[NobleSix]

i dont mean to jack your thread, but i just replaced my uppers and lowers, along with the inner and outer tie rods. i would have spent the extra money and got moog or better, but i had a bad feeling that either a vital part or tool was going to break. i sourced everything from autozone. i could buy one or two parts at a time and after 5 purchases of $20 you get a sort of store credit for $20. spend $100, get $20 free. it seemed logical to me, especially after having gone to "oh really's" and comparing the two different parts in my hand.

autozone has a sort of 2 piece design where the grease boot goes over the taper after the joint is installed, but before installing the spindle. oh really's is sort of an all in one type, where the grease boot seems to be alot smaller and perhaps form fitting, and is clamped on with what looks like some bailing wire. all you have to do is press it in, install the spindle, add zerk + grease and bobs your uncle.

so we fought with the driver side for a few hours and sure enough, mr. murphy paid us a visit. the harbor freight balljoint tool actually bent at about a 45*. swell. so buddy guy was working on the pass. side and everything was smooth up untill the last bolt was tight and he notices the grease boot on the floor. poop. we think the spindle will just pop right off....nope. BFH + pickle fork....nope. so its the middle of the damn night and ive got a mangled lbj and limp home on it. the next day got an oh really lbj cause the zone was out of them and i was impatient.exchange the harbor freight tool for a non bent one and it all swapped out in about 45 min.

if i bought the moog joint id be out about $60 and tax, @ $30 each. so far its around 15 for the zone and 13 for oh really. im happier knowing while i did indeed throw money away as it were, it was substantially less than what it could have been. be that as it may, thats not to say im not going to go moog in the future. for right now she sees less than 1k mi. a year. oh, that P O S clamp kit is going back to HF. again not trying to thread jack. better to break a cheap part than an expensive part, and its even better breaking no parts at all.