GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I'm shopping.... looking for input yes/no from those who used any of these brands....

I need to replace control arms and ball joints (perhaps tie rod ends also) on my 08 stock Vibe (w/ Auto Trans, 166 K miles). I just had to have replaced the drivers side drive axle (which failed on the road within walking distance from a repair shop I know so I had them do it), and I'm shopping locally for the passenger side axle also. Drive/CV-axles (new, not reman) : Thumbs up/thumbs down on : Carquest from Advance, Duralast from Autozone, NAPA, 'Import Direct' from O'Reilly, Cardone Select from PepBoys? ... ? .... ?

Cardone FYI can be bought at RockAuto for 58 shpg included, 51 w/ free shipping on Amazon

Control arms... RockAuto has both sides Beck/Arnley for 84 plus shpg.

Ball-Joints .... RockAuto has Moog at 23 each ; Mevotech at 18 each.

Anyone has used 'Detroit Axle'? ... I ask because Amazon has Detroit Axle control arms, both, at 69 with free shipping. If Detroit Axle is any decent, I also found they have a almost-too-good-to-be-true six-fer on Ebay : both control arms, two ball joints, and two outer tie-rod ends for under 70 (and these with 10-year warranty!).

Yes/no, positive/negative, any of these brands?....

Thanks, Mike in Fl

Mevotech: No. I bought some tie rod ends. The rubber boot crumbled within a year.

Moog: Yes. However, a sway bar end link was so hefty that there was not enough space for the grease nipple. This was for a Mazda Protégé. Just make sure there is the space for Moog parts in your application.

I just replaced the driver side control arm last week with a Moog brand. I originally replaced them with cheap ebay and it only lasted 2 years. Buy Moog ! The front end feels tighter than with the ebay unit. Buy Moog ! 2 moog control arms are $100 on amazon. Replacing the driver side arm requires raising the engine to clear one bolt, This is my second time doing that job and it sucked both times 4 hour job both times...Buy MOOOOOOOGGGGGG !

As a side note I did purchase tie rods and the stabilizer links from Rockauto and no issues so far. Just buy quality control arms cause of you have to replace it a real job for you....or your pocket if you send it to a shop. If you can i would say go moog all the way. From my experience quality suspension parts do make a difference...especially if you plan to keep the car for while.

@ cptnsolo77 : Thanks. I'm glad you responded and that you just did the drivers' side control arm last week. I haven't done any suspension jobs on this car yet, but have on others so I'm not afraid of it. I replaced motor mounts on a Saturn so I"ve jacked from below before. When you did Drivers side control arm -- I've eyeballed it, it looks like we only have to get maybe 1/2 to 5/8 inch of clearance to remove that front control arm bolt. There are I believe four mounts on our Vibes w/ Auto tranny, one each front and back, one on the pass side, and the tranny mount under the box enclosing the air-filter. Are you jacking up with a block of wood under the tranny housing (not the pan) AND unfastening just the tranny mount under the air-box.... or ... did you have to loosen up all three of the other mounts to gain enough play?

BTW -- Finding a price like this is VEERRRYYY tempting :
https://www.amazon.com/Detroit-Axle-Con ... automotive
And the reviews mostly look good..... that is, until you leave Amazon and go to other sites, and don't read anything else good. There is an even more tempting deal from this 'Detroit Axle' on Ebay.

@ vibrologist, @ cptnsolo77 :
I just want yous to know, per your recommendations, I bought the Moog control arms. Yeah there's cheaper stuff out there, arm & ball-joint sets for under 80, but no-name, manuf'd in China, for a cabin filter, okay, but for braking or steering, I won't do. I work for Amazon.... They have their "Warehouse deals"... that's items that come into their fulfillment centers with packaging messed up, no damage to the product itself so they don't send back to the manuf, but they mark down the pricing & label it 'Warehouse deals." So I got them both sides for under 85. ( I haven't pulled the trigger yet on ball joints... I made an offer to an Ebay seller for a pair of the 'beffier' Mevotech's). TY, Mike