Psa - Dana 18 Thrust Washer Issue

yes - that is the exact kit I bought - and yes I bought it in late Novemeber so before yours....as you say, buyer should make sure

I ordered both the sm465 kits (rebuild and mainshaft adapter etc) and the D18 kits all together in November, what I noticed on this order is that I got the complete generic suppliers kit along with all the Novak add-in speciality pieces such as the hardened shaft etc...It was bit confusing at first because there were doubles of things, and it took a bit to figure out what to use and what to leave out. In my few past orders, Novak pulled out the generic peices they were replacing with their own add-ins, so there weren't doubles of stuff. I basically gave them a call to ensure I knew what was what.

As I also had some additional and issues with the sm465 rebuild (my issues not theirs), I spent some time on the phone with Jeff - he's probably got me flagged on the caller ID. Things seem just a little dis-organized or 'sloppy' in terms of parts list and packaging organization etc compared to my previous dealings with them. I realize in some cases - especially bearings - Jeff said the kits were ready and as soon as he could get good bearings the stuff would get sent out (stuff was delayed a month waiting on bearings). You could tell the good (better?) bearings were just thrown in at the last minute loose in the packaging...

I don't know how much of that is due to Covid complications or if time and changing of staff etc seems to be slowly eroding away some of the company's product. The service has still been great, and their knowledge still seems the best around....I have been willing to pay a premium for their products which I think were the best around at one time, as well as the service and knowledge, and yes, its worth it to me to have a sort of one-stop shop with good customer support as opposed to piecing parts together from different suppliers and that complication. Doing to actual mechanical work is hard enough for me - adding in parts chasing etc not worth it to me. I hope it they correct the trend, but it seems more and more old jeep suppliers are just selling the same old stuff as I guess the business model is starting to die with passage of time and age of these old jeeps. There probably isn't much future in the business...