check your ball joints

I got a note from my mechanic to have them done. Going to do it next week after school's out, but he told me that they haven't had great luck with the OEM or NAPA LBJs. But they have found the Japanese Moog parts to be a little better. Has anyone else heard that? Also, on Amazon, I found the Moog parts for $45/side part #

$49 K90258 Front Left Lower Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

K90258 and #

$52 K90259 Front Right Lower Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

K90259. Then I watched a youtube video and learned how to have them done.

Hope that helps.

Steve

 

I would advise you to find a new mechanic. He is very mistaken about Toyota OEM ball joints.

FWIW, replacing your lower ball joints should be a regular maintenance item, just as you would replace the timing belt (v6) and the water pump. A similar interval is appropriate for OEMs. All bets are off for the cheap moog/555/aftermarket ones.

 

Wtf I am about to buy this kit and then you say Moog is crap. What do I get OEM or this. The truck has 280k. I need to do something.

 

Get oem. Think about how long they have lasted. Or get that kit and replace them with oem later down the road. Idk why your mechanic said they had issues with oem.

 

My comment was specifically about the ball joints. They are the critical piece and what is prone to failure.

Based on what I have seen and has been reported by others on this forum, the outer and inner TREs are far less prone to failure. Personally, I chose to use the 555 brand TREs imported directly from Japan, purchased from LowRange Offroad.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/yota...-tacoma-outer-tie-rod-ends-made-in-japan.html

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/yota...a-tacoma-inner-tie-rod-end-left-or-right.html

 

If you are interested in learning more, here are some links to ball joint threads that contain some really good information on this topic.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lower-ball-joints.274297/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ball-joints.266989/

 

got it all at oreilly's, good quality parts and they all had grease fittings on them unlike overpriced oem. side by side you cant tell them apart and they are just as well made as oem ones.

the only reason I would go oem ids if I had a rock crawler or something where you are putting abnormal stress on them, otherwise aftermarkets are nothing you need to avoid. the new oem parts you buy are not made the same as the ones that came in your truck from the factory, the ones you buy at the dealer are made by aftermarket suppliers and just rebadged as Toyota brand so you aren't getting the same quality that lasted 100k miles just because you buy oem.

I go with oem parts where it matters or makes a difference and there isn't one when it comes to aftermarket front end parts from oreilly's or advance auto are good quality parts, I don't use the duralast stuff from autozone though as they don't look to be good quality even though they come with lifetime warranty.

moog parts are well known for being crap and failing, they also have poorly fitting boots that let the grease get washed away.

lots of people "think" oem is better but its not, but then if it helps you feel better pay more for oem and feel better about it. oem or not the new ones will last the same amount of time, Toyota does NOT make ball joints, they buy them from aftermarket company and just put it in a toyota box.

now, that said, I would advise to NOT buy moog or duralast front end parts because those ARE cheaply made and wont last

 

Do NOT buy aftermarket lower ball joints. They don't have the same tolerances and the mating surfaces are not the same as the OEM and have been compared directly side by side and issues have been found.

 

compared to what? moog? everyone knows moog makes inferior parts now, where is the link to this "proof" that oem is superior?

just because the originals last long is not proof, the only way you can expect the oem replacements to last as long as the originals is ONLY if you find a part made in 1990's and is still on the shelf. oem parts are made today just like the aftermarkets are because THEY ARE AFTERMARKET PARTS they were when the truck was made and they still are today

 

https://youtu.be/s8ZVahKc06o

 

You clearly did not read the links that were already posted in the thread

Because if you did you would know that the OEM part from the OEM manufacturer 555 is not even the same part . The one thats actually OEM is not the same as the regular 555 replacement.

 

you do know 555 is moog don't you? moog is crap, I agree with that, so is duralast (I found some with nylon bushings in them), but its not fair to lump in all aftermarkets with moog.

by the way who makes oem? do you know because its not made or manufactured by Toyota, its bought from a generic supplier off the shelf.

as I stated before if it floats your boat to pay double for oem by all means have fun, especially if it gives you peace of mind but its not any better then any "good quality" aftermarket brand that is not NOT 555/moog or a rebranded version of 555/moog.

