Where is the cheapest place to buy ball joints for the 3rd gen? Anyone know?

 

internetautomart?

u want the cheapest part holding up your the entire suspension?

 

don't get anything cheaper than MOOG or OEM. the MOOG will run about $35-45 each and OEM will run about $50 each. you get what you pay for. don't buy cheap parts here.

 

the problem does not lie in buying cheaply, it lies in buying a cheap part.
as Matt said the moogs only run about $35 ea. versus $17 for the "generic" ones (which I happen to like)

 

Hopefully this isn't too O/T, but I also wanted to buy a Moog ball joint for my own car. I bought one from a reputable place but the thing came in an AC Delco box for some reason... although the part number was definitely Moog's.

He assured me it was the real thing, but anyone hear of Moog making stuff for AC Delco? Any Moog identifying marks?


BTW for my tie rods I "cheaped out" because I figured they were less critical and non-load bearing parts. Besides that, they were amazingly expensive. Something like a lower ball joint though, I thought it was wiser to spend more on, especially since I'm kind of hard on the suspension. Just shop around and you should be able to find some deals, even locally.

 

ACDelco chassis = McQuay Norris not Moog

Tie rods are cheap

 

Hmm... maybe it has something to do with my location. For some reason all the prices I was quoted for tie rods were $70 Cdn and up! I bought much cheaper ones off an eBay store though.

I just checked my ball joint and did some searching.... the balljoint itself says it's made by CTR Central Corp. out of N. Korea.... also the sticker on the box has both the Moog part number (K9371) and the AC Delco pn (45D2122) below it in smaller numbers.... wierd.

I couldn't find any link between MqQuay-Norris (or Moog or "AC Delco" proper) and this CTR, but CTR does list GM and Delco-Remy as customers of theirs... Should I be returning the part?

 

I know that the delco catalog is identical to the McQuay Norris catalog.
It sounds like they lied to you. Moog will normally have a gold cover on the bottom of the ball joint stamped "Moog Problem solver".
Moog's part #s are used by 75% of the aftermarket.

 

Oh great... I was afraid of that. I should have known when the thing didn't say "Moog" on it anywhere. I hope they're willing to take it back...

Thanks Brian.

 

no problem, but moog will always come in a moog box if it's real (or in some cases a moog box will come with someone else's part in it )

 

Heh, I sure hope that's normal.... just to update, the guys I bought it from contacted their supplier and exchanged it for me in 1 day no hassle. They were a bit confused about this too though.

When I got there, the new balljoint didn't say "Moog" on it anywhere either, but the box was Moog and had a small description with "Made in Japan" stamped on the box, and on the ball joint itself. Also stamped into the bj was "555" and this was also cast into the bracket for the joint. Whatever is going on here, the new joint was definitely of better quality and workmanship than the other one (and it's made in Japan ) so I shrugged and just accepted it. Maybe this is another case of a North American supplier just reboxing OEM type parts....

Oh yeah, about that AC Delco thing, I talked to a large local parts chain that also sells Moog, and apparently this kind of substitution happens a lot when the supplier is out of Moog - they send along an AC part instead.