List of quality parts.

[Dirtman]

What brand batteries have you guys found not to suck. The "house brand" at advance and autozone are worthless piles of garbage. Back in the day diehard and interstate were awesome, not sure anymore. Optimums quality I've heard has gone to hell but last one I had was when they first came out and were freaking awesome.


And as a response to what @19Walt93 said about pennzoil, I can understand the jiffy lube thing but pennzoil ultra platinum is really good oil. I sent oil samples to blackstone quite a few times. I ran mobil1 when I first got my ranger, then switched to penzoil ultra at one point and the next couple samples showed reduced iron and copper wear. Not that it was ever above normal wear with mobil1, but the pennzoil showed a definite reduction in iron and copper levels in the sample.

 

[JMF661]

I’ve heard the same about optima batteries. I’ve had two red tops in the last five years or so. I sold one of my trucks with the first optima I had purchased, three years without any issues. My ranger has a red top in it currently, only been in it for about six months though.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I heard optimas went downhill after being made of chinesium. I have an interstate store down the street that makes battery shopping very convenient. I run interstate agm.

 

[racsan]

for batteries I go to rural king, $54.95, have bought a few (all for different vehicles) and havent had a problem.
on fuel pumps, last oct I wanted to replace my dead original pump in the ranger, had “rigged” a online pump underneath but at 1/2 a tank it would start to starve for fuel. I went to order from rock auto but they were out of stock on motorcraft, so I went with delphi. 4 months later it didnt always want to start and I confirmed it was a fuel pressure issue. So, the electric inline frame mounted pump is back in, Im not pulling the bed again when my rigged summit efi racing pump will get me by, just annoying that I spent time & money on a pump that didnt even make it 6 months, and less than 1,000 miles.

 

[Ramcharger90]

You could buy a Deka Battery. They are mostly American made near Fleetwood Pennsylvania by Amish who left the cult.

 

[Shran]

Walmart batteries are my go to usually. I almost always get 6-7 years out of them, sometimes over 10.

 

[19Walt93]

I had great luck with Centerforce clutches. When I was drag racing I could bark the tires shifting 3-4 with my Dual Friction clutch. It had kind of high pedal pressure so I put the Centerforce Gold back in last winter. The Mustang is still covered because there's no where to go with it right now.
Being a dealer, we sold Motorcraft batteries and they weren't cheap.BUT. I did warranty claims from 1985 until 2017 so I was pretty proficient at preparing them, we had so few defective batteries that I always had to look up the pro rate procedure. I replaced the battery in my Mustang after 9 years as a precaution, it had never failed even with sitting 6 months a year. If I had to jump start it it would have scratched the battery terminals and caused me to replace the cables.
I don't care how good Pennzoil's products might be, they disrespected and screwed over the auto repair industry and Jiffy Lube's existence lowers the public's perception of auto techs.

 

[RobbieD]

Walmart batteries are my go to usually. I almost always get 6-7 years out of them, sometimes over 10.

I've also had good luck with Walmart batteries.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

My bad luck w/ centerforce clutches may have been due to improper break in, and/or traffic jams. Seems these clutches were made for racing, not miles of stop and go in 1st gear. I may try em again the future.

 

[Blmpkn]

Always been Napa batteries for me, never had an issue. Napa seems to squeeze a bit more cca's out of the same group size battery when compared to motorcraft too.

My most recent replacement which is 4~ years old has 50-60 more cca than the factory unit. Its been the victim of parasitic drain probably 3-4 times and still all is well.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

At first I went interstate just because it was convenient. The Warehouse is a few miles from me, I pull up, set my battery on the counter, and they bring out the matching new one. I'm in and out easy peasy.

They do cost more, but I am paying for convenience (and quality). I have since become a big fan of the green battery. My F150 no longer needs jumps after sitting awhile....swapping them into my rascal scooter somehow increased my speed and range, despite being the same 35ah as the original batts.

 

[Blmpkn]

Napa's only 3 miles from my house, and the store batteries are cheapest so my purchase methods have been born out of proximity and frugality lol.

 

[EvanCole45]

DO NOT buy the Duralast clutch slave cylinder. I got it because it's the only one available at parts stores around me. The bleeder valve and hose fittings weren't even long enough to be accessible from the outside of the bell housing.

With that said the Mahle rear main seal is a huge upgrade over whatever was in my truck before (probably the oem one) and I couldn't be happier with my clutch kit from Ram

 

[Dirtman]

I use to always use felpro gaskets. I never heard of mahle gaskets before doing my valve cover a few weeks back. My buddy who works for a medium-heavy truck company said get the mahle over felpro. Quality was definitely on par if not better than OEM. Never had a problem with felpo stuff though but definitely believe I'll be sticking with mahle from now on.

 

[EvanCole45]

I believe Mahle is mostly known for their pistons but their gaskets seem to be great too.