After discovering that my front lower control arms needed replacing due to rusting and pitting on the shaft where the largest bushing goes I did some searching for replacements. I found this article on here.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-parts-feedback-reviews/402773-warning-front-lower-control-arms-dorman-vs-raybestos.html
So I decided to go with raybestos arms from rockauto. Totaling like $220 shipped to my door. But then before I ordered I decided to hit up the bargin bin, ebay. I found a company called 1Aauto. A set of their control arms was $100 shipped. So big difference to me and to alot of dsmers on a budget. I went on their website, 1A Auto and I emailed their company with a link to the article I posted a link to above with my concerns. I asked for better pictures of the welds and the construction of their arms.
Daniel Flenke, Customer Service QA Manager, replied to my message. This is what he had to say.
"While we do not offer the Dorman branded pieces, we do share many of the same suppliers. However, we have been selling these parts for quite some time now with only about a 1% return rate (that includes cancelled orders, wrong purchases, etc). I will pass along the info to my product development team to inspect our own parts here to make sure they do not suffer from any of the issues mentioned."
Then he replied with some pictures of the welds:
After looking at these pics I noticed they are nothing like the dorman arms and are just like the raybestos arms at half the price.
I asked about the balljoints and the return policy and his reply was:
"The ball joints are new, so they should not have any play that a standard moog/trw would. They can be serviced the same way as the originals and are covered by a lifetime warranty. If a part is not installed, we will always take it back. If the part is defective, well send a prepaid shipping label for the return; if you decide to not tackle the job or get buyers remorse, well still take the part back, we just ask you pay the return shipping."
I also asked about the difference in swaybar link styles. I guess 1.8s have a bushing type swaybar link and 2.0 and 2.0T have balljoint style links. He said that the ones I ordered have the balljoint style and that they do carry a 1.8 arm.
Dan was very helpful in me making my decision. I decided to order the 1aauto control arms and I ordered them July 14th and they were delivered via fedex on July 16th. I live in Ohio and they came from Massachusetts. Thats great shipping! I paid $100.95 for the set of control arms and shipping to my door. Well the shipping was free. Here is a pic of my own of the new arm sitting next to my old one.
Its identical in every way. It even has HR and HL stamped on them to tell you which side. I installed them today and had no issues with the install. I hope this helps some dsmers out there decide what arm is best for them. I know these will work for me.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-parts-feedback-reviews/402773-warning-front-lower-control-arms-dorman-vs-raybestos.html
So I decided to go with raybestos arms from rockauto. Totaling like $220 shipped to my door. But then before I ordered I decided to hit up the bargin bin, ebay. I found a company called 1Aauto. A set of their control arms was $100 shipped. So big difference to me and to alot of dsmers on a budget. I went on their website, 1A Auto and I emailed their company with a link to the article I posted a link to above with my concerns. I asked for better pictures of the welds and the construction of their arms.
Daniel Flenke, Customer Service QA Manager, replied to my message. This is what he had to say.
"While we do not offer the Dorman branded pieces, we do share many of the same suppliers. However, we have been selling these parts for quite some time now with only about a 1% return rate (that includes cancelled orders, wrong purchases, etc). I will pass along the info to my product development team to inspect our own parts here to make sure they do not suffer from any of the issues mentioned."
Then he replied with some pictures of the welds:
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After looking at these pics I noticed they are nothing like the dorman arms and are just like the raybestos arms at half the price.
I asked about the balljoints and the return policy and his reply was:
"The ball joints are new, so they should not have any play that a standard moog/trw would. They can be serviced the same way as the originals and are covered by a lifetime warranty. If a part is not installed, we will always take it back. If the part is defective, well send a prepaid shipping label for the return; if you decide to not tackle the job or get buyers remorse, well still take the part back, we just ask you pay the return shipping."
I also asked about the difference in swaybar link styles. I guess 1.8s have a bushing type swaybar link and 2.0 and 2.0T have balljoint style links. He said that the ones I ordered have the balljoint style and that they do carry a 1.8 arm.
Dan was very helpful in me making my decision. I decided to order the 1aauto control arms and I ordered them July 14th and they were delivered via fedex on July 16th. I live in Ohio and they came from Massachusetts. Thats great shipping! I paid $100.95 for the set of control arms and shipping to my door. Well the shipping was free. Here is a pic of my own of the new arm sitting next to my old one.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Its identical in every way. It even has HR and HL stamped on them to tell you which side. I installed them today and had no issues with the install. I hope this helps some dsmers out there decide what arm is best for them. I know these will work for me.
