Bought a 2005 Ford Excursion earlier this year that's turned into a bit of a project truck, still doing some work on it. Replacing the suspension and performing some maintenance on the axles while I'm at it. Took it into a mechanic to diagnose a few things, most repairs I believe I can handle myself. Looking at replacing seals and bearings on both axles, as well as some of the steering components in the front. Need to replace the track bar (was replaced with the current lift, new suspension designed for stock track bar), ball bearings.

I've been looking at a lot of aftermarket parts, but with everything made in China these days, is it best to just go get OEM parts whenever available from the dealership? Any quality aftermarket parts to consider? Not terribly worried about cost, and I want to make sure to only do this once. Very amateur YouTube mechanic stumbling my way through this stuff.

Daddy-O5 said:

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is it best to just go get OEM parts whenever available from the dealership? Any quality aftermarket parts to consider? Not terribly worried about cost, and I want to make sure to only do this once.

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My two cents...

Go to rockauto.com and get what you need. You can often choose from OEM, budget, or premium options. They'll ship straight to your door and usually quite quickly. I don't think you need to buy from the dealership and pay their premium.

As vehicles age, there will be fewer options and at some point there will be no oem option for many parts. Only aftermarket. That's been my experience. It is always a crap shoot with parts. Even OEM can change quality over time as they change design, or change where it is sourced from.

Daddy-O5 said:

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Bought a 2005 Ford Excursion earlier this year that's turned into a bit of a project truck, still doing some work on it. Replacing the suspension and performing some maintenance on the axles while I'm at it. Took it into a mechanic to diagnose a few things, most repairs I believe I can handle myself. Looking at replacing seals and bearings on both axles, as well as some of the steering components in the front. Need to replace the track bar (was replaced with the current lift, new suspension designed for stock track bar), ball bearings.

I've been looking at a lot of aftermarket parts, but with everything made in China these days, is it best to just go get OEM parts whenever available from the dealership? Any quality aftermarket parts to consider? Not terribly worried about cost, and I want to make sure to only do this once. Very amateur YouTube mechanic stumbling my way through this stuff.

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I usually stick with Motorcraft parts on my Fords. O'Reilly has a good selection and you can use a coupon to keep the price down. If you're buying anything with a lifetime warranty, get it local instead of over the internet. Stay away from the dealership. You can get Motorcraft parts in lots of places, but I wouldn't buy them on Amazon or ebay - good chance to end up with a counterfeit. Timken is good for seals. I've also had good luck with the higher end Mevotech suspension stuff like ball joints, tie rods, track bars, etc.

As mentioned, Rock Auto is good too. Be mindful of the shipping. They have a few warehouses and have separate shipping charges for parts coming out of different warehouses.

If you need a new steering box, Red Head or Blue Top are the only way to go. Blue Top is usually cheaper - they broke off from Red Head a few years ago.

I've read a lot about those two. A few message board posters implied redhead has gone down hill and Blue Top was actually preferred at this point. I have no idea, just message board banter for all I know.

Thanks, I'll certainly check them out.