im rebuilding the front end because the suspension has 260,000 miles on it and feels horrible....I dont have enough money to get moog parts from spohn, but will the autozone parts from perfect circle work just as well? I know they wont be as good as the moog ones but i need the rebuild soon, and am limited on cash.

Im going to pick up:

2 inner and outter tie rods
2 adjuster sleeves
centerlink
idler arm
pitman arm


is there anything that i missed? the shocks and struts were already replaced about 1,000 miles ago...

 

moog parts are about the best you can buy

 

i know that but will the perfect circle ones do the trick for now? i mean the front end is terrible as far as ride quality

 

Perfect Circle is a Dana company so I'd trust them. I do recommend the Moog stuff though, but do what you must. Any brand of new stuff will be better than what you have.


Ed

 

Have you had a suspension shop check out the front end? Tie rods are (quoting the GM service manual) "self-adjusting for wear and do not need servicing". Now I replaced mine just because of high mileage- but, when the shop originally checked my car out a few months ago, they named the center link and idler arm as being worn out. I asked the guy about the tie rods, he said they were fine!

Now maybe they just thought I had 150,000 miles on the car and not 250,000 (I don't have the 6th digit), but, with <a href="https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthread.php?s=&threadid=153839" target="newwin">all the worn-out parts they gave me on their list</a>, they did such a thorough job of checking the car out, I think if the tie rod ends were worn, they would've said something.

So if you weren't told specifically that your tie rods are worn out, I'd say to NOT replace them, and instead, spend the extra bux on the Moog center link and idler arm. The pitman arm is also a non-wear item. There's no joint to it. The center link pivots on it; nothing else.

 

I have an 89 and was experiencing a mushy ride and sway. Kind of like a hydroplane feel. My local shop said I needed struts and idler arm. They wanted a lot to install the idler arm, so I bought one at Auto Zone to install myself. I couldn't get it off the center link because the stud was worn on the center link. Could'nt get the center link off the tie rod ends either (studs rotated, couldnt unscrew the nuts). Put on new tie rod ends, sleeves, center link all from Auto Zone (not Moog). Got the shop to do the struts and ball joints. Also replaced the springs, as there is a V8 now instead of the original V6. Thought it would be cheaper to do all at once. Front end is much better now. The parts that wear the most are the ball joints and the idler arm. If you start replacing parts, it's likely that an alignment will be needed. Good luck.

 

i think i will concentrate more on the idler arm and balljoints first then thanks for your input