Front end parts, where from??

[Luke Lee]

The title kinda sums it up.
I have my Volare wagon taken apart completely right now, so I figured I may as well rebuild the front end while I had it apart. I think all the 'solid' parts are good, but all new bushings and bearings and such needs to be replaced.
Where do I buy bushings, bearings, etc that are good?

 

[toolmanmike]

PST is a sponsor here and gives us members a discount.

 

[Luke Lee]

PST is a sponsor here and gives us members a discount.

I'm not familiar with PST, where would I find this info?

 

[toolmanmike]

I'm not familiar with PST, where would I find this info?

Scroll down the ads on the right and click on their ad.

 

[volare 77]

That is a good question. Moog at one time was good stuff but I`m pretty sure it is mostly China stuff now.

 

[twali40]

I bought most of my front end kit from PST and then I used rockauto for hard bits that weren't included in the PST kit. Almost everyone is manufacturing outside of the US. I try to stick with brands that I have had success with in the past (Timken, SKF, FAG, etc). Regardless of brand, some show up from US, Mexico, Canada, Poland, China and India. I find that by sticking with known brands I get fewer parts from India and China and those that I do get still have decent tolerances.

 

[volare 77]

The known brands were the go to stuff. Now many are the known brands are China junk anymore.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

Moog rubber has been crap for 20 years now.
I only replace what actually needs replacing or will soon. A lot of front end parts rarely need replacing the original stuff will usually outlast it's replacement.
When it comes to bushings I haven't decided yet if I want to go poly as the need to be replaced and risk potentially having to put up with the poly squeaks or stick with rubber knowing it'll probably have to be redone at some point.

 

[volare 77]

The polys bushings on my torsion bar support brackets are crap. I am going to try Firm feel ones this time.

 

[XfbodyX]

I have found its easier and better and even cheaper to take a bit of time and here and there and source the org. rubber parts.
They work as they should and if you dont drive ALOT they last a long long time.

Vol77 FF parts suck like the rest, alot of what they sell bushing poly wise is the same as others are selling FF just charges more.

The PST parts ive used sucked like the rest, just hard to find good poly parts anymore, in the 80-s what did we use for poly parts... I forget but they were good and lasted.

Isnt there a master part number list here someplace on this site?

It was simple rancho kits we used way back.

 

[Aspen500]

Most MOOG stuff says "Made in China" on the box. Sad, MOOG made excellent parts years ago...........

 

[Demonracer]

Poly urethane bushings will squeak for you, poly graphite is the better bet. All of them need to be installed correctly by the manufacturers instructions. Many people cut corners & don't read them, big mistake as far as I'm concerned. I've been working around & on cars for over 50 years & used to toss the instruction sheet. It bit me in the ass a few times before I decided to at least skim over them.

 

[Gearhed]

Speaking as someone who works in auto parts, look at the box of any Moog parts. If it says USA, it's a good part, but that's mostly just old stock now. If it says Mexico, it's decent. The Chinese Moog parts are no better than any others from China. There's one economy brand called ISG, they're actually pretty decent, for parts from China/Taiwan/Thailand/Indonesia/wherever else the labor is cheap

 

[Aspen500]

I actually put Moog lower ball joints and upper control arm/ball joint assy's in a '99 F150 4x2 today at work and to my surprise, all the boxes said "Made in USA"! Don't think they were old stock, the boxes were perfect and no dust or dirt on them and no shelf wear.

 

[Gearhed]

Moog parts are as follows, if shopping advance or carquest then adding DW to the front gets you the cheap brand driveworks. I'll add more as I can
K7069 lower bj
K772 upper bj
ES401L inner tie rod
ES401R outer tie rod
ES2016S tie rod sleeve
K7101 pitman arm
K7086 idler arm

 

[Gearhed]

K7084 upper control arm bushing kit
K7097 lower control arm bushing
K7092 sway bar bushings, appears to also include end link bushings, not for 1 1/8 sway bar(cop car?)
RP18551 Rare Parts brand torsion bar bushing

National bearings/seals: add S- to the front for driveworks cheap brand
A-17 inner wheel bearing and race
A-2 outer wheel bearing and race
5121 wheel seal

I'm not finding any of the subframe bushings. Any other parts that someone may want the part # reference for?