130,000 and need to replace lowers and tie rod ends. Is OEM best or resonably priced aftermarket upgrade. I can't see spending hundreds of $'s for Readtlift tie rods for a stock FX4. Is MOOG a good replacement?

 

MOOG is an excellent replacement, highly recommended plus the joints come with grease fittings.

 

If you have the cash definitely go with moog. You can keep them greased to make them last longer.

 

what about Raybestos proferssional grade. I was on Rockauto and watched a short vid explaining how they manu theirs compaired to others. Pretty interesting

 

Moog from RockAuto

 

^^^

 

I ordered all new Moog tie rods, UCA's/ball joints, lower ball joints and an idler arm in the last month from RockAuto.

The tie rods they sent...the inners were mismatched. One was shorter than the other (correct model number was on the box). One inner was completely sealed, the other had a hole for a zerk but they put a flat square type screw in it, presumably to say "don't add a Zerk, it's now sealed". They also sent 2 extra Zerks and an extra jam nut. Thought that was kinda weird. I still installed all the tie rods anyway. No problems.

One of the upper control arms has a defect (didn't notice until it was installed), I'm in the processes of returning it. I had to order another one so I can take the bad one out and install the new one, then ship the bad one back.

Not very pleased with their Quality control. The price was right though...I suppose I shouldn't complain when I saved over a grand by ordering the parts and doing the work myself.

 

Well, I ordered UCA's (uppers), tied rod ends, lower bj's and lower bushings. Received part of the order Saturday, the rest today. Upon opening the smaller box containing the lower bushings, the FIRST thing I noticed was that the boxes didn't match and the "odd-looking box had been opened. Both bushingsf aref identical, not aq front and rear. I called RockAuto and they said they would send the correct out in the morning. Kinda bummed; was planning on taking off tomorrow and knocking this out. Not now. I sent them and e-mail and tried to convince them to overnight it, but I doubt they will. Someone posted that one of thier UCA's was defective. What was wrong with it?

 

what was wrong with it?

 

what was wrong with it?

 

Sorry fellas; still figuring out how this forum works

 

I had the alignment shop diagnose a clunk or popping noise I was getting when turning/going over bumps.

They determined the new Moog UCA on the driver side was defective. I'm not sure the correct terminology but basically the metal circle piece that has the bushing that goes through the actual arm is loose and causes the UCA to move a bit.

I was told it doesn't effect the alignment, but to replace it anyway since it's new. Should be a piece of cake to replace compared to when I replaced all the ball joints and tie rods at one time.

Do your tie rods look correct? If you ordered both inners, are they sealed? See my post above for the difference in mine.

 

If that UCA moves..it sure will affect alignment...they were wrong in telling you that. A loose bushing there will affect castor and to a lessor degree..camber. Hard to believe that MOOG quality control has slipped.

 

Moog quality ain't what it used to be.

Raybestos Professional Grade seems to be top quality stuff - the UCA for a MN12 chassis, for instance, uses a bigger ball joint than the Motorcraft UCA does, and it's a replaceable part. This is a bit of good news for me, owning a 1991 Cougar also.

Another vendor I tend to use a lot of is ACDelco (!!) who makes some of the better parts out there (and buys a bunch of other quality parts to slap their name on.) So far I've not had any ACDelco parts on my Cougar fail. Haven't put any on the F150 yet - it's the stepson's, and he did a lot of MasterPro (ugh) from O'Reilly Auto Parts when we rebuilt the front suspension on his "new to him" 2003 with 235Kmiles on it.

RwP

 

Hmmm. This is the 2nd post I've seen about Moog UCA problems. I just rebuilt my suspension using Moog parts and have a strange clunking sound on speed bumps. I recall having trouble getting the left one into place - the bushings didn't line up like the right side did. I too questioned if this was the correct uca for my vehicle.

I'll re-torque everything today and confirm.

I also noticed that the ends of the Moog coil springs are not identical; one end having a 'flatter' profile. I didn't catch this until installing the second spring. I placed the 'flat' end into the LCA and the insulator on the other (top). I can't see if I installed the first coil the same way - better check.

I love how the front rides now. Idler & pitman arms will be replaced in January. I can't wait to get my hands on the rear suspension.

FYI I'm at 221,000+ miles on my 2002 S'crew. The only major work seen is a trans overhaul 2 years ago. In the process of making sure it goes another 10 years.... I Love My Truck!!!