Cheap Chinese suspension parts

[Capri-Magic]

Has anybody actually used the cheap "DLZ" suspension parts on their cars?? I want to hear from actual hands on use. Yes I know they are made in China and that they're cheap, and that some guy with a lifted Toyota had a broke ball joint.. found that myself with google.. but really thats all that is out there on these items. I wonder if they are any good?? Moog parts are great replacements, but they are way expensive. There is a seller on ebay called "world suspension" who has ball joints, inner and outter tie rod ends for $48 shipped. Thats a good price and just wanted to get some input from you guys. I dont want to gamble with bad parts but who dosent want to save a little money when possible.

[bridgener]

We have crappy roads here in Montreal, I'm talking REALLY crappy. Chinese suspension parts usually last around one year here, whereas Moog can last at least twice that. Personally, I'd never put anything chinese on a car I intended to keep more than 6 months.

[chalkysexplorer]

You get what you pay for and a suspension/steering failure can KILL YOU!!!!
Buy American!!!!

[lui_83MustangGT]

Originally Posted by chalkysexplorer

You get what you pay for and a suspension/steering failure can KILL YOU!!!!
Buy American!!!!

agreed 100%

[TireDood]

risk your life and the lives of others to save a buck? I know MOOG parts are a little pricey, but MOOG or TRW are the ONLY suspension parts I will use.

Besides, how many Chinese people help pay your salary?

[Two86fiveoh's]

Buy American. Chinese crap is just that...crap.

[gr79]

I have an 80.00 GPS that lasted 18 months. Warranted one year.
Touchpad quits and the rest, though good, is rendered useless.

Price does not necessarily reflect quality.
Good parts, OEM or better, can be bought at a fair price.
Seller markup adds to the cost. Discounts, shipping change it too.

Anything less than OEM quality may be sold at the same price more or less.
Aftermarket quality may or not be of OEM specs.
Like replacement exhaust tubing. Thinner gage metal.

Do not buy imitations or copies that are not the real thing. Just say no.
Hopefully stores will someday get the message we are not taking gambles on purchases.
Buy on price alone? May be false economy.
How about the time/labor cost to replace a part once? More than once?

Name brands have stood the test of time.
Buy domestic or North American sourced if possible. Chances are they are OEM parts in a different box.
Most OEM parts have to hold up for entire manuf warranty period.
Thus have a higher cost due to design, better materials, quality checks, etc.
Yah higher labor cost too. So what. They spend money buying what we work on. We get it back and circulate it around again.

House brands can be ok too, but vary on quality, warranty.
Any lifetime warranted can be a good bet, depending on terms.
But what is a lifetime? 90 days or forever?

[Mighty Mouse]

I work for a parts store and our most popular suspension parts are moog. Here's the thing though, about 90% of their parts are made in China! In fact very few parts are not made in China, but thats for another thread.

[PaceFever79]

^ Welcome to the global economy nightmare.

The thing about Chinese made (anything) is how strict the OEM is about QC. Do they do
all their own engineering? Do they have QC at the manufacturing plant? If the process is
monitored from material to finished product, Chinese made parts can be as good as any
parts made anywhere in the world. Garbage in, garbage out.

That said, I do believe that all Edelbrock parts, including suspension and steering parts
are made in America. At least that's what uncle Vic says!

[PaceFever79]

Another thing to watch out for is fraudulent language.

"Assembled in America" isn't the same as "Made in America"

[83GTRAG]

Well the only good thing is China cut off our credit.. we have been downgraded! So we can not buy too much cheap China products.. I guess India is looking better every day!
Charge it!

[PaceFever79]

Wait. The entire global economy is a scam devised by Western banks and corporations to make money on the transaction of money rather than the manufacturing of finished goods. I'm not sure anyone understands how it works, or if it in fact does work at all. For example, China doesn't really lend us (per say) money, we are the biggest buyer of Chinese goods that are largely manufactured by American corporations. When we buy Chinese goods, they end up with US dollars, that is now trillions of US dollars. Since they only buy raw materials from us, there is a deficit, so they take that money and buy US Treasury bonds or other Wall Street investments. The low life bankers and traders make a profit on both the transaction, and those wild up and down up and down movements in prices. Meanwhile, we are stuck with poor wages and rising unemployment because the manufacturing base in our country has been moved overseas. And the loss in tax revenue is crippling our democracy. Real wealth is created when labor is applied to resources (commonly known as manufacturing). That is why the rich keep getting richer, while the poor keep getting poorer. Now these barons and thieves will tell you it's because of the big bad boogyman they call the government. In part that is true, because the government was the one that allowed these crooks to form a global economy without restrictions and regulations.

[XLCR]

Here! Here! Well said! Too bad so few understand this. I suspect that has something to do with the massive propaganda machine they call the media that is running full blast at the task of obfusication 24/7.

