I agree but this is preventative maintenance. The great consolidation of parts suppliers has really put a clamp on things. Gone are the days when , with a little leg work, one could get just about anything for a reasonable price. And you are right about NAPA. In Canada I can ask for part numbers that I see listed in the US and they come up not available. Really sucks. Robin Giesbrecht >From: W Bell <cbody67tx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: IML: ball joint boots >Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 01:22:42 -0700 (PDT) > >Considering that if the boot has deteriorated and cracked, it could well be >that foreign materials/liquids have gotten inside and might be >deteriorating the internal workings too--maybe even allowed some grit to be >embedded in the wear surfaces that will cause quicker wear than normal. >Considering that if you already have to disassemble things to install the >new boot, you're already most of the way "there" to replacing the joint, >might it also make good sense to go ahead and replace the joint with a new >one and be done with it? A small investment might lead to greater piece of >mind in the future too, even if you need to figure in the cost of a fresh >front end alignment into the mix too. > >Otherwise, you might find some via the "HELP" parts rack at most auto >supplies, or listed in the MotorMite catalog. I somewhat doubt that they >will be of the same quality rubber that would be used by Moog or Perfect >Circle or similar. Maybe you need to find an auto supply with an older >catalog and someone that knows how to use it, with all due respect? In the >current times of large scale consolidations and buyouts of auto supply >stores and distributors, finding an old line, entrenched auto supply that >does a large volume can be a real find, especially if they have "motivated" >employees AND a stack of old paper catalogs archived somewhere. > >One distributor told me that Moog had a warehouse of nothing but New Old >Stock parts they used to make. Not everyone knew about it either, but >those that did dare to go ahead and order some of the older parts from them >got things they figured were long gone. Only restriction is that if it is >bought, all sales are final. I'm not sure if it's still around or not, but >it might be worth a try. > >As "universal" as NAPA might be, the stores might have some regional >restrictions of where they can get some of their parts. For example, a >store owner in East Texas told me that they would not let him buy his >AC-Delco items from a warehouse distributor in Dallas (which had more >stock, was cheaper, and gave better service) but instead had to use a >distributor in a Texas/Louisiana border town (smaller, less stock, poorer >order fill rate, etc.). Similar situations might exist with other product >lines they carry too. > >Just some thoughts, >W Bell _________________________________________________________________ MSN Premium includes powerful parental controls and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines