Pattern parts or "Lemforder vs the rest"

[richard at home]

I know that the general consensus if that when buying suspension parts, Lemforder are usually the go to brand, but has anyone seen any in depth testing of Lemforder vs any of the dozens of other brands available at half to a third the price?

In something like a control arm, are the differences in the dimensional accuracy, aluminium casting quality, bush material? All of above?

There are so many brands that appear to be German but are sourced from China. If they are all total cr@p, how do they stay in business, or is there really a big market for parts that work just long enough to get a car through the MOT and sold?

I would assume that safety critical parts like suspension and brakes would need to conform to some sort of approvals but maybe not?

[Krikkit]

Generally it's not the tolerances which are out, that's easy to achieve, it's the longevity by investing in material quality.

A cheap wishbone will meet standard specs closely enough not to make any discernible difference, but it might last 10k miles not 100k like a Lemforder.

Personally I've refined the list I'm prepared to use down to a handful through experience of exactly that.

[DickP]

richard at home said:

If they are all total cr@p, how do they stay in business, or is there really a big market for parts that work just long enough to get a car through the MOT and sold?

Hi,

I think you can apply that for just getting through the MOT. Doesn’t necessarily mean it would then be sold!

Thanks,

[mwstewart]

On the Lemforder parts I've used the BMW, or Mercedes, or whatever branding has been ground off. These are the original parts.

I don't know what other proof is required. Of course, they don't make all parts so sometimes it's a case of using Sachs for the dampers, and occasionally but rarely Meyle or Febi.

[rxe]

Or they’re just built wrong. Alfa 156 upper arms were a classic example. You could get sets of these (upper, lower, drop links) on eBay for £65, when a single TRW upper arm would cost about £50 and a lower £100. The bushes in the upper arms were fixed, when the whole design was for the upper arm to move against the bush. They literally broke as soon as you lowered the car to the ground. The car handled ok for about 200 miles, then handled like st, but would pass an MOT for about 3 years.

The only ‘good’ bushes for these cars were TRW and Delphi. Birth were OK, but didn’t last as well as TRW. I wouldn’t trust anything else. I’ve bought several of these cars s/h, and the first job is to get all of the suspension off and throw it in the bin, then replace it with proper parts.

[stevemcs]

If you are repairing a car and selling it on fit the cheapest parts and move it on. Otherwise fit the best you can. Middle of the road are Delphi, Firstline and Moog.

[jjones]

DickP said:

Hi,

I think you can apply that for just getting through the MOT. Doesn’t necessarily mean it would then be sold!

Thanks,

Yep a lot of motor factors only supply the cheap tat, car fails an mot so you go to the factors as you need it fixed.

Have previously tried to get genuine parts from the dealers and they never have any stock, or the parts department is shut. If the main dealer had the parts, they were not ridiculously priced and maybe the shopping experience was as frictionless as eurocarparts then more people would use the genuine parts.

[richard at home]

Zulu 10 said:

I've fitted Lemförder suspension arms sourced from Autodoc to my Continental GT and found that they have the four rings ground off, and, just like the originals, bear the manufacturer's logo which upon investigation turns out to be Alfot.

Alfot being an acronym meaning Aluminium Forging of Taiwan.

What was that about dodgy parts of far eastern origin?

Yes, as I mentioned, coming from the far east doesn't always mean cr@p. It's where 90% of everything comes from! It's the western company behind the manufacturing that puts their own people in the plant to set it up and make sure the quality stays good that makes the difference between the good and bad parts.

Anyone an walk into a factory in China and say "Make me 5,000 of these as cheap as possible" and they'll do it. If you want something of equivalent quality, you need to micro manage them through the process and keep an eye on it the whole way through.

It doesn't even matter what the factory makes, a plant making saucepans will take on something like a car suspension part, if they can make a few $$$ from it! In fact, if you want enough parts, they'll build the factory for you too...

Anyway its interesting that you can sell parts that fail the moment the car goes round the first corner and get away with it, by simply having an office in Germany to run the business from!

It certainly appears to be best to stick with Lemforder and TRW, from the comments above!

Does Moog fall into that group too? (Just been trying to figure out who Moog is... Part of the defunct Federal Mogul group who is now part of Tenneco, I think. Nothnig to do with the Moog that make aerospace parts and servo valves in racecars. EDIT: Now part of DRiV inc who own Ohlins, Monroe, Ferodo and about 40 other brands!)

Edited by richard at home on Sunday 27th December 09:44

[Belle427]

I’ve always liked lemforder, you can really tell the difference in quality and fit.
I’m sure Euro car parts have stopped selling it recently, which is a shame, I ordered mine recently from Autodoc.
Meyle HD seem reasonable quality as do Febi Bilstein, I try not to use the likes of Firstline and Quinton hazel etc even though I have not really had an issue with parts I’ve used out of desperation.

[2354519y]

Lemforder vs original part. BMW 318I E46 arm. The lemforder one whilst spot on in fitting was a lot lighter in weight than the original. So it can't have been an original part minus the branding in this case.