Poor Fitting After-market Parts

[Healeyalt]

I mentioned in another recent post that I'm "freshing-up" the front suspension on my 76 with new bushings, etc. Like most everyone else, I'm kind of shopping around to get the best deal. It seems RockAuto has the best price on many items like rack and pinion bellows, control arm bushings, etc.

So tonight my new rack and pinion bellows arrive, Raybestos SPR 4301010B. The problem is that the large end is significantly too big so that there is no way I can get a snug fit. They supply one of those slip ties but there is no way it will snug it up. Obviously, having well fitting/sealed ones to keep water and dust out is rather important.

Anyone know where I can get better fitting R/P bellows without paying a fortune?

I also got some new control arm bushings tonight, Raybestos SPR 5651052. I haven't pressed them in yet, but when I put the bolt thru them, its sloppy, not a snug fit like the original. I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not?

Anyway, this is kind of disappointing to say the least and I guess at this point I'd not recommend these brand of parts to anyone.

The other parts I have coming are MOOG parts and hope they fit better than Raybestos.

Gary

[240260280z]

Typical mainland China quality.

Try a metal cv joint fastening band... you need to buy a tool.

[Healeyalt]

Blue, slick tool. And I have noted your quote before, "There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey."

The old "buyer beware". It is interesting tho that RockAuto had flagged these parts as being "most popular", kind of reassurring me they must be a safe purchase.

[Healeyalt]

I should have also mentioned that over the past two years that I've had this car I have ordered lots of parts from MSA and Black Dragon. I just thought I'd try something different and try to save a little money thru RockAuto. Gary

[240260280z]

Some buy low cost LSD's with the internals installed backwards and accept it. Strange world.

[240260280z]

The business practices, lack of ethics, lack of law,disregard for human life coupled with communism and a gangster govt. are disrupting the world economy and safety. It is not something anyone should support. Everyone should buy US or buy Canadian when they can.... just saying;

Chinese labor camp inmate tells of true horror of Halloween 'SOS' - CNN.com

[Mikes Z car]

Thank you Blue for raising my awareness. This may explain some of the low prices of Chinese goods something I have wondered about.

[280~Master]

My boots came from MSA. A little long but works great. Even came with some highly overpriced Zip-ties..

[siteunseen]

I had the same problem with ones off e-bay. Went to my local motorcycle shop and bought those metal bands that tighten with a small tool like an old tuna can opener. They are made for a four wheeler's accordion boots and worked out great for me.

Edited November 7, 2013 by siteunseen

[chaztg]

I bought a pair of boots from MSA and one single boot from RockAuto just to check it out for quality & fit. I also bought a pair from a local parts retail chain called Car Quest but returned them after I found out how much I overpaid for them. I figured MSA (grey box) would be correct about finding the best fitting kind. The RockAuto boot (red box) is shorter and the outer end doesn't seem to be too big; it's the inner end or "big" end that seems too large. It's still in the plastic in my pics, because I'm sending that puppy back for a re-fund, but see for yourself. I recall that we put RockAuto sourced boots in my friend's '72 240Z ( I can't say whether or not they are Raybestos brand like the one I got ), and they did fit O-kay but we had to really cinch down the zip ties on the large inner ends. The plastic of the RockAuto boot looks shiny and seems "cheap." Interestingly it's made in Taiwan. I'm no fan of made in China junk which is overwhelmingly and alarmingly everywhere for just about every application nowadays--I try to keep it out of my Z car at any cost, but ironically, as you can see by the picture, the pair of boots sold by MSA which appear to be the best-fitting were manufactured in China. Luckily, not easily obvious when they are installed, but still I will always be uncertain that they would last as long as a genuine Nissan-quality or US-spec material. Expediency dictates that China wins this round in the steering rack boot department.

[Captain Obvious]

Has anyone found steering rack bellows that actually fit well?

Sounds like Raybestos is NFG and MSA's offering is ok, but not great. Has anyone found something better than either of those?

[Mike W]

Yes. You can still get these from Nissan. I purchased a pair recently from Courtesy Nissan and they fit perfectly. They are a bit on the expensive side, but I guess you get what you pay for.

If you need the part numbers let me know and I will post them for you.

Hope this helps.

Mike.