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Can you recommended aftermarket maker for lower front control arm 2033300407
Need to replace the front lower control arm and the dealer wants a lot.
Anyone used one of the aftermarket suppliers with any luck.
Dorman Optimal Moog..........Quality is always a question.
I suspect that even thought the brand name is the same on the aftermarket they are all made in the same factory.
Lemfoerder I had 2 arms (1 upper, 1 lower) out of the 4 replacement ones fail in less than 3 years. Personally will try Rein the next time around. Rein is apparently also an OES, though not sure for the control arms.
I can't find one made by Lemforder (which would be fine) or Febi in aftermarket. Only Dorman and Optima. Dorman is pretty low quality and I never heard of Optima.
Originally Posted by bth1969
I just got burned by Detroit Axel. 02' c320 upper forward control arms bad ball joint boots in less then a year. Very thin rubber.
From what I've read and understand:
For a number if years now, pretty much ALL of the Detroit Axel products are very-cheap/cheapest cr*p they can get from China.
iirc, they were bought out a number of years ago. They still do some stuff here in the States (?rebuild CV axles?). However, the are now using cheap cr*p China parts.
So, BFD where the stuff gets assembled - the parts they use are now cheap cr*p.
Sorry you got screwed.
I learned, a few times - DOH!, that cheap replacement parts often don't last long.
Also, there are a ton of fake parts out there. So, just because they say "MB" (or whatever) on the part, that does not mean that they are real MB parts.
So, buy only from reliable sources.
Fwiw, for my C230, I buy direct from Dealers(one in NY, other in GA), or from Pelican.
Geek time! ;-)
Just remember the old Scottish saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". :-)
Currently running on Rein lowers and Lemfoerder uppers from FCP Euro. The best part about this site/company is they offer lifetime warranty on everything they sell (including wear items such as brakes and control arms) as long as the owner doesn't sell the vehicle. Free control arms for life - I can live with that.
Has anyone had experience with Febi control arms? I'm thinking of trying Febi , someone said their Lemforders only lasted 3 years. The detriot axel arms have 10 yr warranty but don't last a year before the ball joint boots are split open cause of cheap thin rubber. They sent replacements but one of them has casting flaws and the bolt won't go through the bushing. No quality control, pure junk! If it was the lowers, it wouldn't be the end of the world but, the uppers are a little bit more work.
I just replaced both front (left & right) lower control arms a few days ago. Was feeling a slight vibration in the front wheels when turning into slight bends in the road at highway speeds. The condition got a bit worst over a few weeks, so I decided to jack up the front car and check for any play in the front suspension. Checking the side to side motion for any play in control arms did not show any play. But when checking the up & down motion in the ball joint area, this is where I could feel a slight bit of play in the ball joint. Right side was a bit worst than the left side.
The right side was replaced with a Lemfoerder product only 26,000 km (16,000 miles) 2+ years ago. Thought it would last longer. The left side was replaced about 6 years ago, 65,000 km (40,000 miles) also with a Lemfoerder control arm.
Not sure if I made the right decision but I ordered the Lemfoerder lower control arms AGAIN. When I received them, they are now silver in colour. The other control arms I have ordered previously were always black colour. Not sure if these are re-designed slightly and updated, but we'll see how long these ones will last. BTW the packaging says these are "Made in Turkey". Not sure if the other brands for less money will have longer or less life, but if these start failing in the a few years I might just buy the less expensive brands and see how long they last. New Version vs. Old Version
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