Amazon Upper Control Arms?

[Friday yet?]

china copies any and all without consequence it seems.

Yep. And it is infuriating.

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[MountainGoat]

I bought a ladder from Amazon once. I needed a compact one for reaching a loft. I get it, do a bounce on the first step to test it and it snaps. I return it and leave an angry review, check back some time later and it is relisted as "refurbished".

Now I return empty bottles and 2 year old shoes to Amazon. They accept it every time. F you Bezos.

 

[Frenchy]

You want quality? Go with a company that is reputable. I'm going to assume you are looking at control arms for the fact you are doing a lift or level. Do yourself a favor and don't skimp out on something that you will need to depend on to get back home. Simple as that

 

[OFC Ranger]

Thanks... most of you, for the insight. Appreciate your thoughts/experiences on the amazon counterfeit vs rebranded, and examples of durability over time with other parts.

Bummer nobody has actually tried any of these on their truck, that would be cool to hear about.

The only reason I really looked into it was just due to the similarity to Freedom Offroad's offering for UCAs. Some of the amazon offerings look really close to what Freedom Offroad sells. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if they come from exactly the same manufacturer. And at 1/4 the price (or 1/7-1/8 the price of the likes of icon, camburg, etc), they're hard to ignore.

Maybe I'll end up buying 2-3 pairs just for inspection purposes, and see if I can find differences.

There are some diamonds in the rough. I've discovered Amazon chicom off road lighting that rivals name brands in durability and function at the fraction of the price over the years. I still believe 100% that are certain categories of off-road products that are simply subject to the "overlanding tax" just because it has been a trending fad.

Lighting is not rocket science. The concept is the same for all lighting with the reflector design being the unique variable between brands.

 

[Cmar]

I apologize for derailing this a bit, but, I consider this reasonably good food for thought;

I bought my Valvomax oil drain from Amazon and received a counterfeit. I wouldn't have found out of it didn't come without a cap and I reached out to the company...whom responded "where did you get that?"

They gave me a genuine article in exchange for me mailing them the counterfeit directly instead of returning to Amazon. It was a really bizarre scenario and totally unexpected from a "mom and pop" shop like Valvomax.

Goes to show you - once you send your diagrams overseas, they become intellectual property of every hack shop in China.

You don't even have to send overseas, they buy one legitimately pull it apart, and then copy it, then some staff leave the copy shop set up their own shop, and make a copy of the copy, and so on. In China you can find whole areas making the same product. If you can buy from the first cycle copy, then they're usually OK, but after that it's just like photocopying a copy of a copy.

I remember a story about Black and Decker in the UK going after retailers who were selling knock off copies of their "workmate" stand. They did a huge seizure/ round up, and went through the copy products. Some were deemed to be as good, if not better than their own product, and these were re-branded as Black & Decker and sold as genuine through their regular outlets, others judged as inferior, or too far from spec, were destroyed.

 

[Cmar]

Having said that I would only buy mission critical components from a trusted brand. However, a number of years ago I DID some ball joints from e-BAY that were sold as aftermarket. They were made in Taiwan and proved to be as good if not better than the Nissan OEM parts they replaced.
I've also used Chinese replacement alternators in the same car ( a Nissan Pathfinder) because the Nissan Hitachi OEM was ridiculously priced, and hard to find either new or second hand (they tended to fail) The first one failed after a couple of months, and was replaced under warranty, the second was still working well when I traded the car a few years later.

 

[MountainGoat]

You don't even have to send overseas, they buy one legitimately pull it apart, and then copy it, then some staff leave the copy shop set up their own shop, and make a copy of the copy, and so on. In China you can find whole areas making the same product. If you can buy from the first cycle copy, then they're usually OK, but after that it's just like photocopying a copy of a copy.

I remember a story about Black and Decker in the UK going after retailers who were selling knock off copies of their "workmate" stand. They did a huge seizure/ round up, and went through the copy products. Some were deemed to be as good, if not better than their own product, and these were re-branded as Black & Decker and sold as genuine through their regular outlets, others judged as inferior, or too far from spec, were destroyed.

The Chinese government subsidizes of lot of their companies all their shipping too. It's economic warfare. Meanwhile the price of shipping, stamps and PO boxes in the US keeps going up.

 

[Todd Chapin]

The strength of the UCA is important. BUT another major consideration is the ball joint which is key to suspension performance and longevity. Hence why I choose Icon with the proven Uniball joint.

I would very critical of cheaper UCA ball joints and bushings.

Just food for thought....

 

[Fitzmotor]

When you have ANYTHING made in China.... it becomes intellectual property of the state, Period!

 

[DeerSlayer]

FYI......Summitracing.com

 

[Colo_Ranger]

FYI......Summitracing.com

what is this informing us of?

 

[Jhbryaniv]

ohh man, I remember getting the summt racing catalogs when I was a teenager.

 

[daczone]

Hey Everyone,

Does anyone have experience with any of the Amazon UCA offerings out there? Seems to be a good handful of options available, and coming in at 1/5 the cost of a lot of name-brands, they're hard to ignore.
I'd love to know your thoughts, and any shortcomings you may have experienced.
Also, since I have a 2020.5 model truck with steel uprights, I'm curious to know if these may work, as they don't specify one way or another.

TIA for your thoughts!

I'm all about saving money... but I think this one would be a HARD PASS.

Amazon Story (I'm a huge customer)... they are just so convenient.

In 2022 I rebuilt my board motor..(Mercruiser 4.3) I ordered a MASTER REBUILD KIT. Thankly I took my parts to machine shop. I shortly got a phone call that 4 of the 6 BRAND NEW Pistons were indeed out of spec. The shop said they would work, but would slap BAD due to being 2 thousands too small.

 

[Fitzmotor]

I got a Motorcraft ignition module, looked perfect, the part, the box, exactly the same, when it failed at 1500 miles, took the side cover off to see that inside, NOT THE SAME.

 

[9zero1790]

ohh man, I remember getting the summt racing catalogs when I was a teenager.

same! it was better than the fredricks of hollywood catalog that was supposed to come to the lady across the way.

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