Thread: Definitive Bad Aftermarket Parts and failure Thread

Maybe this will become a sticky someday.
I thought it would be cool to have a thread that has info and shows pics regarding NON-OEM Nissan parts that are not up to par,or parts that should NOT be substituted with aftermarket.
Other major freak failures ,bad parts or other carnage could be posted here too.
Here are a few contributions to get it started.
I got the idea when I was changing my powersteering pump that was whining on a car I had just purchased.
There was a very new looking aftermarket high pressure PS line on the car.When I went to loosen the nut on the pump for the line,the whole line turned and kinked like a garden hose.
Of course,I had to get it off now,sice it was FUBAR'd.It was all jammed up on the pump and I eventually got it off.
Now I had an undriveable car up on jackstands,and I wasn't about to go buy another crappy line after what just happened.
I did get lucky and found a real good spare OEM Nissan line in my parts stash to use and get the car back together,but an important lesson was learned here....
If I had not had a spare one I would have been forced to buy another cheapo,or wait and pay big bucks for a Nissan one.
The nissan ones are 5-6 times the price of the aftermarket,BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY.
Here is a couple pics of the lines side by side ,you can see what I mean.I never really noticed how terrible the aftermarket ones really are.You can see the aluminum locating pin that snapped off to let it spin.(it was pressed in actually)



I started thinking about how some things are just better to get OEM NissanThen I started thinking about all the different crap parts I have gotten over the years..Bum reman and aftermarket alternators,starters,radiators,tune up parts galore.
Here are some examples of parts I prefer to be Nissan...if you can afford it at the time.
PS lines...obviously
Tune up parts(cap,rotor,wires,at least)
Throwout bearing
Engine and tranny seals(crankshaft,axles,etc)
Hoses,most gaskets
Water and oil pumps
Electrical parts
Fasteners for trim,etc,clips
Bearings of any kind

I ALWAYS use NGK plugs...ALWAYS
Heres some autolite plugs that broke off in a Nissan Frontier head I was tuning up for a friend.Potmetal garbage and no anti-seize in an aluminum head=SNAP


Heres an example of a failed Place racing rear crossmember mount.


I was trying to keep this thread topic on PART failures,not engine,or mechanical failures(rods through blocks,broken gears,trannys,body damage should not be included)
Failed clutches,brakes,axles would be cool.

Also,mainly this is geared to normal use and some abuse as we all like to run our cars hard at times.
Obviously high hp modded cars are gonna be parts breakers,we want to know the stuff that is gonna fail no matter what,or seems to have not been able to take enough abuse to be considered halfway decent.

I am just getting these"rules" off the top of my head,so input is welcomed.
If you see some criteria that I forgot or we should change ,feel free to speak up.
I really feel like this would be a helpful thread for sr20/Nissan owners.Especially newbs,or someone venturing away from a stock car to turbo,or whatever.

I like your idea, gonna put it into the Product Reviews section and Sticky it.

Maybe create post per failed item that way it cay say what item it is bolted, plus linking ability

Cool thanks for moving this.
I dont know why I didnt post it here to begin with.

This could help people stay away from known bad garbage.
I thought of another today....
Aftermarket cv axles...FTL

Yeah, especially NAPA. I sheared a NAPA cv axle at the case. Left the splinned end in the tranny... NAPA FTL! I've just never had ANY luck using NAPA parts. Also had a NAPA clutch spit springs on me and that was on a stock DE setup. Gone through about 5 distributors on my old camaro due to them constantly failing on me, a couple starters in my SE-R, the axle, cheap ass brake pads, rotors that cracked on me... Just haven't had good luck with any of their parts...

I just had a set of, I believe, autolite plug wires come apart on me while trying to reseal my vc gasket. They fused themselves to the plug caps and came apart when I was pulling them out.

ive had bad experiences with Napa on my axels and my rotor and cap......i just stick to nissan FTW

man dont tell me that! i got napa axles on mine, but so far everything is good (knock on wood). im also running their brakes all around

im on my 4th O'reilly cv shaft, seems only the driver's side boots keep consistently ripping after 2 months of use

They might be hitting something if that's the case.

the they kept giving me two axels of equal size(two driver side axels ) and kept insisting they were right but on a b15 the passenger side is much longer so i just got the ones from the nissan automall and all is well

Ive never had a problem with NAPA or any aftermarket axles??? Maybe Im just lucky. Ive only had turbo cars as well.

Edit- This is TheRealNighthog.