TomP

Hi guys, another Moog question here... sorry for all these!!

Background: Only ordered one ES2226RL and one ES2227RL because the online catalog said "two per". Duh, they meant two per car. Summit's out of the ES2227RL, got it locally, supposed to come in today.

#1: Box was different. Still a Moog package, but everything else was corrugated cardboard that opened from the "top". This box was just made out of thin paperboard that opened from the side. Could this be a new-style box?

#2: End looks different. It's painted black. Has no part letters stamped into the side. On the bottom of the joint, there's no "Moog Problem Solver" gold-iridite plate. Also, there's no "silver ring" around where the plate should be. The bottom of the joint is just painted black.

#3: The grease fitting area looks different. It's the inner rod, the fitting is punched into the side. I'm 99% sure my Moog inner rod at home has the hole just punched into the side, along the "curve" of the side of the joint. This arm had a raised chunk of metal on the side, of which, there was a hole punched into. I don't remember this extra chunk of metal on my Moog arm.

I had an outer rod end with me in the car, and showed the lady behind the counter (who knows her stuff! Very cool; I love "real" parts stores) how the Moog should have that gold iridite plate on it. She thought it was weird too, and ordered another one for me. She's putting the other one in the "returns" area so I'll definately be seeing a different one when it comes. The second one is coming tomorrow.

Did Moog go cheaper in their package and "looks" of the tie rod ends? Anyone else get inner tie rod ends that looked like that?? The outer rod from my car had three letters (don't know what they stood for) stamped into the middle of the tie rod. This piece didn't. There's nothing on the arm to say that it's Moog; every other Moog piece of mine has that "Moog problem solver" disc on the bottom of the joint.

Plus the damn box was different!! I'd swear that someone switched the rod end, but the box is "cheaper", too! So maybe Moog's just using a cheaper box and not stamping their pieces with ID's anymore?

I'd hate like hell to pay the Moog price for something that's a generic chinesium rod end, and even worse, to have every other piece of linkage as Moog except for this inner rod end?? Hell's frickin' no.

So, any opinions? Thanks!!

TomP

Well; the part "attempt #2" should be coming in today; I'll let you guys know what happens.

Nobody's gotten a Moog tie rod end in a paper-board box? You've all gotten them in corrogated cardboard boxes?

TomP

Mystery solved!!! Well, at least I think so...

NOS Part! New Old Stock!

The second ES2227RL came in today (inner tie rod end). Same paper-board packaging (think 12-pack of CocaCola), same "missing" gold iridite "Moog Problem Solver" stamp on the bottom of the joint.

THIS one had a silver stamp on the bottom of the joint. Said USA2227 on it. Comparing both arms (real Moog and this Moog) side by side, this NOS one is much thicker.

The box says "Moog by Cooper" on the corner. There's also a "Copyright 1993" in the same corner. There's no mention of Federal Mogul on the box.

My "real" Moog parts, all of them, in the corrugated cardboard boxes, have Federal Mogul on the boxes. They also have http://www.federalmogul.com on the boxes!

So I believe the box I picked up today is an old Moog joint, before they were owned by Federal Mogul. Shame; the whole rod end looks beefier then the FM pieces. Almost makes me want to order another

So maybe this message will help someone someday that finds a strange Moog box with a non-marked tie rod in there.

Justins86bird

I got my Moog inner tie rods at different times. Looking at them, they do look slightly different. I'll have to scrape off the old grease and look what's stamped on them next time I'm under the car.