xdeadeye1 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 1. On Rock auto, Moog ball joints are $23.79There are a variety of off brand "cheaper" models between $5 - $9Any of you used the cheaper ones?I know the consensus is to buy the Moog.However,, the price difference is $47.40 to $10.60,, or a savings of $36.80 Im all about saving some money. but I don't want my wheel to fall off either. 180k on 96 legacy wagon 2.2 auto. 2. I pulled my cv axle in front and I thought,, "well its 180 k and im pretty sure they haven't been swapped out. I have not had any issues. The whole boot is cut in half vertically on the driver side boot. Should I replace the cv axle.? should I do both at the same time? (im thinking I probably should do them both) Ps. if you cant tell im in the throws of doing a lot of work on this car,, thanks for your input, help, and patience. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorthguy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 1. I wouldn't go with the super cheap ones. I'm not a fan of having to deal with the ball joints twice. The RA price for Moog is good. Amazon is about the same. With a good coupon you can usually get Moog at Advanced Auto for just a bit more and not have to wait for shipping time. I'd also consider how long you plan to have the car. Keeping it for as long as you can (a few years)? Go Moog. Just looking for it to go a year or two? Go cheaper. 2. Are the axles Subaru OEM or replacements? (Green inner cups are Subaru) If they aren't making noise and are OEM I would reboot them (boot kits are only about $10 on RA). No need to replace both sides unless boots are split or you have noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdeadeye1 Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 UNG, they are original Subaru. They aren't making noise. Youre right,, why spend the 85 bucks for both sides right now., ill just reboot, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Always remember you get what you pay for. Go with the Moog for the ball joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Always remember you get what you pay for. Go with the Moog for the ball joints. ROFL You certainly DO NOT ALWAYS get WHAT YOU PAY FOR. You guys that think MOOG is something special make me laugh out loud. Anybody who has been around for a while knows that MOOG buys the cheapest parts from they do not care where and reboxes them. Not always a bad thing, I avoid MOOG,nevertheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstevens76 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Please show me proof of this statement. I can tell the difference physically between theach cheap parts and Moog Problem Solver parts. Plus I can buy boots for the moog ball joints where I can get proper fitting boots for most cheap ones. If you can back up that statement do so as I would be interested to read up on this. Personally I doubt you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Believe whatever you want. I`ve seen enough MOOG parts to know what they do. There was a good example on the old gen forum a while back. Someone had 2 completely different looking ea82 MOOG balljoints.One w/a castle nut and cotter pin,the other merely a nylock. Someone else was able to ID the offshore manufacturer of both. Like I said,not always a bad thing. I`ve purchased genuine BMW front end parts cheaper from MOOG than from BMW. Moog "problem solver" parts are a seperate joke. Ask your counterman what problem they solve. He won1 be able to tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) What I meant by my statement is if you buy cheap you get cheap parts. Edited May 31, 2015 by desertsubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith3267 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Why do you think you need new ball joints? I have yet to see an OEM ball joint actually show any wear, even after 300k miles, but that is just my experience. The way to check them properly is to left the car just enough to get the front wheel just off the ground, then slip a shovel under the tire and use it to move the tire up and down. If you can see movement between the two halves of the ball joint, then it needs to be replaced. That wiggling the tire by grasping it from the bottom and the top is a bogus test. I have also never seen any bad suspension parts come from Moog, but I have heard the complaints. I use them. If you have OEM axles and they are not making any noise, the boot must have just split. It usually only takes a couple of weeks before the axles start clicking on turns once the boot splits. When one splits, the other will split usually with in two to three months, so I would do them all. The outers usually go way before the inners so you might get away with doing the outers, but you still have to remove the inners to get to the outers so I would do all four. Any time you can save an OEM axle, its worth doing as almost all remans are pure crap. I have never gotten a good one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) you might consider pulling both axles, rebooting, and swapping sides on re-install. Edited May 31, 2015 by 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdeadeye1 Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 hadn't thought of swapping sides on them. THis is good common practice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 (edited) hadn't thought of swapping sides on them. THis is good common practice? No, I don't think enough people have been in a position to do it and actually track the results. It's worth pointing out though that probably 1/2 of the axles from junkyards and rebuilts axles get put on cars going the 'other' direction just by chance. In theory, the less-used reverse surfaces on the cages and cups would become the surfaces getting force going forwards. But, the balls/wheels themselves are still at whatever level of wear they have received over the years. I read of it, and would definitely do it myself - but "common' practice seems to be to put crappy rebuilt axles on. Edited June 1, 2015 by 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdeadeye1 Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 the reason I thought it was bad,, was when I removed the spindle,, I had to undo the ball joint from the arm. I started moving it around and it seems stiff,, moves in short spurts,, doesn't have fluid movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86 Wonder Wedge Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'd look and see what you can get the OE ball joints for (online dealer). I have to agree with naru (I work with and deal with Moog parts EVERYDAY), Moog doesn't always mean the best. Are they junk? No. Are you getting a BETTER part than the OE? Probably not. Aftermarket is aftermarket for a reason. Moog used to be all made in the USA. After they started going overseas, they bought TRW (who were still making parts in Michigan) and folded them. As for the axles, I'd boot n grease the OE axles as they are 110% better build quality than the new or non-Subaru remans. Worst case, hit a local yard for any shelved axles and find some OE take-offs cheap and rehab those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith3267 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Stiff is what you want in a ball joint. Try some parts stores that have ball joints in stock, any ball joint will do and see how stiff it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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