On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:29:16 -0700 (PDT), phaeton
> wrote:

>Using online catalogues, i've priced out the parts to rebuild the
>front end on my truck. (In-store pricing might be slightly different)
>This will mean 2 upper control arm assys, 2 lower ball joints, control
>arm bushings all around, and inner and outer tie rod ends for both
>sides.
>
>At NAPA, it's about $450 for parts, at Autozone about $370, and
>O'Reilly will be just under $300. These are all using store-branded
>parts, not the generic (in NAPA's case) or Moog brand (in O'Reilly's
>case). Is there any significant reason for this, or any major quality
>differences? We're talking about a bunch of machined metal and
>rubber, not microcontrollers. For all I know they could all be made
>by the same contractor.
>
>Tempting as it it is, I see entire kits of everything listed above on
>eBay for under $100. They're generic names, but no more generic
>sounding to me than the store brands.
>
>Any thoughts?
>
>Thanks.


I second Nate - price it out on www.rockauto.com I've bought a bunch
of stuff there. They usually have several levels of quality to chose
from and most of the time will beat the prices of even the discount
auto parts places with better quality parts.