Suspension parts - what's the diff (Dorman, Raybestos, AC Delco,Mevotech, Moog)
 

I have some good information on the rubber quality of these parts. I'm a motorcycle tech by trade however I work on everything. Last year I did lower control arms (4) and (2) outer tie rod ends on an Eclipse. I had one OEM lower control arm with the ball joint (They are sold as a fixed unit) and I filled in the other three with the my economical "name brand" choice - Dorman. The tie rod ends were cheap enough to go top of the line "Moog". So 1 control arm/ball joint is OEM and the other three are Dorman. Both outer tie rod ends are Moog. 4 months later after the winter I took a look underneath and could not believe what I saw. The OEM and Moog ball joints look great but the rubber quality on the Dorman products is AWFUL. The ball joint boots have more cracks in them than the 20 yr old original ones... Sure, keep talking about the metal quality... What keeps the grease in and the elements out. The cracks at that time were not all the way through but still completely unacceptable. So in my opinion, stay away from any Dorman product that uses rubber of any kind.

A lot of the big companies are selling parts from similar factories so they will "re brand" the part and add letters or change the part # slightly or completely. Most of the new ball joints, tie rod ends, etc do NOT have grease fittings. The old timers call them "Lifers". Without these fittings the parts won't last as long, however who has their vehicle for 10 years anymore (besides my family).

I have not tested some of the other brands: Parts master, Mevotech, FEQ, etc.. Hope this helps out a people about to buy Dorman products.