Are all ball joints created equal?

[drunkenmaster]

I have seen some very cost effective "Premier" brand ball joints for sale and am wondering if there is any risk involved.

What brands did you Aussies go for when you replaced yours, I haven't priced from nissan yet, but going by everything else i have priced/bought there, i dont think I want to.

[Bambikiller240]

I can't provide specifics for the Aussie market, but in the US, all ball joints ARE NOT created equal. Some are servicable (greasable), others are not (no provision for a fitting). Some are high quality, others are not. Nissan units are indeed expensive (in US). Quality aftermarket Ball Joints are marketed under the Moog, and NAPA names, among others, in the US. GMB brand are low quality ones. Most (good and bad) are made in Japan or Korea. Haven't seen any Made in China (yet)

[Zedrally]

I have seen some Japanese "joints" these would probably be the same as Nissan had used, so would be acceptable.

Have you priced the OEM's?

Please post the prices of both if possible.

TIA

MOM

[260DET]

The Nissan ones are made quite differently from the elcheapo alternatives and IMHO are the only way to go, even the boots are better. They are not cheap but then not much decent is. It may be worthwhile checking a non Nissan dealer who specialises in Z stuff, some of them have OE parts at good prices. I assume DM that you buy at a trade discount :bandit:

[drunkenmaster]

Nissan trade discount? I wish.

Anyone got a ball park on OEM ball joints then?

[260DET]

Better join our club then DM, we get trade from Metro Nissan The last OE ones cost me around $85 each.

[abas]

I know of some who have experienced wheel wobble with cheapo joints, that disappears with Nissan joints.

[panchovisa]

Datsun/Nissan joints are aftermarket (they don't make their own, why should they?). Who makes them is unknown, but my guess is a quality aftermarket company (Moog?). All you get from Nissan is a 200% mark-up.

[RB30-ZED]

I fitted some good but not Genuine Ball joints and found that with the car jacked up that they would bind up before turning to full lock. They might have been ok as you dont normally turn to full lock with your wheels off the ground, but i changed them for Nissan joints at $70AU trade, and they worked fine.

[HKSZ]

I use Powermax on my 1600 which I think are the same as the zed $ 23 which may be a mates rate, no problems in the last couple of years, easy job to replace compared to other cars.

[drunkenmaster]

Interesting.

These are what I am looking at for hopefully under $50 a pair, this is a big saving over the nissan parts which makes them worth considering but at the same time I dont want to ruin all my hard work by skimping out on $100 now.

:paranoid:

[Bambikiller240]

Well, they look good, but it's the specs they were built to, which will make the difference. Price sounds good though.