way, I appreciate High Quality, and usually, what you put in, is what you get out.

 

[MikeB]

I figure at 33 years, the bushing in the control arm pivots are probably shot anyhow. Mevotech is engineered in Canada. I figure its either those or Delco Professional. Which shall it be? I'll be the guinea pig and report in periodically once I get it done.

I recently rebuilt my C10's front end and used Energy Suspension control arm bushings. Easy to install, less deflection than rubber, and they won't crack. Liberal use of the supplied grease will prevent squeaks. Had a set on a 55 Chevy for nearly 10 years with never a squeak.