Aftermarket chassis part quality

[Sam Cogley]

Have any of you had good or bad experiences with the following brands of chassis parts?

Ball joints:
Spicer (professional grade)
TRW
Beck/Arnley

Tie-rods & ends:
Spicer (professional grade)
TRW
Beck/Arnley
MOOG (they're my usual choice for American car chassis parts, but they dont' seem to make E30 ball joints)

I'm getting ready to do some chassis maintenance, so I thought I'd take advantage of the experience around here.

[chrisesteschiro]

I just used moog tie rods and they seemed good quality....you can't go wrong with lemfoerder (SP?)

[Farbin Kaiber]

All the brands you listed are stronger in their Domestic (US market Components) I'd suggest sticking to the euro/german brands.

[Farbin Kaiber]

On your e30 you don't replace ball joints. Just get new lower control arms.

[Sam Cogley]

On your e30 you don't replace ball joints. Just get new lower control arms.

Several companies list the inner ball joint as a replaceable part. I have a press, knocking it out isn't an issue.

[Farbin Kaiber]

eh. A new arm is $100.00-120.00 worst case, Ball joint is what $38-40.00? And you still end up with one worn ball joint.

[Sam Cogley]

eh. A new arm is $100.00-120.00 worst case, Ball joint is what $38-40.00? And you still end up with one worn ball joint.

Why throw out a good control arm when I can replace both ball joints and the bushing for the same money?

[FredK]

A Meyle ball joint is like $19 for outer, $17 for inner.

[Sam Cogley]

A Meyle ball joint is like $19 for outer, $17 for inner.

What's the quality like? I know on a number of parts they're regarded as inferior to Lemfoerder.