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By LON - 14 Years Ago
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This has probably been asked before ?? Who sells the best ,& most complete front end kit to suit a 1957 Thunderbird. Quality will win over price every time .I have seen a few (no brand ) kits on e-bay for around $200.?? They don't look that complete & quality does not seem to be one of their strong points ???.Please let me know what you have bought ? Lon
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By speedpro56 - 14 Years Ago
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I,ve heard the over the pond variety are not the best when it comes to handling and steering especially the balljoints. On balljoints I try to buy them NOS on ebay a piece at a time. As for the rubber bushings I'll go with the NEW because nos may be drying out and won't last long from rubber deterioration.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 14 Years Ago
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Lon: Be advised that the early Bird ball joints are very beefy, are not subject to great wear. Check them carefully per the shop manual, you would be better off with good originals than Chinese replacements.
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By pegleg - 14 Years Ago
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Hoosier Hurricane (9/12/2011)
Lon: Be advised that the early Bird ball joints are very beefy, are not subject to great wear. Check them carefully per the shop manual, you would be better off with good originals than Chinese replacements. Lon, I bought new ones for my Custom, still have them because the 50 year old originals were better!
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By paul2748 - 14 Years Ago
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Check with Kanter. I have bought front end parts from them and I am satisfied. You will have to ask them the origin of the parts. www.kanter.com Ditto about the original ball joints. I have a 54 and a 56 and the ball joints did not need replacement while almost everything else did, especially on the 54.
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By Duck - 14 Years Ago
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If you still have OEM ball joints, they made a repair kit for them. They turn up on ebay fairly often. Much better than the offshore stuff...
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By Joe 5bird7 - 14 Years Ago
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I got a kit from Kanter about 6 or 7 yrs ago for my 57Bird. As I recall, they offerred 2 options and I bought the one that had the most components, and of course the higher price. In my case, they made the car handle like new. I was and am very pleased with it. Joe in Washington state/puget sound
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By LON - 14 Years Ago
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John,Frank .I agree with you on the ball joints .When I rebuilt the Victoria ,I replaced every nut & bolt on the entire chassis ,except the ball joints .They showed no sign of wear at all .Thanks to all the other replys as well. Think I will start with upper & lower control arm bushes and see what else I have to replace .I have already bought shocks ,bump stops ,& sway bar end kits . Lon
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By Canadian Hot Rodder - 14 Years Ago
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Lon, use a little "vegemite" instead of grease, that crap should hold those ball joints together forever!!!! 
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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I bought new upper arm bushing kits about 2 years ago and I am pretty sure they were Moog.That was from my local parts store.Very good quality. I ordered lower arm mounting kits from Carpenter which included new bolts and hardware as well as the 4 bushings.Opened the box-made in China.I used the bolts and bought new wide nuts-the ones in the box were skinny ones which puts far less threads in contact with the bolt.I would much rather had NOS or NOSR from USA but I coudnt reuse my old ones-too corroded.Sold the bushings which were REAL soft and used USA replacements.Emailed Carpenter and made them aware I was NOT impressed.They offered refund but I needed the bolts.Hope they are better quality than the dairy products that killed those babies a few years back in China.Give me NOS USA anytime!
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By nonne_56 - 14 Years Ago
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Hi over there. I am just doing a new shopping list for my next trip to CA, that will be to Hot Rod Reunion, Bakersfield in October This winter it's time for the front end to be done. I found ball joints for 150 usd from Egge's and from C&G Ford Parts it is 50 usd and this x 4 is 400 dollars different in price. Is it so much differens in quality on this parts or is it just the shops pricing that is crazy?
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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It depends on what they are selling.Is it öffshore stuff or quality USA items.Quite a difference in price though from those 2 sources.
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By nonne_56 - 14 Years Ago
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oldcarmark (9/13/2011)
It depends on what they are selling.Is it öffshore stuff or quality USA items.Quite a difference in price though from those 2 sources.A kit from Kanter is 249 and on E-bay 399, it's never easy to do right. Have to ask, do you have ö on your keyboard
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By PF Arcand - 14 Years Ago
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Upper ball joints on mid 50s Fords were very durable. My 57 car had the originals in it until a year ago. As we were replacing the A arm bushings we replaced them because it was apart. For bushings you can try Joblot Automotive in NY.state. The price was reasonable thru my local old car center. However, I don't know where they were manufactured...
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