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replacing front struts and lower control arms

i can add that after about a year of driving, a moog ball joint for me is worn so i would consider them not that durable.
 
boot is fine, the joint itself wiggles pretty freely. i think i may have disturbed it once to fix something maybe. i ordered a motorcraft balljoint for like 50 bucks but seeing how the bat whole control arm is 25 bucks more im tempted to try that or even try one of the no name balljoints for like 10 bucks. i hate this stuff. piece of mind says get motocraft and stop thinking but the bat, euro manufactured stuff might be as good too.
 
Those parts places are so happy to tell you that the parts have a lifetime warranty, but who cares in the grand scheme of things. If your 'lifetime' crappy ball joint goes out every other year it will cost you more time and money driving around to get a warranty part, doing the labor all over again, oh and don't forget that alignment you need to pay for AGAIN! And if you leave your bad part in the car for a long time, you could be paying for new tires or rotation because of abnormal tire wear.


Pay the extra for a superior part when it comes to suspension because it is a domino effect if/when it fails.....
 
I will agree with Blu on this. I had cheap rotors the warped and i didn't do anything about it. Now i have replaced the outer tie rod end and i also have a failing wheel bearing. Not sure the wheel bearing was due to the vibration but i have a feeling it didn't help.
 
Man i'd take moog over oem in alot in most cases. I always get problem solver.

Bat parts = Ford Parts.
 
yeah i thought so. they are cheaper than oem in this case. their ball joint is 20 bucks cheaper and their control arms are pretty damn cheap at 75 bucks a piece. they do charge you shipping tho so the ball joint will end up around 10 bucks cheaper but the whole control arm will still be considerably cheaper.
 
yeah. this happens from time to time. companies change something in the manufacturing. the quality sometimes correlates.
 
I have the Moog passenger side LCA and also bought the ES bushings for the balljoint. When I take a look at the bushings, they look…….weedy. I was expecting something more burly.

bushing..jpeg

How do I get the Moog bushing off ? It appears to be attached in some fashion and it doesn't want to come off easily. Glue ?

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
Mine were splitting, so I took a razor knife and cut evenly around the boot, leaving about 1/4" in order to have it extend into the ES bushings I bought.
 
I didn't think of doing that , but I like the idea. I suppose if I was really smart, once I take the original LCA off the car I can how how the original bushing is fitted on.

thanks,

Tom
 
just got a motorcraft replacement. it looks better than what came on the arm in the first place and better than the bat image as well. of corse im talking about just the boot.

 
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