I finished putting new shocks on my 03' FX4 (extended cab) this morning. While I was working on the front shocks, I noticed how trashed my tie rod ends, ball joint rubbers, etc were- I'm assuming these are all original, there are no grease zerts on any of them. SO I went to the ol rock' of auto (rockauto.com) and ordered a mevotech kit that has all the components to replace these parts. I've heard plenty about MOOG, and they've been around a long time. I have used their bushings in other vehicles, but I thought I'd give Mevotech a try......I like the color of their bushings (I know...stupid reason, but my inner 16 year old won that argument). Has anyone else had experience with Mevotech, what was your experience, and why did you choose them over Moog?? By the way.....on the shocks- Bilstein 4600's all the way for stock height trucks. My ranchos were the original that came with the truck......they were trashed. The new shocks made my truck ride like new again.

 

Be glad you didn't go with moog, I used moog on my '03 and they didn't last long.

 

I replaced my upper control arms with moog and then did it again a couple years later..... At least RockAuto warrantied the parts, even if it is up to me to supply the several hours of labor.

Maybe they changed them now, but a couple of years ago the boots on the ball joints were some horrible plastic that just broke no time. How hard is it to get a rubber boot..... Instead of saving $.25 and putting in some cheap Chinese plastic that falls apart in a year.

Mine probably need replacing again but I haven't looked.

 

When I worked for GM they normally had at least three suppliers for most of the parts they used to build cars. They did this so they didn't have to shut down the line if a supplier couldn't deliver parts for some unforeseen reason like a strike, blant burns down, or they go out of business. For all of these suppliers GM would inspect their manufacturing process and quality control program to make sure they were making parts that meet their standards. They also inspected the parts as they arrived at the factory. When the GM parts division needed parts for the replacement parts market, they would take the parts out of the factory inventory and put them in a "Genuine GM Parts" box to sell them to GM dealers. Bottom line, when you buy a "Genuine GM Part" you are buying a part made by any one of GM's suppliers. There are some parts like shock absorbers that companies make specifically for the replacement market and most of these provide a better quality than the OEM. There are a lot more parts that are just bought from an OEM supplier and put in a box with some ones name on it. It doesn't make sense for somebody to make an investment in all the machinery and tooling to make something like a ball joint or tie rod end. I don't know if MOOG makes their own part or if they buy them from a OEM supplier and put them in their box. If they do get them from and OEM supplier, they probably inspect the supplier's quality control program and take other action to make sure they are getting high quailty parts. An OEM might also use the same parts they make for GM, Ford, and others and put them in a box with the OEM's name on it and sell them to the replacement market. It wouldn't make sense that they would make one level of quality for the OEM market and a lower quality for the replacement market.

All this said, there are a lot of parts that are made specifically for the replacements market because the parts are better than those offered by the OEM. Shock absorbers are an example of this. I recently replace the intake manifold gasket on my 4.6 engine with a gasket made by the auto supplier that makes gaskets for Ford and others. The OEM gasket sold to Ford was not all that good and was easy to tear or leak if not installed properly. Ford did not have a problem with it because they used a robot to put the engine together and all went well way beyond the warrenty on the vehicle. The replacement gasket I bought was muich more durable than the OEM and easier to install with no leaks or problems. Over the years I have also bought a lot of parts that have somebody's name on them like ball joints, tie rod ends, coils, water pumps, starters, alternators, and not had problems. I figure I am getting the same quality parts as the parts sold to Ford.