Kinda on topic, the 4WheelDriveHardware in Columbus Ohio has given me 4 wrong parts in the two times I went there (we bought a bikini too for our full doored wrangler, they gave us half door ones, I bought spicer u-joints for my D30 they have me axle shaft joints X2, I bought 2 crown wheel hubs for my D30 and they have me one crown and one rugged ridge claiming "they basically are the same and we are out of crown" and when we bought unpainted D-rings for our wrangler [3/4's inch I think] they have us wrong size and black) most I caught before I left the store but I was pretty pissed when I got home and realized I had the wrong u-joints (it was my first time)

 

Napa parts all together.

-Napa High volume oil pump (or regular volume for that matter)
No doubt this failure caused major damage to my motor that I just started to dig into today.
It caused the OPD retainer bolt to break off in my block. Which was a long complicated drilling and re-tapping process.
Also sheared teeth off the OPD, and cam gear. Not looking forward to replacing the gear on the cam if need be, due to its location.



-$40 Napa OPD (aka cam position sensor synchronizer, oil pump drive)
The gear spun freely on the shaft. And cause various other issues.
Had to pay $400 for dealer part OPD.

As far as other parts. I would say stick with dealer parts unless you want to fix it twice like I have had to do so many times thanks to the best quality parts dealer Napa.

 

[QUOTE=allevolution;2638733]Also sheared teeth off the OPD, and cam gear. Not looking forward to replacing the gear on the cam if need be, due to its location.

The gear on the cam is cast into the cam then precision machined. Only way to fix that is to replace the camshaft.

 

[QUOTE=SuperRA;2638708]That's because they are TIMKEN, one of the finest bearing companies!

How about ball joints? Anyone have bad luck with certain brands? I may have to get some.[/QUOTE]

The only reason I bought the Timkens from AnalZone is that they offered a three year waranty on them.

These Hubs were made in some Eastern European country that I never heard of, or pronounce for that matter. Seems everything is outsourced these days.

Edit: The NAPA store near me stopped selling Moog products because of all the warranty claims. Your choice on ball joints...Moog?

 

Moog used to be good...until China started making their stuff. I'm sick of having a bunch of Chinese crap.

 

See what you might have missed if Perot was President in 1992?

 

I will second avoiding Duralast (AutoSuck) alternators like the plague. Had 2 fail in my dad's past 2007 Focus. And that thing sucks to replace!!

My oil pressure sensor from autozone is also biting it. Not very responsive, at times in accurate. I'm going to get either a napa unit or mopar.

Bosch Platium +whatever plugs! I had one of these fail in my engine twice! First one blew out of the cylinder head (threads were not cut enough or something; cylinder head was fine). Put a new one in. Down the road one of them melted slightly at the prongs. After reading up, pulled and tossed them for some OEM champion copper plugs properly gapped. Ran better and has been better sense.

Sad enough, be weary of replacement oil caps from AZ. Mine would not go in properly and seal. Also the seal became fubared shortly later. Replacement from advance fixed that.

Avoid aftermarket lug locking nuts from AZ and Advance. They sell the same ****e. They rust and permeate in the metal and then strip out with the key. And no I do not use an impact.

I've found aftermarket reman calipers from AZ have a shorter thread amount mounting/caliper bolts. They tell you it is stock. Then why are my stock bolts clearly different? Also lubricate your 'new' calipers bushings. They dont do that when they rebuild them...

I have had TERRIBLE luck with aftermarket tstats. All of them allow the temp to fluctuate, like it isnt opening/closing fast enough and the temp will drop like 40 degrees before it closes.

Aftermarket tstat housings and gaskets from AZ have given me grief several times now.

Aftermarket heater control valve from AZ failed a couple months after install. I took it back for refund and deleted it after reading up on the forum.

I got heater hose from AZ before that had pinholes that opened up visibly upon the first start and leaked coolant all around the hoses.

I am sure I will think of or encounter more aftermarket screw ups.

 

Yup I've been cutting oil filters apart for 30 yrs. from drag racing the 1st place to check for engine damage & ware. I think if memory serves me that Fram has the least filtering material in their filters other than the Dollar Stores.

In all my drivers I run NAPA Gold or WIX filters and on my race cars all NAPA NASCAR RACING FILTERS (it helps that NAPA is a sponsor on my car) with oil and filters. I run full syn oil 7 qts in the pan 2 oil remote filters 9 total changed every weekend. Those items alone run $125 a weekend plus they provide all the other fluids/gear lube/grease/etc. in my deal with them. Everything helps a small racer to keep on racing as costs has soared in the last 20 yrs.

 

I agree, you can't go wrong with OEM stats. The cheap parts-store replacements are a no-no. I've had good luck with NAPA Superstats, but someone here (cruiser54, I believe), had trouble with them recently.

 

Cruiser54 has a renix... there was the trouble.

[/off-topic fun poking]

 

+1 the giant sucking sound!

 

The giant sucking sound started back then, as we gave our manufacturing dominance away...

but now the sucking sound is all sucking at the government teet.

 

Thermostat is such a critical part that I would only go OEM for that.
Not a part you want to cheap out on.
Brakes too.

 

I avoid Crown, Omix-Ada.
Had Crown lower control arms. The rubber bushing split and chunked apart in one month.
I will not get any 'hard parts' from Autozone or Advance. I like NAPA but they are going Chinese too.

 

He is right when I worked at FELPRO we bottled crazy glue in a bottle with the Felpro brand that you could buy at any auto parts store for.99 cents,and on the same machine we bottled the same thing for Revlon used for nails they charge something like $5 or $6 dollars per bottle.One day I took some home and my wife could not believe it.