🚀 go-pugleaf

> 
> I'm looking for a recent J. C. Whitney catalog and/or someone who has
> experience ordering parts from them.  Specifically, I'm looking for
> rear coil springs for my car and want to avoid paying the expensive
> $137/each dealer price tag.  I have factory specs such as free length,
> trim length, normal load, max load, coil diameter, wire gauge, number
> of coils, etc.
> 
> Is J. C. Whitney the right place to look for this sort of thing?  Are
> there any other relevant sources I should know about?


Whitney often carries name-brand parts at a fraction of their price. The only
difference I've been able to tell is that they are in plain paper boxes. However,
that is not always the case, and it is a crap shoot when you order. I have gotten
TRW Springs and tie rod ends when I replaced them on my car. I noticed no problem
with quality. The parts boxes were even stamped with the TRW stock numbers. 

However, I made the mistake of ordering an upper ball joint that was total trash.
The MOOG part on my car had over 90,000 miles on it, and I figured it probably
needed to be replaced. I pulled it and found that it was still as good as the 
day I installed it 7 years ago. I put the Whitney part in and drove the car for 
about two weeks and checked it. The damn thing was already loose with no more than
300 miles on it. I yanked it out, and the ball assembly was so loose, that It
rattled around freely in the mounting socket when I shook it.  I ended up 
putting the old part back in, and have had no trouble with it at all.


                                                        Larry Mayo