Control arms - Raybestos vs Motorcraft vs Moog vs others?

[johnwartjr]

My wife's 96 Explorer limited is still chugging along, around 180k.

We expect to change it from 'daily driver' status to 'spare vehicle' in the next few months, as it's pretty tight with 3 kids in the back seat. That, and the body is rusting in a few areas. On the bright side, the drivetrain is still solid, and the tires are newer, and I put new front hubs on it last year.

The ball joints on the truck have all been replaced. Twice I think, but I'd have to really dig to find all the maintenance notes. It may be that some have been replaced twice, and some have been replaced once.

The drivers front tire is wearing on the inner most tread block, and has some negative camber. I'm not sure if it's control arm bushings or ball joints, but my thought is, just replace the control arm, and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Motorcraft parts seem the most expensive. If they are worth the extra $$, so be it..

Rock Auto has Moog, Raybestos, and some other brands. I've never used Raybestos, but the P71 guys seem to like their products.

What brand do you use, and recommend, comparing price to quality? I'm OK with a good 'middle of the road' choice...

Thanks!

 

[Maniak]

I use Raybestos Profession Grade stuff now. Especially for ball joints and control arms (which have ball joints).

I was going through Moog ball joints pretty fast and then found that the spicer ones worked really well and were a bunch stronger.

As it turns out.. Raybestos Professional grade ball joints are spicer...

I have them on the Mustang, Explorer and I just ordered a set of upper arms (with ball joints) for the honda.. Depending on how fast I need them, I either order from RockAuto or Amazon.

~Mark

 

[johnwartjr]

Are you using the 'OEM Replacement' or 'Advanced Technology' parts?

The upper is available both ways - the advanced technology being about $30 more than the 'OEM replacement'

On Raybestos' site, they don't explain what you get with advanced technology

 

[Maniak]

Are you using the 'OEM Replacement' or 'Advanced Technology' parts?

The upper is available both ways - the advanced technology being about $30 more than the 'OEM replacement'

On Raybestos' site, they don't explain what you get with advanced technology

I've never seen the Advanced technology thing before.. I've always seen Service grade and Professional Grade.

I did just check rockauto the the Professional Grade is $32 and the Advanced technology is $41.. But I don't know what the difference is.

This page shows some differences between them..
http://www.raybestoschassis.com/wps...tent/Products/General/Control+Arm+Assemblies/

HOWEVER, What bothers me is they show the black boot on the balljoint on the Professional grade on that page above. The Blue boot Raybestos is supposed to be spicer which, so far, has always been on the professional grade joints/arms I've gotten.

On top of that, I don't see the service grade. I wonder if they are getting rid of service grade and moving professional to advanced technology..

Great.. /s just when I find parts I like they change the names.. sigh...

~Mark

 

[johnwartjr]

That helps, thanks, I was looking in the wrong place I guess.

I could be wrong - but I need parts for the drivers side of a 96 limited with a 4.0 V6

The part #s I get are

502-1021 or 502-1021B for upper - $69 vs $34
507-1144 for lower, $74.79

 

[Maniak]

You have the right p/ns.. When I looked I looked at right upper and they have a cheaper p/n BUT the picture doesn't look right (its adjustable).. BUT what you found looks right.

Check those part #'s on Amazon too. The free 2nd day shipping or $4 overnight shipping (For Prime members) makes getting parts somewhat fast a decent price.

I still use my local stores if I need it today, but if not, I usually mail order it.

~Mark

 

[obie]

I really like the Moog Problem Solver control arms, and use them on both of my Explorers. I've never had a single problem with any Moog part on any vehicle I've owned. Some members have reported that the Raybestos lower control arms cause issues with the torsion bars being indexed wrong and causing ride height to be massively lower. I don't know if this has been fixed yet.

Whatever brand you go with, make sure to give them additional grease. They only come with enough to keep them from rusting during shipping and storage. Lots of failures I've seen from people not greasing them after installing.

 

[rs2k]

Has anyone used Dorman?

 

[DjDom]

I've never seen the Advanced technology thing before.. I've always seen Service grade and Professional Grade.

I did just check rockauto the the Professional Grade is $32 and the Advanced technology is $41.. But I don't know what the difference is.

This page shows some differences between them..
http://www.raybestoschassis.com/wps...tent/Products/General/Control+Arm+Assemblies/

HOWEVER, What bothers me is they show the black boot on the balljoint on the Professional grade on that page above. The Blue boot Raybestos is supposed to be spicer which, so far, has always been on the professional grade joints/arms I've gotten.

On top of that, I don't see the service grade. I wonder if they are getting rid of service grade and moving professional to advanced technology..

Great.. /s just when I find parts I like they change the names.. sigh...

~Mark

Hmm, now that you mention this, I was going to get moog upper control arms/ball joints, but the raybestos are $30 cheaper..

Are these the ones you're talking about?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004976&cc=1119686
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004933&cc=1119686

 

[Maniak]

Hmm, now that you mention this, I was going to get moog upper control arms/ball joints, but the raybestos are $30 cheaper..