[motorsport]

I had the same dilemma today on some lowering springs, man those prices are tempting. I bought a cold air intake a couple years ago and it was fine but i thoght better of the springs and bought some steeda's for just a little more.

[Mustangdanimal]

The guy with the Tundra installed "OE brand" ball joints if you read the thread. The seller, World Suspension, has switched brands from Original Equipment (the brand)(OE) to DLZ. DLZ is sold at Advance Auto, Rock Auto, and other large retailers. DLZ has ISO 9001 certification and other engineering ratings on their parts. I've found them to be of exceptional quality, on par with anything Moog produces. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me that DLZ manufactures Moog parts, since DLZ manufacturers parts for OE manufacturers (car companies, not the cheap brand of aftermarket parts), and nearly all Moog products are now made in China.
"
I've put many, many miles on a suspension rebuild using DLZ parts, and the car still rides like new. I specify this brand now when doing any suspension work, and used nothing but DLZ parts on the rebuild of my F150 front suspension. I spent 2/3 of what Moog or other brands would have cost, and am quite happy with the results.

Dan

[DrewM]

The thing about Chinese made (anything) is how strict the OEM is about QC. Do they do all their own engineering? Do they have QC at the manufacturing plant? If the process is monitored from material to finished product, Chinese made parts can be as good as any parts made anywhere in the world. Garbage in, garbage out.

This is quite important to realize, one can buy crap parts that were made anywhere just as one can buy very good parts made anywhere.

[quote]

Originally Posted by PaceFever79

Wait. The entire global economy is a scam devised by Western banks and corporations to make money on the transaction of money rather than the manufacturing of finished goods. I'm not sure anyone understands how it works, or if it in fact does work at all.

The 'global economy' has been around for the 40+ years, it's been working so far.

For example, China doesn't really lend us (per say) money

Yes they do, they are one of the biggest buyers of US debt (savings bonds).

we are the biggest buyer of Chinese goods that are largely manufactured by American corporations. When we buy Chinese goods, they end up with US dollars, that is now trillions of US dollars. Since they only buy raw materials from us, there is a deficit

They buy very few raw materials from us, in fact I can't think of any major materials they buy from us.

so they take that money and buy US Treasury bonds or other Wall Street investments.

They do buy bonds, but they are not heavily invested in Wall Street, they have their own stock markets to invest in.

Meanwhile, we are stuck with poor wages and rising unemployment because the manufacturing base in our country has been moved overseas.

Wages have historically gone up, and unemployment is going down again (finally).

And if you want to talk about wages and unemployment, the average Chinese factory workers makes less in a single 12-14hr working shift than a US 'factory worker' makes in a single hour.

If you don't want manufacturing jobs to go overseas, stop buying products made overseas (not YOU specifically), but it's quite easy to see people justifying the purchase of goods made overseas to save a few bucks (because there are threads like this every few days).

[gr79]

"The thing about Chinese made (anything) is how strict the OEM is about QC. Do they do
all their own engineering? Do they have QC at the manufacturing plant? If the process is
monitored from material to finished product, Chinese made parts can be as good as any
parts made anywhere in the world. Garbage in, garbage out."

A 'lifetime' is ???. One day?
Or the part with 30 days means can fail at any time after?
One would assume lifetime means as good as it gets.

I see GM parts (V6-V8 engine) first hand before and after engine build.
QC is verrry strict throughout the whole mfg. process and work environment.
QC is done by workers and automated machinery. Depends on what it is.
Humans catch machine errors. Machines catch human errors.

GM (and the others) spec the designs. May or may not engineer them.
The engines still have many parts manufactured in North America by well established companies.
Not so with the rest of the rolling product in the last decade.

Critical parts sourced close by allows quickest response time for issues.
Parts must meet blueprint specs and/or last the warranty period no matter where they are sourced.
Any issues are usually resolved sometime in the process before finished product is released to the next level of manufacture.

Cars and trucks nowadays are closer to being blueprint perfect than they ever were. Its the only way they can be made to work.

Along with that comes a high purchase cost due to manufacturing a product so complex partially from parts sourced from far away, no matter what they say.
Cheaper to scrap remote sourced parts or assys than to send back for correction.

Workers that make a decent living wage want to keep their jobs and do care to make a good product.
Pros or semi skilled will not work long at 10 an hour.
Of course a product is only as good as a company wants it to be.
Have to pay decent if you want to keep good people around.
The system is so tight, any 'glitch' may cost way more than any concessions gained.

[craigerSS]

Well I'm Canadian,to buy a Moog ball joint was going to cost me $103 for a lifetime warranty,to buy made in China,90 day warranty,$17.91.For the 2000 klms I drive my Capri every year,guess what I did.

[1984mustanger]

Sucks we are losing jobs to China, but modern economics is extremely complex. In fact, there's less than 100 people in the world who understand it completely. The rest of us are only trying to make some sense of the nonsense.