 

555 is not moog. I heard Sankei 555 in Japan makes the balljoints for Toyota. Some have said 555 is also on their OEM balljoints. Somewhere along the line they must have sold the molds for this part because now that 555 is on China made LBJ's and probably a few other parts. The quality that Sankei makes in the LBJ is not in the other off brand parts, maybe in less strenuous parts they work fine but not LBJ. With rare exceptions of course. You will be better off with the original 555 oem balljoint and many threads support this. But you can bet against the house if you feel lucky. It's up to you. Or I could be wrong and Sankei doesn't make Toyota's LBJ's. I would still buy OEM over anything else if I had the option.

 

Been a while since I did a LBJ sermon so here ya go.

There are 3 grades of LBJ's for 1st gen 4wd/prerunner Tacos. There is a significant difference in quality and price between each of them.

Edit, Sankei likely is not the OE manufacturer. However that's merely trivia. The important take away is OE joints are the only joints made to Toyota specs/design regardless of aftermarket "claims".

OEM joints are made by Sankei/555 to Toyota specs and only available from Toyota. They are at the top and with good reason. Next comes aftermarket Sankei/555. These are not even close to OEM Toyota spec. They look nearly identical but are based on inferior cheaper technology and lack proper machining in a critical area. At the bottom of the pile is no name Chinese "bastard" joints to be avoided at all cost.

The aftermarket Sankei/555 joints are sold by Moog, Raybestos, NAPA and others as their "premium" line. Some vendors infer that they are OEM, they are not. They use old school metal on metal tech that requires periodic lubrication. The grease fittings are not a benefit over OEM. You decide the type and frequency of lubrication. When are they considered worn out? That's up to you and it's next to impossible to tell/check due to the design. The mounting bosses are rough, not machined like OEM, allowing more potential for mount bolts loosening and shearing. Proof is in the pics.
That being said and outside of the mounting boss machining issue, they are not going to "just fail" before exhibiting enough slop to justify replacement. They just don't last as long as OEM. Then there are all the reports of the boots tearing in short order.

Below is an OEM service replacement joint. I sectioned it a few years back to show folks what goes on inside and what to look for in terms of wear. The point being that there is way beyond ample warning before the ball separates. It has 100k miles with play of around .030". This is considered worn out by the Toyota spec of .020" vertical play measured with the joint not in it's normal state of tension. The PTFE (or something like it) liner is not even close to wearing thru. For one of these to fail, the liner and a good bit of hardened steel would have to wear away creating in excess of at least 15 times the Toyota spec.
This technology uses a highly polished ball rotating inside the liner. Only initial lubrication is needed to "condition" the liner, no more for life. This combination results in longer life and is significantly more costly to manufacture.



Aftermarket Sankei/555, this one was sectioned by another fellow as a follow up. Note the half ball and metal on metal. It had very low miles and he reported like many others, that it felt "rough".


Aftermarket Sankei/555 showing rough finish of the mount bosses.


OEM joint showing machined bosses and most important, they come painted.

 

Thank you for coming in @Dirty Pool. I have been looking for one of your posts but couldn't find any.

 

This sermon needs to be heard every once in a while. Thanks.

 

thank you, I finally heard someone explain it with reason and facts rather then just say "buy oem just because"

now that I know the facts I am fully convinced and agree its always best to go to the dealer or Toyota online for them. I truly thought I understood it to be that Toyota had the exact same stuff right off the shelf as the sankei/555 ones you buy anywhere so I saw no reason to pay extra at the dealer for them.

the confusing thing is they are selling "clones" under the same name from the same manufacturer yet as you pointed out they are far far apart in quality.

I also did not realize the lack of grease fittings was because they were designed not to need lube unlike aftermarket ones. that is a huge plus and most likely the reason they have such long life.

im always happy to learn when things are explained but I refuse to accept things "just because someone says so", im anal and hard headed like that lol.

I also hold your opinion with great weight as not just someone repeating regurgitated stuff they read somewhere on a forum.

would this disparity also apply to buying asin name brand electronics "as oem" rather then getting the ones from the dealer

 

Excellent write up Dirty Pool , went looking for your old post but only found that random video. Maybe your information should be a sticky to stop these threads every few months.

You learn something new everyday

 

I agree its very worthy of a sticky as im sure this subject comes up all the time

 

Y'all are killin me. I just bought 2 lower ball joints from Moog, marked 555.