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Where do you get your parts from, aftermarket or oem?


I support common sense

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2025
Messages
91
City
N/A
State - Country
TN - USA
Vehicle Year
99
Vehicle
Ford Ranger
Drive
2WD
Engine
3.0 V6
Transmission
Automatic
Total Lift
2”
Tire Size
15”
Doing rear brakes and I bought the cheap O’reilly’s house brand shoes and hardware kit. Neither seem to be too great and just weren’t well machined. Not sure if Ford still makes the hardware kit, or if it is outrageously priced. So, now I’m curios, where do ya’ll get your parts, not even necessarily just brakes but do you buy from ford, 1a auto, local parts store…? I’d rather not buy a bunch of junk.

Edit: 1999 ranger 2wd rear drum brakes
 
I used to play the parts game, trying to source best price or find a particular brand or whatnot. I’ve since given that up as a waste of time and effort. I don’t have time for that anymore and time is money. I got a commercial account set up at a local Autozone since I have my own business (not automotive but construction). I never buy the cheapest stuff, usually go for the “Duralast Gold” stuff, or at least the red box stuff. I need something I just call up there or use the app and it magically appears at my door. Lifetime warranty on a lot of parts too.

Sadly parts quality has gone downhill in recent years, so as the NOS Motorcraft stuff disappears, it doesn’t seem to matter where you buy from, it’s all poor quality. Because of that I’ve gone to what is convenient for me. It’s not a solution for everyone but it’s what makes sense when I have a pile of vehicles to take care of (not just what’s in my sig, also my parents stuff, bunch of equipment, and a couple friend’s vehicles). Being able to have a problem pull up, make a 2 minute phone call and have parts arrive by the time I get done tearing it apart is hugely valuable to me. The next improvement is a garage with a lift…
 
I do rockauto, not the cheapest parts
 
Depends on the part. Something really important, such as 4.0 SOHC tensioners? Motorcraft. Other parts that are important, such as brake components, or things you don't want to worry about replacing again soon? High-end NAPA. Other things that don't matter so much: other parts sources.

Do look for Motorcraft parts on RockAuto.

Also, you should account for reputation. Some members here say to use the Motorcraft components for repairing the 4.0 SOHC timing-chain system instead of Cloyes, which makes aftermarket parts for those repairs.
 
I buy them from Rockauto most of the time. I'll buy Motorcraft parts if the price is right, but often I can find the same part from Mahle, SMP, Bosch, or other brands that are made for Motorcraft. I do not buy the economy line of parts.

For the brakes, Bosch and TRW made a lot of the brake parts on the Rangers. If you stick to the larger brands you aren't going to have problems with brakes. I did the front last fall with Centric rotors and Power Stop Z36 pads. I need to do the rear. I haven't decided what I'm going to buy, but it will probably be Bosch or Power Stop.
 
At this stage my preferred order is:
1) Local mom-n-pop independent parts store. I'll pay a small premium, if it's even the case, for the unmatched service, and to support a local business.
2) Local big-box chain stores. Close second, and they are open more days / hours.
3) RockAuto. Used to be great, but the shipping from six different locations for six parts ordered has brutally killed the cost-effectiveness that buying from them used to be.
4) eBay. Older RBVs, some parts are getting hard to find.

A lot depends, as others have said, on what the needed part is. For a some things, it's MotorCraft (or, OEM) only; other things, a good aftermarket brand will be OK.

And be aware, that counterfeit parts are a thing these days, especially with MotorCraft parts. If you find an unbelievable deal on MotoCraft, you'd better look it real closely.
 
Aftermarket if I need it NOW and OEM if I can wait and order it.
 
"It depends"

As others have mentioned above, for really important stuff, Ford, Motorcraft. Oth3r stuff, I go by what seems to have the best reputation.

Don't fool yourself. Very few parts are actually made by Ford. The difference is that Ford specifies particular quality standards and testing before their name goes on the box. With the other brands, these days, YOU do the testing. Which means you buy the part. If it works, fine. If it doesn't work, you return it for warranty replacement. So, pick and choose carefully.
 
For brakes I kinda like Bendix from Rockauto.

May not be the best but the price is decent, performance is good enough for me and I doubt they would put their name on total junk.

For actual like warranty parts it is kinda hard to beat O'Reilly's. Not the best but if a starter/alternator etc lays down it isn't hard to walk to the nearest O'Reilly's with a receipt for a "free" new one.
 
I have the lifetime warrantied ones from advanced auto on my daily driver GM (it likes to eat brakes and batteries up, and I drive like a granny)... haven't had to do em on the Ranger yet. Generically speaking I like to go with local oreilly/zone/advanced since 90% of the time they are the same price as online without shipping and if they aren't they will match. In the last 3 years it seems like they have nothing in stock at all and you have to order it ship to store (free) or home... but at least then I don't have to pay $20 to ship it back if it turns out to be wrong.

The last thing I got was a lower radiator hose from oreilly (order delivered to store) and was 90% sure it was the wrong one - turned out to be the right one, works perfect job done, $13... Napa's cheapest was $68.
 
I am eventually wanting to create which is the best parts and where to get them. Part quality has gone downhill lately. Some aftermarkets are better than OEM. I recently tried to call Ford for a part number on something. Once their autos get so old, seems like they basically kick them out of the system. When possible, spending on the best part can make a difference for the long run and least headache. Gates and Wix are two brands of parts I prefer.
 
Like others have stated, it depends. Electronics and sensors, I try to go OEM. Other parts, I go OEM if I can and the price is reasonable, but if an aftermarket part with a decent brand reputation is avialable, I'll consider it if the price is better. I do compare prices on Rock Auto with local auto parts stores, with the cost of shipping factored in. Sometimes buying from the local big box store makes more sense if the part is a decent enough brand. There is no mom and pop stores locally, so internet big box and local big box are the only options here.

I take that back, there is one mom and pop but their business model is based on supporting commercial garages and their prices for the average consumer are horrible. Their hours are not great either and they never seem to have the part needed in stock. So, I stopped using them a long time ago.
 
Depends.

I usually buy all my crap off the internet though.. ALL my crap.

Pretty much the only stuff I actually go in to a store to buy nowadays is food lol. Free delivery is the bomb.
 
I am eventually wanting to create which is the best parts and where to get them. Part quality has gone downhill lately. Some aftermarkets are better than OEM. I recently tried to call Ford for a part number on something. Once their autos get so old, seems like they basically kick them out of the system. When possible, spending on the best part can make a difference for the long run and least headache. Gates and Wix are two brands of parts I prefer.
Maybe creating a spreadsheet with common parts and common brands with price and quality being the two important details, although right now the price is going to fluctuate a lot. I think this thread could make a great article when finished if we could do something like that.
 
I will also throw out that sometimes aftermarket is ridiculous expensive... short headed flyweel bolts for example, all the aftermarket options are like $40-$60 for a set of 6, Ford dealership still sells em $0.75/pop (or at least that is what they list em at on Ford website)... If I was building a 400hp monster I might pay more for that brand everyone says is worth it, but to just replace a clutch on a stock I'm not keen on spending 400x as much. I pretty much use FordPartsCatalog.com to figure out the right part and get to 100% sure it is the right part number then shop around keeping brand names and convenience of decent brick and mortar store in mind.
 

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