Moog vs german suspension parts

[diesellover 92]

So I have always used moog suspension parts. I noticed many german made parts for the benz, moog in my opinion is top tier for what we can buy in the usa. Not always usa made, but top quality. How does it compare to uro loerndern and other i see?

[Diseasel300]

A general rule of thumb: if it says Üro on it, just walk away. Seriously. Lemforder tends to be OEM for a lot of things.

[diesellover 92]

so how about moog vs lemforder?

[David Wilson]

Whichever is cheaper.
Can't go wrong with either one.
I've used both over the years. No issues with either.

[RunningTooHot]

Kind of non-sequitir, but perhaps relevant. Many years ago, I used TRW balljoints when rebuilding the front suspension on a 107 chassis. TRW is supposed to be top-tier stuff, right? Made in the good ol' USA and all! Well, what happened to me was probably an isolated incident, but nonetheless....

Probably less than 1,000 miles after installation, I was driving up a canyon road at maybe 40mph. As I turned the wheel into a slight left-hand curve, I felt the steering go a bit soft, and suddenly the right front wheel tried to part ways with the car. Luckily there wasn't too much damage from the wheel tucking itself up under the fender, but that was quite a shock. Even luckier is that it happened there, and not on the freeway at higher speed.

An autopsy revealed that the ball joint casing had split in half around the circumference. I was looking at the lower half of the ball, thinking to myself... "Nobody outside of the factory was ever supposed to see that surface ever again". But there I was, looking at it.

Ever since then, it's MB dealer parts only for front suspension components.

There's an old saying that everything can stop working or even fall off the car, but the two things you NEVER want to fail is your brakes or steering.

[diesellover 92]

so i have both a 20 ton press and various ball joint tools. replace bushing/ball joint in the factory arm vs new loaded moog unit for slightly more?

[RunningTooHot]

Which model are you working on?

[diesellover 92]

92 300D

[Mxfrank]

I replaced both front arms in my 190D (similar to your 300d) with Dorman arms last year. Replacing everything as a unit was significantly cheaper and easier than doing ball joints and bushings. I have about 30K miles on them, and no regrets.

I didn't have as good luck with Moog tie rods. The ends were beefier than Lemfoerder, which is good. But the fatter tie rod end was so close to the wheel that it interfered with the wheel weights. switching to stick-on weights on the inside of the rim solved the problem. No doubt some of the blame goes to the new lead-free weights, which have to be bigger to achieve the same weight.

[RunningTooHot]

From anecdotal reports, it appears that some well-regarded manufacturers (including Lemforder) are now sourcing some of their parts from China. I would think (hope?) that the big name companies would keep tight reigns on the QC for parts that will ultimately bear their name. But who really knows?

Time will tell if it is the same sub-par crap with inferior metallurgy, bad rubber compounds, and lousy dimensional control as items sold by URO and other known peddlers of garbage parts.

Some Chinese manufactured parts can be okay, but their Western "partners" need to keep an ever vigilant eagle-eye on them every step of the way to assure that quality standards are met. IMO, that doesn't happen too often. Maybe in the electronics assembly arena, but in car parts? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Sev]

Originally Posted by diesellover 92

So I have always used moog suspension parts. I noticed many german made parts for the benz, moog in my opinion is top tier for what we can buy in the usa. Not always usa made, but top quality. How does it compare to uro loerndern and other i see?

Lemforder all the way for suspension parts. When it's an option, go for it. Well known to be the best suspension parts provider for Benz

[Sev]

Originally Posted by RunningTooHot

From anecdotal reports, it appears that some well-regarded manufacturers (including Lemforder) are now sourcing some of their parts from China. I would think (hope?) that the big name companies would keep tight reigns on the QC for parts that will ultimately bear their name. But who really knows?

Time will tell if it is the same sub-par crap with inferior metallurgy, bad rubber compounds, and lousy dimensional control as items sold by URO and other known peddlers of garbage parts.

Some Chinese manufactured parts can be okay, but their Western "partners" need to keep an ever vigilant eagle-eye on them every step of the way to assure that quality standards are met. IMO, that doesn't happen too often. Maybe in the electronics assembly arena, but in car parts? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dude, no way? Lemforder is doing the Chinese thing now? Oh, hell no. I just bought a Hella alternator voltage regulator from a reputable eBay seller. The picture said made in Germany stamped on the regulator, what arrived was made in China. I mean, if Hella is doing it, I guess all the other German-owned factories are pulling this crap. You can't tell me there's quality control over Chinese factories all the way from Germany. Forget it I'll buy new old stock parts that are guaranteed German and I'll stock up on that schnitzel

[gatorblue92]

Originally Posted by Mxfrank

I replaced both front arms in my 190D (similar to your 300d) with Dorman arms last year. Replacing everything as a unit was significantly cheaper and easier than doing ball joints and bushings. I have about 30K miles on them, and no regrets.

I didn't have as good luck with Moog tie rods. The ends were beefier than Lemfoerder, which is good. But the fatter tie rod end was so close to the wheel that it interfered with the wheel weights. switching to stick-on weights on the inside of the rim solved the problem. No doubt some of the blame goes to the new lead-free weights, which have to be bigger to achieve the same weight.

This is a very interesting point. I'm in the process of getting parts for rebuilding the suspension on my 300TE and I currently have Monoblocks on the car. I hadn't considered that some aftermarket brands will be functionally the same but have a different size.