I know this is an old thread, however, just to pass along knowledge.... I came across this while searching for somebody else.
Moog "used to" be a premium brand. Make no mistake - they are no longer premium. Frankly, in many cases they are honestly unacceptable. Here are two examples.
Ball joints specifically: I will never, ever, under any circumstances, use another Moog ball joint. Period. One of my vehicles is a Dodge Ram 2500 truck, 4wd, Cummins Diesel 5.9 HO engine, 6spd manual tranny. Ball joints needed replaced. Decided to use Moog. Years ago, Moog was my vendor of choice for springs, ball joints, u-joints, etc.
Got the brand new Moog units. There was no choice as to "quality level". Moog only offers one config for this vehicle, similar to most other vehicles. Installed the Moog setup and did an alignment.
Truck was unsafe to drive. Immediately. Wandered all over the road. Terribly unsafe to drive. First I thought perhaps the alignment was screwed up. Took it back for another alignment. Same thing. Truck was literally the most scary to drive "newer" type vehicle that I've ever driven. In terms of pulling a trailer, absolutely no way it was safe enough to drive.
Started doing some research. Found tons of people complaining about problems after installing Moog units. Then I found this:
http://www.thecarlisuspension.com/blog/2009/09/carli-upper-ball-joints-w-moog-lowers.html
I'd been fighting this for weeks, and had lost the use of my truck. I bought a set of Dynatrac rebuidable ball joints.
http://www.8lugtruckgear.com/Dodge-Suspension/Front-End-Parts/Dynatrac-ProSteer-Ball-Joints-03-12-Dodge-p389.html
Very pricey. But I was at the end of my rope. Installed the Dynatrac units - no other changes. Didn't even do an alignment first.
Truck drove perfectly. This is the same behavior that tons of other people experienced as well. There is zero doubt. The moog product was crap. Total, unsafe, horrible, crap product.
2nd example: I also like to build cars. Was building a reasonably high end Pro-Touring '66 GTO. The only thing from GM left in the drivetrain and the chassis is the donor block and the core of the frame. Talked with several suspension gurus across the country, as the car was being built to participate in the Optima Ultimate Street Car series. Every single suspension guy said to never, ever, buy a Moog product. Their "published" spring rates were crap, and usually were off by more than 25%.
Just wanted to share, because many of us that are over 35-40 years old grew up thinking that Moog was great product. The company has changed, and the product has changed as well. My Moog experience cost me a fortune, and a whole lot of hours. I called Moog after this, armed with reams of examples and complaints, as well as both my experiences and the statements of the frame shop that was doing the alignment. They could not have cared less. They will never ever get another penny from me.
Just my 2 cents.
