Control arms - Raybestos vs Motorcraft vs Moog vs others?

[obie]

Advanced Technology is the new name for Professional grade, though not all products have had descriptions and names updated. Service grade is still unchanged and is their "economy" class of parts. Vast majority of Raybestos chassis parts are American made still. Adjustable control arm is for the two piece, and replaces only the ball joint arm, not the arm that it mounts to and the adjustable does not contain the control arm bushings. The following are the Pro Grade (AT) part numbers:

Driver's UCA: 502-1021
Passengers 1 Piece UCA: 502-1022
Driver's LCA: 507-1144
Passenger's LCA: 507-1143

All contain new ball joints and bushings. I'm not sure if the lower ball joints have grease zerks. They don't seem to in the pictures, but I don't know about them in person. I like Moog better, but assuming that the LCA issue (if it actually was an issue and not just a few random flukes) has been solved, Raybestos do make damn good parts that should last for a very long time. There's a reason they do so much OEM work.

 

[DjDom]

I like Moog better, but assuming that the LCA issue (if it actually was an issue and not just a few random flukes) has been solved, Raybestos do make damn good parts that should last for a very long time. There's a reason they do so much OEM work.

So, long story short, get the Moogs, they're only a dollar more.

 

[rs2k]

It came out to $15 or so more for moog for me because of shipping difference...

Anyway, I did a few hours worth or searching before I bought (Never thought to check model numbers) and it seems like Raybestos wins in the ball joint category while Moog wins in the bushing category for control arms. I felt ball joints were more important and Raybestos was cheaper so I went with them. I probably would have went with Moog had I known there was a discrepancy on RockAuto's site.

Seems like more people prefer Raybestos over Moog for the sway bar links and tie rod ends.

 

[DjDom]

It came out to $15 or so more for moog for me because of shipping difference...

Anyway, I did a few hours worth or searching before I bought (Never thought to check model numbers) and it seems like Raybestos wins in the ball joint category while Moog wins in the bushing category for control arms. I felt ball joints were more important and Raybestos was cheaper so I went with them. I probably would have went with Moog had I known there was a discrepancy on RockAuto's site.

Seems like more people prefer Raybestos over Moog for the sway bar links and tie rod ends.

I know many people on here swear by Moog parts. No idea why, they just HAVE to use them.
Guess they earned that name somehow..

Now that I'm looking at the Raybestos, they're actually way more expensive than the Moog ones since the part numbers are screwed up.

 

[swshawaii]

Had a great experience with Moog honoring their lifetime warranty. Emailed them direct
with pics of two leaking lower ball joint boots. They replied the following day requesting
a receipt. Fortunately, Amazon has digital order records readily available on line. One week
later I received two brand new K8695T ball joints in the mail box and a thank you from Moog.

 

[DjDom]

Had a great experience with Moog honoring their lifetime warranty. Emailed them direct
with pics of two leaking lower ball joint boots. They replied the following day requesting
a receipt. Fortunately, Amazon has digital order records readily available on line. One week
later I received two brand new K8695T ball joints in the mail box and a thank you from Moog.

Oh wow, that's awesome.
I wonder if they'll honor their warranty if I buy it in the US and ship it up here to Canada..

 

[rs2k]

Got the parts today at 10:00 AM. (Gotta love living near a shipping hub). Looks like I did get the service grade. I called up rock auto who then called Raybestos. The catalog information was incorrect. They also said not all professional grade parts have the blue boots any more.

Rockauto is sending me a FedEx return label for return of the wrong parts and will be covering the shipping to me on the Professional Raybestos arms.

 

[Maniak]

While Amazon may have the best Cust Service.. RockAuto is pretty darn close..

Rockauto is still small enough that they can do things like that (call Raybestos)...

As for some of the other questions in the thread (not sure if they were directed to me)..

Moog still has a good name and I use them for my bushings (well, I only have a few bushings left in the truck but I like moog problem solver bushings).. I switched from Moog to Spicer ball joints and tie rods (now Raybestos) on my 1st gen because hard wheeling was wearing out the Moog joints too fast. If there is a big price difference in price and its a DD vehicle that only does 10k-15k /year (like the inlaws) I'll buy Moog balljoints etc..

For "cheap" parts (tie rods, ball joints) my neighbor the mechanic will go down to dorman but that is as cheap as he will go. There are even cheaper brands out there but dorman is already pretty cheap (quality).

One thing I did notice between cheap and good (like Dorman or lower quality and Raybestos/Spicer/Moog) is little things like splines on ball joints etc. I've seen ball joints that had to be tack welded in because they didn't have splines (they would come out of the arm).

As for now more Blue boots on "all" professional grade.. I really had it when companies do that.. Changing the name and look of a part makes it harder for me to keep buying their parts..

~Mark

 

[rs2k]

Rockauto seems like a pretty good company, but I stay as far away as I can from amazon.com. I wouldn't do business with them if they had the only part out there and I needed it. Their 180 on the online sales tax law and how they are going about their support about it drives me nuts.

I also know people who sell on Amazon and have heard horrible customer service stories. There are also manufacturers and distributors who refuse to sell to Amazon because of the their practices. When they find a seller who is doing well with a product Amazon will buy truck loads of the product themselves and start restricting sales on that product.

I MUCH prefer ebay.com over amazon.com.

 

[Maniak]

I don't mind paying sales tax for online sales BUT the laws have to be written correctly (the drafts I've seen aren't)...

As for what they do to sellers.. I've never heard of that but it wouldn't surprise me. Most big companies go evil eventually..

I know they are a good company to work for. Well, I don't know about in the warehouse but I know for Customer service and IT type jobs they are (I know people there).

I like using Amazon because I can save a bunch of money on fuel by dong so and if there is an issue with something they have cross shipped to me a few times..

Not only are the prices good (save money most times), I also buy Amazon gift cards at the local supermarket.. I get 2x and sometimes 4x the points.. So, a $100 amazon gift card gets me 200 or 400 points which is $.20 or $.40 off a gallon when I buy gas there I save on average $30 a month buy doing that gift card trick (not just for amazon cards but or other places).. I can't do that with RockAuto.

On top of that.. RockAuto takes 3-5 days to get me parts.. If I'm not in a hurry that's fine.. Otherwise I get it via Amazon unless the local price is within 10% of Amazon... Of course, if I need it yesterday (and they have it) I will buy local.

~Mark

 

[rs2k]

I need to look into that gift card trick. My supermarket rewards me as well. Not sure if it'll be worth it for me though. I only have to fill up about once a month unless I'm towing a boat to the lake. I actually am planning to fill up the boat tomorrow because I have 100 points getting ready to expire.

 

[Maniak]

I need to look into that gift card trick. My supermarket rewards me as well. Not sure if it'll be worth it for me though. I only have to fill up about once a month unless I'm towing a boat to the lake. I actually am planning to fill up the boat tomorrow because I have 100 points getting ready to expire.

Here is where I talked about it before... It was great when I could get up to $2 off per gallon.. Now its a max of $1 per fillup
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=374626

If I bring the honda (12 gallon tank) I also bring at least a couple gas cans so I can save $20+. Since I can get up to 35 gallons I'll bring the gas cans for the Explorer or Van (assuming I'm not fitting it all into the vehicle).

~Mark

 

[masospaghetti]

Just FYI I ran into catalog issues on RockAuto related to the Raybestos parts. The descriptions didn't match the pictures, they were mixing up professional grade and service grade.

They quickly fixed their catalog so the descriptions are now correct, at least on the parts I found.

 

[rs2k]

Yup, they fixed it after I called them after they sent me the wrong parts. The correct parts should be here tomorrow or Tuesday.