07 4x4 supercrew
151k miles
Leveling kit

Not that I wanted to but finances have forced me to keep my truck longer than I anticipated.
So, that leaves me with some maintenance I didn't figure Id be doing.

Truck sees 25k annual miles, 1-2000 miles of gravel roads every year, some not so friendly...and has taken it's toll.
Front end is getting a little loose, sloppy so I figure instead of trying to pinpoint what it may be, just to go ahead and replace inner and outer tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints, (control arms), sway bars links, wheel bearings, vacuum hub, abs sensors (having an issue with a bad sensor anyway) and maybe struts.

I've been around long enough to know that most people are going to say to stick with moog for ball ends but they can be upwards of twice as much. And if I had that laying around I would have probably traded the truck in by now. So, question is... the oem has lasted this long... I don't have to have the absolute best parts right now. Are there any manufacturers of oem quality that could help keep the budget down and get me through another 50k miles?

Anyone ever dealt with the kit sold by 1A auto? It's 150 bucks for most everything I'm looking to do other than wheel bearings, hub and abs sensor.

Decent strut replacement?

 

No experience with 1Aauto, but I picked up some moogs upper and lower BJs for my 07 2wd for pretty cheap at rockauto. My tie rod ends felt pretty good so they didnt get replaced. The bottom moogs come with a grease fitting as well, seem like good quality.

 

Ive used a lot of suspension parts from the auto stores locally, some with lifetime warranties and others with a 1 or 2 year. ive never had an issue with any of them. I always just get what fits in the budget. The benefit of staying local is if the part does fail, its easy to get a replacement. My go-to is NAPA or Orielly's usually.

 

I ended up at rock auto and going with Moog lower ball joints, stabilizer ends and stabilizer bushings, Dorman upper control arms and Mevotech outer and inner tie rod ends.

I'm disappointed to say that after just 6500 miles the Mevotech tie rods have completely failed.
They came with zirk fittings and were properly greased at install along with an alignment after everything was installed. While working on a brake issue I have I found them in bad shape. Worse shape than my oem ends that lasted 150k. I have a good half inch of tire play side to side.

Love rock auto but am now having to deal with returns. which means having to buy another set of the same crap at full price with shipping... install them and send the old ones back for reimbursement. Not a process I'm happy about. I'm stuck exchanging for the same part which Id rather not. Easier just to write it off as a loss and buy a superior part. But it is what it is.

I do not recommend Mevotech tie rod ends to anyone. And these were their "SUPREME" at like $25 each.