DarkCharisma

Winter has been hell on my car (understeering like a bitch in the snow!), and I feel a bit loose on the highway now, with some shimmy and shake that wasn't there before.

I've always used Moog in the past, but GM had a good thing going with the V--do I mess with a good thing, or do I get the Moog parts?

Cost difference is negligible between the two so I don't mind either way, whatever the Hive thinks is best.

DMM

Having worked at GM Dealerships turning wrenches years ago, I have seen first hand that there is good reason to go with GM for many parts unless you are looking for a performance upgrade.

By no means am I knocking Moog as they were good parts back in the day when I used them, but KEM, Standard, etc have always been nothing but trouble.

If the price and availability is of no consequence, I vote for GM.

Cadzilla

iTrader: (3)

what part are you considering replacing that moog makes for the V?

the import crowd overhypes moog imo. I put some of their endlinks on my wifes maxima and was not impressed..a stock part that lasted 7 years is a good part....

except our POS flwheel

DarkCharisma

Thanks for the feedback. I've used Moog on my Silverados in the past and have been happy with them, but the factory alternatives were visibly less robust. I imagine that GM probably put a bit more work into the bits for their performance cars, or at least that was my hope.

I am looking for the inner and outer tie rods, end links and balljoints. I looked at parts for all 3, and noticed that Moog offered some for at least a couple of those.

Cadzilla

iTrader: (3)

I know what you mean...their stuff LOOKS beefy and usually costs less than stock...just doesn't add up.

If you intend to simply replace stock parts I'd go with stock again. You can find some good deals if you cross reference part numbers. I got a set of outer tie rods for about $50 from autopartstomorrow.comm, and some sites were selling them for almost that much each.

I wouldn't mess with the inner rods, they rarely fail unless you curb the car and bend one. Sure the new ones might not move as freely in their joint but of all the ones I've replaced I've never felt one that was "loose"....

I'd like to replace my balljoints as well. And my UCA/LCA bushings...I have 76k and they are all very tired.

DMM

There is A LOT of markup in OE parts. Get friendly with someone at your local dealer or the Parts Manager, or try to get them to offer a "Performance Club" discount. In all reality, it costs a dealer nothing to order and receive parts from the regional warehouses (or even from Mich) so any additional local sale is just that much more $$$ over what they would have normally.

Example...the last dealer parts I got were O2 sensors when I started tuning the V...cheapest aftermarket was $72/each for crap aftermarket...I got the OE ones for $39/each.

odthetruth

iTrader: (4)

I never had too much of an issue using Moog parts, but when I did tie rods on my CTS V6, I noticed they wore out quicker then they should have.