Aftermarket OEM vs. Factory Part

I don't know the answer to your question, and it can even happen that a company will sell parts that they consider "good" but don't meet OEM spec under another name. That said, Tokico has been around for a long time and their suspension at least *used* to be good quality (no recent experience) so you may be OK with the cheaper Tokico brand part.

nate

Parts house people have told me that it may mean that you are paying more for a part of equal or lesser quality when you buy at the dealership. It is not uncommon for auto manufacturers to contract parts from prime suppliers in large quantities. These parts become 'factory' parts.

There are almost certainly exceptions however.

I recently priced strut cartridges from Gabriel, Monroe,and Buick (dealership).

The first two, with good guaratee, were in the range of $35-40 each. The latter was $136.

In your place, I would look at the cost, the manufacturer, and the guarantee, and then make a decision.

|I recently priced strut cartridges from Gabriel, Monroe,and Buick |(dealership). | |The first two, with good guaratee, were in the range of $35-40 each. The |latter was $136.

Today there is a good chance that GM dealer is selling you ACDelco-brand shocks which are made by Gabriel, or possibly Monroe. I wish you would go back to that Buick dealership and ask to look at the shocks.

Getting an exact OE replacement shock is not always desirable, for other reasons. When you buy that new car, all the rubber suspension busings are tight. Each adds it's own damping to the ride. The OE shocks are valved with that in mind, so the cars won't be too stiff when new (to sell the cars). Once everything loosens up, the shocks (still perfectly good) feel loose because they are now doing all the damping and they aren't valved to do that. So replacement shocks, even from the dealer, were almost never true OE replacements, for good reason. So if you want good shocks, go with the best aftermarket shock you can afford. And shop around. Rex in Fort Worth

|Got a question regarding aftermarket OEM vs. factory parts (hope I have the |terms correct). I've been researching getting a new Nissan master cylinder, but |this question applies to other parts as well. From what I can gather, Tokico |makes the master cylinder for my Nissan truck. Can I assume that the Tokico |aftermarket part to be just as good as the Nissan one? Does the factory part |specify higher quality/tolerances, or am i just paying more for the name?

Aftermarket parts are almost always at least as good as the OE. Especially true for brake parts. A manufacturer of replacement parts cannot afford to offer any less than OE quality, if for no other reason than the lawsuits would break the company. Today, most OE parts are subbed out by car makers to companies like Dana (Raybestos, Spicer, etc). the only difference between the part on the assembly line and the one on the shelf at the local parts store, is the box. The OE part ships in bulk, rather than individual boxes. So yes, that Tokico replacement should be the exact same as the OE. Rex in Fort Worth

Actually, the dealership struts were relabeled items from one of those manufacturers.

The only difference was the $100 per unit. My wife was in shock..she said 'Surely that price must be installed?".

It wasn't of course. To have the two fronts replaced at the dealership and a realignment was in the neighborhood of $650. Doing it myself with the best parts I could get, including alignment, was $125 and change.

Takes me about 2-3 hours to do both fronts.

*Almost* always. There are some differences with some parts that are important. For example, some aftermarket brake rotors suck.

Unlike some factory and OE brake rotors which warp at the slightest provocation... but blow.

|> |>>Aftermarket parts are almost always at least as good as the OE. |>>Especially true for brake parts. A manufacturer of replacement parts cannot |>>afford to offer any less than OE quality, if for no other reason than the |>>lawsuits would break the company. |> |> *Almost* always. There are some differences with some parts that are |> important. For example, some aftermarket brake rotors suck. | | Unlike some factory and OE brake rotors which warp at the | slightest provocation... but blow.

Granted, but that's a different and very worn thread in this NG. My experience has been the sub-par rotors only fail when conditions are extreme. That can be anything from neglect, improper repair, overlooked defects in related parts, or severe use such as racing. And the import rotors are getting better every year. I think there is little or no difference today. Rex in Fort Worth

snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.txol.net:

OE Ford Focus brake rotors are to be replaced every time you do the pads. New nominal thickness 22mm Discard: 20mm

If you measure the rotors at every brake service like your supposed to, you end up installing new ones every time.

I used to think that the various AM rotors were fine, but I found otherwise recently. I tried a set of Chinese rotors (Wagner box) and returned them due to problems as soon as they heated up. Tried a set of US made, looked nice but they sucked too, right out of the box they were out of spec. On the road, unusable. Ended up with OEM from the Jap dealer, no problems, smooth as silk.

I've used aftermarket in other cars with no issues but there definitely are still some problems.

|On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 23:17:01 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B) |wrote: | |>Granted, but that's a different and very worn thread in this NG. |>My experience has been the sub-par rotors only fail when conditions are extreme. |>That can be anything from neglect, improper repair, overlooked defects in |>related parts, or severe use such as racing. |> And the import rotors are getting better every year. I think there is little |>or no difference today. | |I used to think that the various AM rotors were fine, but I found |otherwise recently. I tried a set of Chinese rotors (Wagner box) and |returned them due to problems as soon as they heated up. Tried a set |of US made, looked nice but they sucked too, right out of the box |they were out of spec. On the road, unusable. Ended up with OEM from |the Jap dealer, no problems, smooth as silk. | |I've used aftermarket in other cars with no issues but there |definitely are still some problems.

All this has way to many variables to generalize:

Design of the rotor Quality of the AM source (all are improving monthly) Type of service (Easy commute to commercial/postal stop and go)

A lot of late model cars use lightweight rotors which are cheap to manufacture (composite cast iron on a stamped steel 'hat') and have no reserve thickness to allow machining. They are made to be discarded, and they are inexpensive. For example, you can put new rotors on a Taurus for under $50 easy. Rex in Fort Worth

I agree. My point in this thread is that aftermarket parts are not up to snuff. I suppose the point about some OEM parts being just poorly designed is valid - but the cases I am talking about are where OEM works fine as spec'ed but aftermarket doesn't cut it.

Agreed, but I'm talking about out of the box and out of spec or non-durable.

Yes, and with the Taurus rotors, you'll be discarding them quite often :-)

|On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 17:32:58 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B) |wrote: | |>All this has way to many variables to generalize: |>

|>Design of the rotor |>Quality of the AM source (all are improving monthly) |>Type of service (Easy commute to commercial/postal stop and go) | |I agree. My point in this thread is that aftermarket parts are not up |to snuff. I suppose the point about some OEM parts being just poorly |designed is valid - but the cases I am talking about are where OEM |works fine as spec'ed but aftermarket doesn't cut it.

My point is the AM and the OE are very often the exact same part. All those aftermarket companies - Spicer, Raybestos, Victor, Timken, Gates - supply the OE assembly lines. Often the source of a given part varies from day to day, as multiple suppliers are contracted. Even more "aftermarket" manufacturers supply the parts department in your local dealer, although the box is different. Many of the OE parts now going to North American assembly lines are oriental in origin, and that content will increase. Your brush is too broad. Rex in Fort Worth