I'm thinking about replacing the shocks, struts, strut mounts/bushings, etc on my daughter's '02 Nissan Pathfinder.  What's your preferred brand for suspension parts?  Not looking to do any kind of performance upgrade, just want to restore the ride to original and get rid of suspension clunks.  Saving money is nice but I don't mind buying OEM if they are a better part.

Are those Gabriel complete strut/spring/mount assemblies any good?  It would be nice to not have to use a spring compressor to take apart the current strut assemblies.

I usually go with KYB and Moog stuff. Buying OEM is too expensive. Cheaping out will cost y ou more in the long run.

By OEM through Amazon. Autoparts store parts are not 100% the same.

Also for the shocks/struts "upgrade" the ride to Bilsteins.  This will cost more but will vastly improve the ride quality.

I know MOOG is great stuff.  if there is an option for them I get them.

Bilstein's online catalog says they don't offer anything for my Pathfinder.  

http://apxautoparts.com/sensen-front-rear-shocks-struts-for-00-04-nissan-pathfinder-lifetime-warranty.html

Had good luck with these on Jap cars. Very close to OEM ride. Great price too.

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I'm not familiar with pathfinder suspensions but I know with the 1996-2002 4runners people who have used aftermarket lower ball joints have had them fail after a short amount of miles and have caused serious damage as you can see above. Then they end up fixing it again with OEM parts. I pay the extra money for OEM suspension parts and have the piece of mind. There's a lot of places that sell discounted OEM parts and depending on what it is it's usually not too much more expensive. I'm a firm believer in replacing with quality parts so I don't have to do the labor again when the cheapo parts fail early. As far as suspension parts, I will use aftermarket for shocks (KYB are usually good for the price, bilstein if you want to spend more) or only if it is a known issue that the OEM parts are a bad design to begin with. I usually use moog problem solvers or napa super premium in that case. If you don't plan on keeping it for a long time then go ahead and cheap out, just don't cheap out on a part that can cause a major problem like seen above.

I just went through and replaced the suspension on my 2003 Pathfinder and used a a few different vendors. I got new KYB shocks and struts from shockwarehouse.com as they had best price with free shipping. Also bought all new Old Man Emu springs with +1" lift as the car would bottom on bumps with people riding in back.

For the components it was a mix of ACDelco Professional and Moog. I bought from Amazon as the pricing was better than Rockauto. Complete control arms were Moog and made in china, looked just like the old ones and holding up fine. Ball joint are Sankei 555s

On my 2001 F250 4x4 diesel I had the front upper and lower ball joints replaced along with the front shocks with components from Auto Zone. Their ball joints are sourced from a major mfg. and the upper end gas shocks are mfgd by Gabriel. The ball joints were so damn tight that the steering would not return to center by itself after completing a turn and was 100% sketchy driving for a considerable amount of time afterwards. I bought a set of ball joints from Ford but they eventually settled in and started working smoothly. Still plan on replacing the ball joints back to Ford OEM parts. Those Gabriel shocks? Scary shit there too. One of them seized up internally and bent and broke the shaft on the left front in under a year. Replaced them with a new set under warranty and within a couple weeks the ride was shit again. Another seized up shock. Dampening was lost and would bottom to metal about halfway compressed. Swapped them again for some KYB's and things were much better.

Of course I haven't had a whole lot of luck with OEM pieces either. Hub and bearings up front from Ford are super expensive and last about 50,000 miles. Four factory remanufactured steering gears on it at 222,000 miles so far. Had to change the original one at 110,000 miles when some kids in a Dakota tried to take the front end off and the only thing Ford offers is a factory reman unit. Can't seem to get more than 30,000 miles out of one before they start leaking profusely. Only warranted 12/12,000 and they aren't cheap. Replaced it a couple weeks ago with a lifetime guarantee unit from the local parts store and that fucker has so much slop in it you look like the Duke boys cooking down a dirt road at speed. The mechanic thinks the pitman arm is not fitting snug on the splines so I grabbed a new one from Ford to try today. If it doesn't fix the problem he gets to swap the steering gear again on the parts store dime.

Point is, proceed with caution. There are good pieces at the dealer as well as local parts stores. Sadly, OEM pieces aren't always the best quality anymore.