Ball joints, Tie rods- What brand should I get

[Kyle]

I have a 2001 Chevy Blazer LT 4×4
I need everything for the front end: Ball joints, tie rods, Pitman arm, idler arm

$70 a piece for Moog Ball joints is ridiculous in my book

I plan to keep the truck for a while and don’t want to waste the cost of the alignment.

Ive looked into the Raybestos service grade- Price looks good-not sure about quality

Are any of the Parts store house brands of decent quality?

Was looking at Mevotech on Summit, price looks ok, once again not sure about quality.

So what do you use and what kind of service life do you get out of them.

Anyone know what the dealer charges for these?

Topic

[Bill]

In my opinion Moog is the best and that’s why you pay more. Raybestos is crap. Mevotech is a lower cost alternative that has a good warranty.

Dealer parts are not the same as was installed at the factory and as far as cost you would have to inquire.

No matter what brand you install, if you don’t keep them well lubed with high quality chassis grease none of them will last very long.

[Rudy Wilmoth]

🙂 I would get the Moog parts, no matter how much they cost. It is a good American company and the quality is a known item, the Chinese made parts, even from name manufactures are not as good as the old American made parts. You may want to look at NAPA also for your parts, but I can’t verify where their parts are made any more. Good Luck.

[Kyle]

Is Master Ride Chassis from Napa any good?

[William]

Any house brand will get you by, basically. If you’re looking for quality, you’re most likely going to pay more.

Also, take into consideration the life of your vehicle and how well it has been taken care of by previous owners, and yourself. Ball joints aren’t too much of an issue since they aren’t a component that takes a ton of time to replace, but on a 12 year old vehicle, are brand-new, expensive Moog ball joints and tie rods worth it?

It all depends on what you want, but for the most part money = quality. Find out what the high-end brand support, too. Do they support any race leagues, NASCAR or otherwise? Could be a good indication of a solid product. Just be wary of house brands. 🙂

[Bluesnut]

The road surfaces and environmental conditions have more to do with longevity than the brand of the part.
The roads here are horrible and just for the latest example; I just replaced the left front upper control arm (MOOG) on my car (again) after 35k miles and still have to do the right front. (again)

Next on the agenda is replacing the 2 lower MOOG ball joints in my daughter’s car (again) and which only have about 30k greased miles on them. The outer tie rod ends and tie rods (MOOG) have already been swapped out previously. It’s the roads more than anything.

Most steering and suspension components are made by the same company no matter if it’s car manufacturer OEM or aftermarket. TRW, MOOG, or whatever; same company; sometimes different plant.

The last MOOG ball joints I put in my car even had TRW stamped dust boots and TRW is what Fords are fitted with on the assembly line; just as an example.

[Joshua Thompson]

Im driving a 20 year old pickup. Im replacing the ball joints, tie rods, sway bar links, rubbers, and all the shocks. I have 20 dollar ball joints and I have 45 dollar ball joints(which are MOOG). Im going with MOOG. I would rather spend the money and replace them once instead of doing it twice at half the cost.. I plan on having this pickup a while longer. I do not want parts that are going to break in a year or stop holding an alignment as soon as I roll if off the rack.

You get what you pay for.

[Author]

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