montanaman
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Western Montana
I just wanted to say that I've found some parts should be replaced with the original factory parts. I'm not saying all parts should be dealer only ... but some of them should be. These days, a lot of Jeep dealerships sell parts online for below-MSRP prices. Here's one that has a good combination of low price and low shipping: http://www.moparwholesaleparts.com/
Here's my experience:
Parking brake cables: I bought some aftermarket cables from Rock Auto, and they were terrible. The first winter on the vehicle, they froze up completely. Montana winters are 5 months of snow on the ground and often sub-zero temps. Water had gotten inside the cable housing and locked up the cable after sitting out at night. I finally broke down and bought the dealership cables and was amazed at the difference ... much better. The cables are covered in plastic before inserted into the housing, and most importantly, there were little seals on each end to prevent water/dirt from getting inside the housing with the cable. Also a heat shield for where the cable passes over the exhaust. Trouble-free performance ever since.
Thermostat: When I put in a new motor, I replaced the t-stat. My aftermarket t-stat kept the engine temp yo-yoing up and down all winter long. The t-stat would open up, and a flood of cold coolant would come into the engine and the temp gauge would take a serious dive. Then the t-stat would close up and the temp would spike ... repeat forever. Then I tried another aftermarket t-stat recommended on here, and the temp didn't bounce around because it opened a little at lower temps, but I noticed it took a lot longer for the engine to come up to operating temp ... not good. Finally, I installed the factory t-stat, and i like it. It warms up much faster, with steady temp performance.
Temp gauge sender: When I swapped my instrument panel from idiot lights to gauges, I had to replace the temp gauge sender. I tried a sender made by Nippondenso because it was cheaper (it was the one they recommended for the year of the new gauge panel), but it was way off. I replaced it with a factory sender for that same year of gauge panel, and it works perfectly.
Fan Clutch: When my 20-year old Factory fan clutch died, I replaced it with the Hayden 2625 model recommended here, and it died in about a year. Then I put on a dealership fan clutch with no problems. With the hood up, I can rev the motor with my hand and hear the fan roar like the Hayden never did.
Radiator: This is one where the aftermarket was better than the original. I upgraded my radiator with a CSF all-metal, 3-row radiator, and I'm totally happy with it. I'm pretty sure it's all brass. Definitely no plastic or aluminum. I've run it in the Mexico desert in summer at 115 degrees with zero problems. Needle almost never crossed the center line. A lot of the factory rads have plastic tanks and/or only 1 or 2 rows. I don't know if Mopar makes an all-metal 3-row, but if they do, I'm sure it costs a fortune.
A lot of the other repairs I've done with aftermarket parts have worked out fine, but I just thought I would share these experiences with you. I don't mean this as a negative post. The Naxja forum has been really helpful over the years, and I post this only because I want to return the favor in some small way.
.
Here's my experience:
Parking brake cables: I bought some aftermarket cables from Rock Auto, and they were terrible. The first winter on the vehicle, they froze up completely. Montana winters are 5 months of snow on the ground and often sub-zero temps. Water had gotten inside the cable housing and locked up the cable after sitting out at night. I finally broke down and bought the dealership cables and was amazed at the difference ... much better. The cables are covered in plastic before inserted into the housing, and most importantly, there were little seals on each end to prevent water/dirt from getting inside the housing with the cable. Also a heat shield for where the cable passes over the exhaust. Trouble-free performance ever since.
Thermostat: When I put in a new motor, I replaced the t-stat. My aftermarket t-stat kept the engine temp yo-yoing up and down all winter long. The t-stat would open up, and a flood of cold coolant would come into the engine and the temp gauge would take a serious dive. Then the t-stat would close up and the temp would spike ... repeat forever. Then I tried another aftermarket t-stat recommended on here, and the temp didn't bounce around because it opened a little at lower temps, but I noticed it took a lot longer for the engine to come up to operating temp ... not good. Finally, I installed the factory t-stat, and i like it. It warms up much faster, with steady temp performance.
Temp gauge sender: When I swapped my instrument panel from idiot lights to gauges, I had to replace the temp gauge sender. I tried a sender made by Nippondenso because it was cheaper (it was the one they recommended for the year of the new gauge panel), but it was way off. I replaced it with a factory sender for that same year of gauge panel, and it works perfectly.
Fan Clutch: When my 20-year old Factory fan clutch died, I replaced it with the Hayden 2625 model recommended here, and it died in about a year. Then I put on a dealership fan clutch with no problems. With the hood up, I can rev the motor with my hand and hear the fan roar like the Hayden never did.
Radiator: This is one where the aftermarket was better than the original. I upgraded my radiator with a CSF all-metal, 3-row radiator, and I'm totally happy with it. I'm pretty sure it's all brass. Definitely no plastic or aluminum. I've run it in the Mexico desert in summer at 115 degrees with zero problems. Needle almost never crossed the center line. A lot of the factory rads have plastic tanks and/or only 1 or 2 rows. I don't know if Mopar makes an all-metal 3-row, but if they do, I'm sure it costs a fortune.
A lot of the other repairs I've done with aftermarket parts have worked out fine, but I just thought I would share these experiences with you. I don't mean this as a negative post. The Naxja forum has been really helpful over the years, and I post this only because I want to return the favor in some small way.
.
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