Aftermarket Fails Again

[JasonA]

Those if you who get annoyed with aftermarket parts and generally trust only OEM parts will get a kick out of this little story:

I have a Nissan truck that needed rear shocks. The Monroes on it were never right, and always sucked. I went to purchase a pair of Ranchos (have those on the front, love 'em). Advance Auto looked 'em up, had them in stock, and I was on my way. After installing them, the thing rode like a dump truck, like I had bolted a piece of bar stock between the axle and frame. I checked the Rancho application guide and sure enough, these were the "correct" shocks for my little Nissan. But it's the other vehicles for which these were also the "correct" shocks which got me wondering. Late '60s GMC 1-ton pickups, early '70s Ford full size trucks and Broncos, Dodge Ramchargers, and the like. What in the world was a small Nissan truck doing in a list like that? No wonder they rode like crap.

I ended up doing my own research, bought some dimensionally equal but much softer shocks designed for light trucks and the ride is much better. Luckily for me, Advance took back the "defective" shocks and let me order a different part number. Just because it physically FITS, doesn't mean it's going to WORK properly!

Northstar spark plug wires come to mind quickly here.

[Marika]

Aftermarket parts always leave me feeling a bit uneasy.

It's also the main fight that my mechanic and I always end up having since he's always looking to maximize his profits and I'm looking for safety and durability which is generally not the hallmark of most aftermarket parts.

Granted, some parts can be used as aftermarket but for most times, OEM is still the better choice.

[bc6t]

In my own experience, aftermarket parts have been just as good or even better than OEM. I say this because many of my previous cars (camaros, mustangs, etc.) have large aftermarket basis with very good products. Also, many of the aftermarket parts come out of the same factory as OEM - just branded differrently.

Of course, now that I have a STS, I will probably try to stay with OEm as much as possible given the complexity of the car. In general you can't go wrong with OEM, but with a little research you can usually meet or beat their quality at a better price.

My 2 cents.

[KHE]

Companies cannot use GM owned tooling to produce aftermarket parts. At least not without written permission by GM. I used to work for a tier-1 supplier to GM. We wanted to use a component (for a new GM product) whose tooling was owned by New Venture Gear (a GM/Chrysler joint venture). We needed to secure written permission to install that component on a product for GM.

Just because the vendor supplies the OEM and aftermarket, does not mean the parts are equivalent or come off the same tooling. If the vendor owns the tooling, it would be possible but that wasn't too common.

[KHE]

By the way, one instance where I found that the aftermarket part was better than the OEM was the Buick 3800 timing gear....

[JasonA]

I agree with the statements that sometimes aftermarket parts can be "better" than OEM. I'm more frustrated with the "15 P/Ns cover all applications" mentality.

Bosch used to advertise to us that we only had to stock 16 part numbers to cover 99% of the automotive applications. Sounds good to a retailer, but that's just bad news for the consumer, because you're going to get a part with a lot of "compromise" built in. The heat range isn't going to be exactly right, and maybe the tip design won't be optimal for the combustion chamber. With an OEM plug, you know you're getting the plug that the engine was designed with, so you know that it'll work at 100% of the expectation. An aftermarket compromise may work well and it may not. The Autolite plug in an airplane was a good example. In an auto, maybe you'd never demand so much of the plug that you'd melt it down, so the compromise may be transparent to you. But it may not be, especially if you race the car hard, or have it in an aircraft or marine application. Either way, the OEM plug won't fail, and you're pretty much guaranteed of that.

I was miffed at Rancho for trying to spec one shock for 47 different applications. The OEM shock for each of those individual applications will be slightly different -- in length, in valving, etc -- to suit the exact vehicle it's installed on. On my Nissan truck for instance, 4 cylinder and V-6 models actually had different part numbers for shocks from the factory. Of course in the aftermarket, it's going to call for the same part number. And hopefully, you don't compromise yourself out of a good ride (like I did).

[BOB W.]

I have a interesting story on OEM parts. I own a great 01 seville along with a 94 dodge ram pickup ,i purchased new in 94. Recently the fan clutch went bad on the truck. I removed it to make sure it was bad. It was, but low and behold, it had DELCO stamped on the front. Do I go to a GM dealer,A mopar dealer or purchase a after market fan clutch? I purchased an aftermarket part,which seems to be working fine. The part has a lifetime warranty also. BOB W.

[KHE]

I have a interesting story on OEM parts. I own a great 01 seville along with a 94 dodge ram pickup ,i purchased new in 94. Recently the fan clutch went bad on the truck. I removed it to make sure it was bad. It was, but low and behold, it had DELCO stamped on the front. Do I go to a GM dealer,A mopar dealer or purchase a after market fan clutch? I purchased an aftermarket part,which seems to be working fine. The part has a lifetime warranty also. BOB W.

Lifetime warranties bank on the owner selling the car before the part fails. Even though the fan clutch on your Dodge truck was made by Delco, you would have had to buy a new one from a Dodge dealer if you wanted to stay with the OEM.

Some interesting info - The Saginaw division of GM (now Delphi-Saginaw) made steering columns for Chrysler LH cars. At one time, Ford produced 90% of the vinyl tops for GM. My Dad had to have a vinyl top replaced on his 1975 Lincoln Town Car about 20 years ago and the material was not available from Ford but the vinyl from an '81 Cadillac was an exact match. There were Ford logos on the back side of the vinyl!