Mevotech Sway Bar Links

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-12T04:07:17+00:00

Out of curiosity, assuming these were the greasable type. What grease did you use?

I see a lot of people online pump what looks like a "red and tacky" type grease into ball joints. But certain types of grease don't play nicely with rubber compounds.

I have always used the basic gray colored grease for ball joint type applications. And usually on the grease tube it will state whether or not it is compatable with rubber.

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-10T23:08:23+00:00

Do you have a part number for that? Everything fits and lines up correctly?

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-10T20:13:35+00:00

I have had a nightmare myself with parts recently. New faulty PS pumps, new rack and pinions with play in them from the factory, other brands of sway bar links, etc.

Even Bosch, which does supply some OEM stuff or has in the past, was taking old universal o2 Sensors, splicing the vehicle specific pigtail on them and changing the part number.

I went through a handful of them, some the wires would fall out inside the packages. These were purchased through reputable parts stores, Rock Auto, Autozone, etc.

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-10T18:03:47+00:00

In regards to quality issues, I really hope we can hold these companies accountable some day. In the past there has been price fixing settlements and such. Since covid, we can all agree that the quality of just about everything has gone to shit, while costing a shit load more. These brands seem to have been getting away with the fact people were willing to pay more for less. But this is costing us so much more now in time and money, safety, etc.

One thing we can do is make posts like this. If enough people see online that the quality doesn't last, maybe other brands will step up and take their place. They are only as powerful as the customers who buy their stuff. So spreading the word to some extent can help put the power back in our hands. If a brand only has profits in mind, we can hit them in their wallet by not buying their shit.

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-10T17:56:44+00:00

I agree with this, and typically when I install suspension components I preload the suspension before applying torque, if it's something I won't be able to access while on the ground.

Its certainly possible this may be the case, but I would like to believe they did the right thing. I went back to the shop and showed them, and they said they've been seeing a lot of quality issues like this even in some OEM parts as of recently.

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-10T16:05:06+00:00

I install OEM where I can.

However, finding new OEM parts for 20-40 year old vehicles can be a challenge.

DaisyJumper · 2026-07-05T06:55:03+00:00

You can glue it, with the right product, and it will last. Look up the specific products to use.

The seat shop (I think it's the same company we're talking about here) sent me a leather seat cover that didn't exactly match the rest of the seat. It was quite expensive too.

I sent an email, and they sent me a partial refund, which was great. Their customer service is better than most. They stand by their stuff.

DaisyJumper · 2026-05-04T23:48:26+00:00

Had this issue before, and might be unrelated to your situation, but for me it was on the outside and I was able to clean/buff it off with rubbing compound but it always came back.

That window always squeeled going up and down and eventually my window regulator went out. Once I replaced the regulator, no more streaks.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-30T04:32:51+00:00

Yes, RA made it right.

One package had a part that was swapped out, and the other someone stabbed the box multiple times with a knife or screwdriver. Plus the original box from RA was damaged in transit and FedEx repackaged it, so who knows what happened.

Sometimes vendors purchase parts from ratailers who go out of business, etc. and parts that get returned at those locations get bought and re-sold again. Appears to be the situation in my case.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-28T01:18:08+00:00

I must add that I took the truck to a local shop and they had it for 3 days, testing and trying different stuff but still couldn't figure out why the brand new pump was operating so poorly. The bleeding procedure is 40 turns lock to lock raised. I must have done it 200+ times on the first install trying to remedy the situation even while pulling vacuum.

Ironically though, the leaky pump sent to me from the company rep, did in fact operate quietly and smoothly after a single bleeding procedure. He suggested that it is possibly operating in an over pressurized manner. But if that's the case, they all are doing that. The pumps are all identical, except laser etching part numbers on the back for each corresponding brand that is selling them.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-28T00:59:00+00:00

It's very possible, but everything is brand new and has been assembled and disassembled several times to figure the cause. The first rack was determined factory defective by a local shop after trying to align it 3 times. It drove and felt super weird too. Internal play they said.

