Moog or Motorcraft ? Ball Joints .

Hello ,

I am thinking about replacing ball joints on a 1989 Ford Tempo with

150,000 miles. The lower control arm with the ball joint is replaced as a unit . There are various brands of ball joints available . It seems the price of Moog ball joints is about the same as the price of Motorcraft ball joints . I would like to hear opinions based on your experience working with these parts . The Moog brand is supposed to be a high quality product . NAPA chassis parts is also considered a high quality ball joint .

Some of the other brands I have found are : McQuay-Norris , Perfect Circle , Spicer , Mevotech , Chassis Select , Coni-Seal , Tread Saver .

Which of these have you found to provide the best durability and reliability ?

I usually try to put quality parts on my car . The installation work involved is the same with any of the brands . To make the effort worthwhile and achieve good results it makes sense to install good parts .

I believe there may be readers who have experience with some of these brands . What would you recommend ? Thanks for the help .

Reply to
kalaj
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Moog has a good reputation. I've used their ball joints before, and they looked to be very well made (stronger than OEM, in fact). They also had grease fittings where the originals did not.

Also, keep an eye out for TRW, as they supply a lot of Ford's parts. > Hello ,

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Reply to
Adam

The last mechanic I took my Ford to read me the riot act for not using Ford (Motorcraft) parts in my Ford product. (I'd put Bosch Platinum plugs in my Windstar). His argument was that Ford engineers spent $$$ and time figuring out what the best parts, etc were, so why argue. Anymore, I'd go with the Ford part.

Reply to
GMach3

Bosch Platinum plugs often cause lots of problems in Ford vehicles for some reason. Especially in 4.6\5.4 engines. They are generally considered a no no for Ford vehicles. I agree with your mechanic on a lot parts, but suspension parts arent one. Motorcraft susp. parts are rebranded TRW last I heard. I prefer MOOG, but can't honestly say why.

Reply to
Tom Adkins

Perhaps your mechanic should have been a little more specific.

Bosch Plat plugs are crap in many ford engines, NOT just those mentioned ... also in the 3.8 and 2.3's from my observation. But he likely wouldnt have been upset at Bosch Oxy sensors. though I am unhappy with there marketing that suggests you should change them more often than needed.

And despite all the 'brands' I doubt there are more than one or two actual manufacturers of the integrated ball joint / control arms.

"GMach3" wrote:

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

Hello ,

On two occasions I have tried Bosch platinum spark plugs in Ford motors. The first time in a 1973 351 C eight cylinder motor , and the next time in a 1989 2.3 four cylinder motor . The idea of four ground electodes seems to be nonsense , because when you look at the used plug you can see that the spark has always traveled to only one electrode . The other electrodes seem to provide an area for deposits to accumulate . This leads to misfires and the motor runs poorly .

Now a word about oxygen sensors . When I removed the original oxygen sensor from my 1989 Ford Tempo after many miles I could see that it was made by NGK . I felt that if Ford selected the NGK oxygen sensor for this motor , then I would replace it with a new NGK part . That is what I did and it has provided excellent service .

Now back to spark plugs for a moment. When I wanted to put in new spark plugs I wanted to utilize the latest technology to perhaps extend the useful life of my 1989 automobile . At that time there were only two makes of iridium spark plugs available for this motor , Denso and NGK . I chose the NGK iridium plugs and they have been excellent. As time went on I see that Autolite/ Motorcraft now offer iridium spark plugs . I have not yet tried their iridium plugs.

Now I turn to the question : Should we always use Ford/ Motorcraft parts in a Ford automobile ? I recently replaced the front disc brake rotors on the Tempo . I purchased the best Raybestos rotors , made in Canada . They work very well , and I am pleased . The fact that the rotors are made in Canada seems somehow appropriate because my Tempo was made in Canada . Some Ford Tempos were made in USA and some were made in Canada .

To those who have posted here : I have read your comments . I welcome the information that you contribute . We each gain something when we share our experiences . Cheers .

Reply to
kalaj

I wouldn't say "always". Motorcraft parts are made by other manufacturers and rebranded. There are times when non-Motorcraft parts can cause problems, such as with spark plugs. I don't know who makes Motorcraft plugs, but Bosch and Champion plugs will nearly always cause problems in a Ford vehicle. In the case of steering and suspension parts, Motorcraft parts are (or were) made by TRW. Using TRW parts wouldn't be a concern. In your rotor example you didn't use Motorcraft rotors, but chose a quality replacement part. There should be no problem at all. Where there will be problems is chosing cheap Brand X parts over quality name brand parts such as Motorcraft, TRW, Raybestos, Moog, etc.

Reply to
Tom Adkins

Ford or Moog, whichever has a grease zerk. (Genuine Ford probably won't have one)

Reply to
clemslay

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