Suspension and Brake Rebuild and Cost Breakdown

[crakarjax]

I made a spreadsheet outlining the cost to replace pretty much all wear parts on a '72 C-10 suspension, all wear parts on the brakes, and also the cost for static drop. I threw in some steering as well. Thought it might come in handy for others:

Spreadsheet Link

I went to 5 or 6 sources and indicated which was the cheapest. 90% of the time it is Rock Auto.

I planned on using all MOOG suspension stuff, but didn't realize until I put it on paper how much it is! I can shave $350 off the suspension by using off-brand stuff, namely Mevotech (ever heard of it?).


Suggestions on how to do it cheaper/better are welcome! I haven't really inspected the parts I have (don't know how to yet) but this is a worst-case scenario for me.

[N2TRUX]

Thanks for sharing...

[crakarjax]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Thanks for sharing...

Thanks, I like to think that the time I wasted doing this will be saved for someone else. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

[dfwright]

This is really a good idea. If you have them available, knowing the part numbers needed would save someone some time in looking them up. You have a lot of the part numbers listed, so it wouldn't take much to add the rest if they are known.

Thanks for posting this!

[DPowers]

Thanks for the work. Something I have also found is that Advance will match Rockauto's prices. As long as it is like for like.

[crakarjax]

Good suggestions, I added all the part numbers, cleaned the spreadsheet up a bit and broke the steering parts out into their own subsection. I'm still pretty surprised at the cost, but obviously it would be less than half the price if you use cheap parts. Hopefully I will find that a lot of this stuff will not need to be replaced.

The only problem with price matching to advance auto is that they often do not carry quality components, like moog and raybestos. However, rock auto does provide low-qual stuff like dorman that you could probably price match to at advance auto.

[crakarjax]

I haven't updated this spreadsheet, but wanted to note that I ended up buying a lot of McQuay-Norris and TRW stuff wholesaler closeout from Rock Auto, and a lot of stuff 40% off from advance auto. I have found that there is almost always an active $40 off $100 or similar coupon code for online advance auto orders. I'm going to be actually using all the parts I purchased soon, and I'll update the spreadsheet afterwards.

[N2TRUX]

Thanks for the info. When you get it updated I will submit it for FAQ review.

[64shortbox]

crakarjax,
Thanks for the information & I'm very glad to hear you went with the McQuay-Norris & TRW items rather than the Mevotech. I personally went with the Raybestos Professional Grade Ball Joints, they got real good reviews on the net. I asked a good mechanic friend about the Mevotech ball joints, he answered with "Do you really want to trust your LIFE with an $11.00 ball joint?"
I too was shocked to find out just how much it was to rebuild the front suspension with all new parts & I even cheated on the easy to replace stuff like tie rod ends, center link, idler arm etc. I didn't replace any of that stuff (it checked out good-so far) and it's easy to replace down the road.