Are these the ones you're talking about?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004976&cc=1119686
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004933&cc=1119686

Those are the uppers (professional grade) for both sides and the 5001090b (first link) is the one that says adjustable.. the adjustable is cheaper(right side).. (no idea why)..

The two upper "right" arm pictures on rockauto are different mount styles (adjustable and non adjustable). I don't know how accurate their pictures are. Whenever I run into that I look up images for that part # on the 'net and see if I can find a customer photo (not a stock photo)..

You can also call rockauto as they are pretty good about know what they have..

You can always look in the Rabestos catalog/application guide and see what they list too.

I have a pair of raybestos upper arms coming in the mail for the honda on Saturday and I didn't see any "advanced technology" versions. Hopefully they will be blue like the raybestos ball joint I just picked up last week for the honda (lower)

~Mark

 

[DjDom]

Those are the uppers (professional grade) for both sides and the 5001090b (first link) is the one that says adjustable.. the adjustable is cheaper(right side).. (no idea why)..

The two upper "right" arm pictures on rockauto are different mount styles (adjustable and non adjustable). I don't know how accurate their pictures are. Whenever I run into that I look up images for that part # on the 'net and see if I can find a customer photo (not a stock photo)..

You can also call rockauto as they are pretty good about know what they have..

You can always look in the Rabestos catalog/application guide and see what they list too.

I have a pair of raybestos upper arms coming in the mail for the honda on Saturday and I didn't see any "advanced technology" versions. Hopefully they will be blue like the raybestos ball joint I just picked up last week for the honda (lower)

~Mark

Now that you mention it, the ones I linked to are cheaper than the "Advanced Technology" ones on Rock Auto. Any idea why?

Also, both of the ones I linked to say they're the professional grade. Maybe the pick is just wrong..

Edit: When I look at the adjustable one on Rock auto (The link I sent), it looks as though it were a blue boot. If you look closely, it seems dark blue.
Also, online, many photos show a blue boot.


What do you think of the lower ball joints and tie rods from Raybestos?
I need to change all ball joints and tie rods. Right now my rock auto cart is around $300.. I can get that way down by using Raybestos..

 

[rs2k]

I just ordered a full setup of raybestos professional grade gear from rock auto about an hour ago. The search I ran before ordering showed me the adjustable one is cheaper because it only includes 1 of the two pieces of the 2 piece design. I couldn't found the second piece.

 

[DjDom]

I just ordered a full setup of raybestos professional grade gear from rock auto about an hour ago. The search I ran before ordering showed me the adjustable one is cheaper because it only includes 1 of the two pieces of the 2 piece design. I couldn't found the second piece.

Which ones did you exactly order? Because the ones titled as "Professional Grade" on Rock Auto, when you click info, it comes up as "Service Grade"

 

[rs2k]

http://www.rockauto.com/m/mobilecatalog.php?cartid=e0a5b7c8ac288f01493dd404975b6517

 

[DjDom]

http://www.rockauto.com/m/mobilecatalog.php?cartid=e0a5b7c8ac288f01493dd404975b6517

The ones you bought, upper control arms, don't look like the right ones..

 

[rs2k]

The description is for the professionals. The model number doesn't look right though. I didn't notice that before. I'll have to see what comes and contract then if it's the wrong part.

 

[DjDom]

The description is for the professionals. The model number doesn't look right though. I didn't notice that before. I'll have to see what comes and contract then if it's the wrong part.

Yeah, I just made a cart with raybestos and it totalled $1 less than the moog parts.
Guess I'm gonna go with Moog. Least their item numbers aren't messed up.
But wow, that's a big order. Looks like you'll be busy.

 

[rs2k]

Yup. I've decided to customize the explorer instead of buying a new vehicle. Much cheaper and infinitely more gratifying.

 

[rs2k]

I just sent rockauto an email to find out what's going on. The order was already shipped, but I'm really wanting the professional grade parts. The little OCD part in me would hate to mix and match quality.

RAYBESTOS Part # 5021021B Professional Grade - Complete Arm w/ Ball Joint
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004933
Image shows the Professional Grade and title is Professional grade but the description is of a service grade part.

RAYBESTOS Part # 5021022B Professional Grade - Complete Arm w/ Ball Joint
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004963
Image and description shows the Service Grade but the title is Professional grade.

 

[DjDom]

I just sent rockauto an email to find out what's going on. The order was already shipped, but I'm really wanting the professional grade parts. The little OCD part in me would hate to mix and match quality.

RAYBESTOS Part # 5021021B Professional Grade - Complete Arm w/ Ball Joint
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004933
Image shows the Professional Grade and title is Professional grade but the description is of a service grade part.

RAYBESTOS Part # 5021022B Professional Grade - Complete Arm w/ Ball Joint
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1004963
Image and description shows the Service Grade but the title is Professional grade.

Exactly why I wouldn't buy them.
They end up being the same price as Moog anyway.
But the titles they have are messed up. And there's too many different ones. Rock auto needs to fix their product numbers.
Tell me how it goes.