NEW Chinese 2.7 3RZ ?

Harbor Freight has come a long way since then. They actually offer and honor lifetime warranties on most of their tools. They are even easier to deal with than Sears with Craftsman. I broke a ratchet and they gave me an entire new set (ratchet and sockets). Cashier walked over to the shelf, handed it to me and I walked out the door.

HF has come a long way, but I still don't buy anything with a cylinder from them. That being said...some (few, but some) of their ratchets and hand tools have held up better than some of my craftsman ratchets.

 

Harbor freight is a joke. Some...like a few, of their tools may be okay...but in general I wouldn't buy HF tools to work on a wagon.

 

There may be a few good products that come from China but the country's "business model" if you will is to reproduce quality designs using inferior processes and sell said items at a lower price. Granted all iPhones come from China, but the company overseeing and directing is American (Apple).

As far as engines, tools, etc. the metallurgy of Chinese metals is also far inferior. If you don't have good metal to begin with, it doesn't matter how awesome or modern the tooling or design is. Whether tools, engines, or guns, Chinese metal products are not great quality. Can anyone name one Chinese product (produced by a domestic Chinese company) that is superior to its Japanese, American, German, etc. counterpart?

 

and you think this doesn't occur with any other products????

Not sure I can. Seeing as how nothing is made in America, Germany, or Japan anymore. Japanese car makers outsourced to America, China, Canada. American car makers outsourced to Mexico, Turkey, etc. German auto makers outsourced to Mexico.

 

Because of environmental restriction and energy costs in Japan, I highly doubt that there is much foundry work happening in Japan these days.
It could be entirely plausible that these motors are built in the very same factory that produces motor elements for Toyota Honda, Hyundai etc.
Just like any other product, Quality Control management is the key to quality
Good labor and natural resources are worldwide, management of quality is a tightrope tug of war. I know this firsthand because I oversee structural quality control of large commercial building projects done by huge international corporations and know how many structural flaws (some fatal) that the buildings would have if I wasn't there performing due dilligence and constantly engaged in a battle of wits to coax the workers to conform with standard building codes, with the workers under a pressurized schedule.....and this is right here in the USA earthquake zone

I would really like to hear about how these motors are doing. It would be interesting if someone broke a few down at random to check tolerances and do some ultrasound metal testing or even destructive testing.
If one of the sellers had an impartial independent test lab review published that came out favorable, I bet these things would start flying off the shelf.
There must be a huge worldwide market for these 3RZ motors as they are standard issue Taliban and Al Qaeda Army trucks, and used all over the world. Maybe Toyota did a marketing survey and decided to start mass production under a shadow ........
just a thought

 

Nah, just be awesome and find a wrecked 4runner and pull out it's sr5

 

lucked out and got a used 2.7 3rz out of a crash totalled 2004 prerunner with 105,000 miles from a private party $1200
runs smooth and quiet, purrs like a kitty
dodged the bullet
back in the saddle