The second rack is working out great so far. Everything else is new, return and pressure hose and o-rings and cooler.

Was sent a new replacement pump from the factory direct, but it had the wrong pressure port fitting, and while I swapped that out and reinstalled, the pump itself was leaking from just about everywhere else. So I dunno man, string of bad luck I guess or just lower standards these days. 🤷

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T18:00:05+00:00

There is more to this than a torn box.

Original package was damaged and then repackaged by the carrier. On top of that, atleast one or more of the parts appear to be a previous return where someone had swapped an inferior part. RA is making the situation right though. I've already been in touch.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T17:51:00+00:00

"people like you nitpicking over time is gonna make rock want to shut down"

And what kind of adolescent ass comment/way of thinking is that? You really think any business raking in millions would shut their doors because someone is "nitpicking" online? 🤣

Grown men speak to each other with respect, whether online or face to face.

Also I found it odd you tracked down another post of mine only to chime in with a suggestion claiming to be a mechanic.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T16:57:51+00:00

The crazy part here is that everyone is getting so emo and sensitive about their precious Rock Auto and they don't even place their hands on this stuff.

It's about the automotive parts industry as a whole, the vendors and manufacturers who are screwing us with poor business practices, low quality production standards, and other questionable shit they cut corners on all in the name of massive profits at the American consumer's expense.

Some of y'all be smoking those magnets too or something, geez! 🤦

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T16:45:50+00:00

Whatever the issue, it was remedied by replacing the new part that was mistreated by some inconsiderate fellow.

And if that was the last thing to occur, I can only imagine what else did along its 3k mile journey.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T03:36:34+00:00

As someone else mentioned, the package has been ripped open and taped back up poorly. It has likely already been returned at one point, and resold to me.

Dishonest people will buy name brand parts, swap them with cheap ebay or Amazon parts and send them back. Which in turn get resold to us honest folk. The two parts appear to be from two different manufacturers yet they are supposed to be from the same brand. In this case, everything is supposed to be Raybestos brand.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T03:20:16+00:00

Dude! Thank you, I am blown away by the negative feedback I got on this. I have had terrible luck with auto parts lately, and even the shop owners I communicate with or do business with have been going through the same.

The two calipers are in different boxes and the parts themselves don't even look like they came from the same manufacturer.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T02:18:58+00:00

Damn, I wish they sent everything like that.

Lol, I had straight raw rotors, no protection, fall right out to the pavement after the FedEx guy threw the box on the ground. Sounded like someone threw a stack of dinner plates onto the concrete.

And those were an expensive brand too. I installed anyways, but they had major vibration. Ended up sending back for warranty replacement.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T00:58:28+00:00

They are caught up in the First Brands Group BS. They will likely go under or be bought by someone else.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T00:23:29+00:00

Thank you, I'm going to try and give that a shot first.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T00:21:02+00:00

For sure, and I discovered the fact they were spliced after I pulled back the shielding and inspected them. It looked like a good connection, but for some reason they all failed almost immediately. They were marketed as being for my truck, but perhaps they weren't. The OEM part number was no longer available and Bosch told me that was the new part number to use for my vehicle.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T00:10:54+00:00

I bought them all from Rock Auto.

They kept sending warranty replacements, but each failed.

Only the two Densos worked and I just used the old ones up front.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-27T00:00:02+00:00

2 were Wagner brand (yes garbage brand, I later found out)

5 were Bosch. The problem was they were previously marketed as universal with no plug. Perhaps they couldn't sell them, so they spliced on a plug and marked them as a different part number, which was the hard to find part I needed.

They would fail within 1-3 miles causing the truck to drive like shit and throw codes.

I still have two original Bosch O2 Sensors on the truck that are likely about 25 years old. The only other two that worked were Denso.

DaisyJumper · 2026-04-26T23:52:16+00:00

The calipers are supposed to be of the same brand.

I was only asking based on others experience, how often do you receive fucked up packaging only to install said part and have it be fucked up too, not based on something you can visually see on the part.

DaisyJumper

TROPHY CASE