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Expert
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Location: McComb, Mississippi | As the title says, I'm curious about the various brands offering bushings and ball joints for the front suspension on my Imperial.. I do own a 1964 Imperial, but the suspension has its roots right here in the forward look era.
For bushings, I'm seeing Moog, Delphi, and ACDelco. For ball joints, the same brands plus TRW. Is there any real difference in quality in these name brands? I want to do it once and do it right. I don't want to be taking this front end apart again in 5 years time.
Shock absorbers are something else that I'm curious about. I would like this Imperial to ride as smoothly as possible. I know that KYB makes quality shocks, but what about Bilstein? I haven't looked at prices yet, but just wondering if anyone has had any experience with them.
Sorry if this makes me sound like a parts snob, but I would really like high quality components.
As a side note, I'm going to be replacing the rear axle seals and either repacking the axle shaft bearings or replacing them. Timken and National are the main ones that I see. I do know that both offer good products, but does it really matter which one of these I use?
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9670
 
Location: So. Cal | Moog is your best bet for suspension bushings, but that doesn't mean the others are bad; just that you are more likely to get a good quality part with good quality rubber with Moog. TRW is probably good too, but I don't have experience with them. Look for which country the part is made in.
I personally don't think the performance difference between Bilstein & KYB is worth the cost difference.
Once again, as long as you see "Made in USA" on the package or part somewhere, then it won't matter if it is National or Timken bearings. However, most places that replace axle shaft bearings will cut up your axle to get them off, and they are a real pain to replace. For that reason, I recommend that you don't replace the axle bearings unless you know that you need to. Just clean them up really well and re-lube them.
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Expert
Posts: 2264
Location: McComb, Mississippi | Thank you so much! I will definitely check the country of origin on all the parts. I typically prefer Moog, but didn't know if the others were just as good. |
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Quality parts for front suspension rebuild
