Customs What US company makes the best front end parts-ball joints, etc.?

My '65 Bonneville won't steer straight and is all over the road so I had the front end aligned 2 weeks ago. The guy said I needed to replace the center link and one ball joint. I took it to a second shop this morning and the guy put it on a lift and spent several minutes with a pry bar seeing what was loose and what wasn't. He said the tie rods are fine but I need to replace the center link and all 4 ball joints. I would like to use quality parts made in the US instead of offshore crap so what company would you guys recommend? I was looking at the PST website and their prices aren't bad and include free shipping but are they made in the US? If PST sells offshore stuff then is there a company that still sells front end parts that are made here? Thanks....

 

For what its worth, the last time I rebuilt a front end I used Moog. I can't vouch for country of origin but the parts
I thought were well made and substantial. That's been a couple of years ago though, things may have changed. No problems to date.

 

Moog gets my vote too.Don`t know current country of build at present though.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

MOOG for sure. Try RockAuto.

 

PST stuff is cheap crap. Had two customers brought me their front end kits to install. Both Mopars. The A body strut rod bushings turned into jelly after a couple of months. Used their lube on them. Second car, lower ball joint started squeaking after a couple of months... Had plenty of lube in it. They would not warrant either one without them even asking to be shipped back. Like the previous post said.... Get Moog from Rock Auto.

Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

There are a couple of grades of products available from Moog. Some are lower quality, made overseas, others are domestic. There is a part number followed by a couple of letters to designate this. A few minutes on the Moog website will give you the part numbers to look for.

Sent from my SM-N910V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I went to the Rock Auto site and put in 1965 Pontiac Bonneville 389 and went to "steering" and there were no ball joints or center link listed so I put them in the search box and neither part came up. Does that mean that they don't have these parts for my car? I also looked for their phone number so I could call and ask them for assistance but didn't see one on their site. Why no phone number?

 

It looks like they don't carry those parts for your car. The are not like a "regular" auto parts store, so no phone number for anyone to help you. Maybe Moog doesn't make those parts for your car. You will need to do some research.

 

take a look at Rare Parts: The One Source For Suspension Parts - www.rareparts.com

 

I'd look for MOOG or genuine GM parts. MOOG does discontinue parts as the listing ages, so you might try Hemmings or eBay for NORS parts. There's some 'old stock' MOOG on eBay, that may be your only choice, but verify part numbers.

 

Kanter is a good source for front end parts, I doubt they are the manufacturer but they have a good selection

 

Not sure where they are buy TRW seems to be good.
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/

 

A friend of mine rebuilt the frontend on his 64 ? Mercury Comet Caliente convertible many years back, hard to find, different than the common Comet, got the parts from Kanter IIRC

 

Kanter is one of the best stocking dealers for hard-to-find steering/suspension parts and makes an effort to supply decent quality parts, but not everything they sell is top quality; they're forced to supply import stuff if that's all that's out there.

 

I wouldn't think any of the ball joints or tie rod ends are proprietary, Moog should have them.

 

Moog doesn't have them. Neither does Kanter, Rareparts.com or TRW....

 

1965 full size Pontiacs had a stiffener plate welded to the original equipment lower control arms, there was no replacement ball joint made for that arm The service replacement arms had replaceable ball joints. The GM parts catalog has a note in it stating do not remove the welded plate for ball joint replacement. If you need arms 1965 to 1970 lowers are the same.

 

Oops my bad... good luck on your quest

 

Several on eBay. One guy has upper and lower for one side. Part numbers TRW
10199 and 10121. There are also some other NOS ball joints from other brands that are old enough to not be made in China.

Just because GM said not to replace them doesn't mean the aftermarket didn't make them and I am sure they wouldn't if they could be liable if they didn't work and we're not safe.

GM adding those welded on reinforcements tells me they may not have been strong enough to begin with and that was their fix.

Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Years ago i would have said Moog , hands down. The last stuff I bought Moog was made in Mexico, IIRC. I have also used TRW, they used to be good, but I have not used them lately.
You can take a trick from the roundy round cars and buy a weld-in sleeve and convert to a Chrysler screw in ball joint, if you cant find the correct ones. The spindles may have to be reamed for the correct taper. You can also lower the car slightly, depending on where you weld the sleeve, if that's something you would be interested in. Good Luck

 

My DD (01 Dakota, 150K miles) eats ball joints. OEM, replaced under warranty, and the replacements failed as well. I specified MOOG for set #3, and those were shot in a couple of years. Set #4 is Napa house brand, don't know who made them, with "lifetime warranty". So far, they're holding up ok. I used to like Moog, but having all four fail in a truck I drove 5 miles each way to work and back, 5 days a week, and to the store and back on weekends, turned me off of them.


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Moog used to be the absolute best money could buy and the parts were fantastic and everyone knew it. Without question far above reproach.

Sadly their quality has been slipping, the parts are made off shore, and it's now debatable if their quality is any better than some house brands at 1/2 the cost.

 

Here's 1 side.
These will be damn good parts.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/381610083016?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275&_mwBanner=1

 

https://www.opgi.com/bonneville/GBC12468/

 

I saw those but he doesn't have another set for the other side. Most of the other sellers have 2 top and 2 bottom ones in the same auction and this guy has one of each....

 

It's $85 and they only have one in stock....

 

This Is way too difficult, sell me the car. Lol


Check yours to see if they are 3 bolt or 4 bolt ball joints. It's like 64-65 and 65 -70. As you're getting to know 65 is a change over weird year. Try working on a 70 firebird, it's same stuff. Red headed step child

 

I saw that in a couple of the auctions. Early '65s have 4 bolt lower ball joints and later ones have 3 bolts. Mine was built in November '64 so it should be 4 bolt. Thanks for the tip....

 

On a 50 + year old car that takes 80 a piece ball joints???? Pull the wheel Get s flash light and look.

 

Yup, unless you know the exact change-over date, pull the wheel and check.