What brand?

 

MOOG

Plus you get the "Nascar" peace of mind.

 

x2 they do.

or you can get heim joints. i have 3/4 heims with 5/8 grade 8 bolts holding my steering together. alot stronger than a tre imo

 

Did the Heim's thread into the stock Tie Rod bar/tube?

Any clunking or dead spots?

Just curious, always thought about heim's but I went with ZJ steering till I go over knuckle.

 

i never have looked into the zj set up. i got the heims and weld in inserts and used a piece of 1 1/4 inch .120 wall dom for the linkage and welded it together. if you can weld or know someone its easy to do. just cut the tube to length weld the bungs on both ends, then drill out the hole in your knuckles to 5/8 for the bolts then bolt it on and adjust it. as for dead spots and clunking, ill tell you as i just put it together yesterday along with my long arm kit so ill tell you as soon as i drive it. there shouldnt be any dead spots tho. i made a trac bar with a heim joint and it took most of the slop away in the steering wheel

 

I bought a set for the xj - drag link end and and tre - and pulled both out of the box and compared the TRW and MOOG parts right at the parts counter.

They were identical...except for the part number stamped on them...and the price - the Moog was 40% more money.

 

Never used TRW so cant speak on their performance. Sounds like they may be a good buy. Moog does tend to be pricy but never had any issues with them. Who knows they might be made by the same factory.

 

The way the automotive supplier world GENERALLY (but not 100% always) works is the OEM have a spec on the part and a quantity of parts they wish to buy. This will include exact dimensions, metalurgy, fit & finish, etc. These are usually referred to as "service parts" if they are not being assembled into a new car. Suppliers, like Moog, TRW, and others, bid on the job. Suppliers that ship directly to an OEM for assembly into new cars OR parts that are stocked for warranty and service support are called "Tier One" or tier 1, suppliers.

Price, past delivery performance, past quality experience, relationship (think warranty), and whether they like the salesman all play a part in who is awarded the contract. Then the supplier can choose to make the part themselves or outsource it to a tier 2 supplier. In effect, they "buy" them from a company that owns a plant that actually makes the part...or ships it in from China or Bongo Congo...it doesn't matter to the OEM or the other players where it comes from, only that it meets spec. Some Chinese stuff meets spec...some does not. Junk finds its way into your car through some other supply chain usually NOT having anything to do with the OEM. Chinese firms counterfeit OEM parts and even stamp the OEM logo on them...how would we know the difference? Heck, you can buy a Rolex for $30...can't you?

Back to our story: A tier 2 supplier often makes parts for more than one tier 1 supplier...thus the parts can be indentical except for part number. They can also NOT be identical but LOOK identical but that is really, really rare. Pretty hard to change an entire manufacturing operation just to make a TRE out of cheaper metal. For practical purposes, it is not done.

The lines between OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) and auto parts store parts are faint because many cars are still in production while the parts stores are selling repair parts to guys/girls like us. None of the tier 1, 2, or 3 players out there are thinking "wow...the Cherokee market is hot...I'm going to build real good parts for those people and charge a premium". The only people that think like that are entrepreneurial companies like MORE, RC, RE, OMEmu, etc. This is a different world...but even THESE guys might be buying TREs from the same plant as the OEM. They might even OWN the plant. OMEmu might be Spartan Stainless to another buyer. We don't know and it does not matter...it's just business. As long as we get good parts, who cares.

There are thousands of companies out there making parts all over the world. In my opinion, the only way to know whether the Moog part is better than the TRW part or the "Frank & Ernie's Garage" part is to lay them out on the table and look them over.

And all that said...the mainstream suppliers (TRW is a massive, multi-billion dollar company known for excellent quality and every bit the equal of FedMog-Moog, which is owned by Federal Mogul and went bankrupt a while back) generally make very good parts. These are good companies with very good people working there. Nobody is deliberately making junk except the Chinese and they often do because, IMO, their culture is such that they do not care - it doesn't occur to them. Their parts will kill you and they won't notice...and you can't sue them or even drive them out of business. Just google "ball joints china" and you'll see what I mean.

The moral of the story is look at the parts side by side and trust the mainstream American companies. And be careful who you vote for because, like it or not, your Congress is the source of all the trash being shipped into this country. I assure you, TRW, FedMog, and other Detroit-based companies did not create this environment of mistrust and trouble over junk parts...your "representatives" did.

 

Thanks Caemi! Sounds like you have put some blood and sweat into our auto industry.

I agree with you on the China crap, I honestly refuse (if possible) to buy anything made in China. However that is a hard statement to live by due to everything electronic is pretty much made in that communist slave state. I only wish others would wake up and smell the coffee, our American dollar is funding an ever growing war machine in China....

Good luck my follow Michigander.

 

Well at least the coffee's not made in China.

 

True.

Columiba's not that bad... (sarcasm).

 

Thanks. I make my living in the car business - on the manufacturing side (not retail) and had to learn how things work. Believe me...the suppliers hate China as much as we do. Maybe more.

x2 on the communist slave state war machine.