Brand recommendations for parts

Do you have any brand recommendations for:
Sway bar end links
Outer tie rod
Lower ball joint
Brake rotor


So far, I'm looking to buy these brand for the parts:
Sway bar end links (MOOG)
Outer Tie rod (MEVOTECH - the supreme line)
Lower ball joint (MEVOTECH - the supreme line)
Brake rotors (BREMBO blanks)


Also for the zerk fittings on the end links, outer tie rod, and the lower ball joint can I use Red 'N' Tacky grease to fill them?

 

I would say stock for all except for the brembos

 

Lots of people have had problems with spotty quality from Moog in the last several years.

I can't speak for the other parts, but I can recommend the Mevotech greasable swaybar end links from Rockauto. They've held up to pretty hard use and very salty winters.

I've used Red N Tacky on everything with a zerk on my truck for about 200k miles.

 

I’d say Toyota. There’s some Toyota dealers that have very competitive prices. Try conicelli Toyota out of PA, competitive prices and anything over $75 total is free shipping.

 

All OEM. They are high quality and will last longer than MOOG. OEM blanks too. Upgrade only if you plan to offroad it.

Only use the grease recommended by Toyota. I think it's moly palladium by Valvoline.

 

I have mevotech sway bar end links and outer tire rods. I would never In my life buy suspention parts from a stealership.

 

OEM would be my go to but I wouldn’t hesitate to use mevotech either. I’m also hearing to many bad things about MOOG lately, which is sad

 

Don't overlook the inner tie rods. I just replaced my inner/outers with Moog. Discarded my sway bar, but the OME coils help with sway, more than I thought they would. I don't think you can buy OEM BJ’s a la carte, they only come with the control arms. Rotors, resurface the OEM’s if you can; otherwise, get what you can afford - Dura, AC Delco, Wagner, Centric, EBC, OEM, etc …

 

I am a fan of NAPA parts, esp their premium lines, alternators and brake parts. Having said that, if I was keeping the truck, I would try to put OEM parts back on.

 

I literally bought all the parts and brands as mentioned from my post... sadly I didn't get anyone posting on this post for almost a week, so I just went ahead and bought them and installed them.

But I have read through your guy's post. Some very good recommendations and advice.

So far, I installed:

end links from Moog
outer tie rod from Mevotech
I just receive the Brembo rotors today

For the ball joints, I'm going to leave it on until I can afford the OEM LCA


For the grease, I just used some moly grease from orielly's auto part. I believe it's called master pro

 

I tried to keep everything as OEM as I can, but the prices stack up in the end when I'm buying multiple parts...

But how are NAPA parts holding up for you?

 

I used to have some very minor play on both tires when I did the wiggle test (hands on 9 and 3 o'clock and shake the tire)

When I replaced the outer tie rod, the play on the driver side went away, but the passenger side still persist.
Was there any specific reason why you changed the inner tie rod too?


For the BJ, I tried searching for it for a while... and stumbled on the same conclusion as you lol

As for the Rotors, I went with Brembo's as they were the same price as OEM... I always wanted to try Brembos, so I figured, why not?
Also, I didn't want to resurface them as they are 175K old... I would rather replace them.

 

Have you used Mevotech before?

 

How are they holding up for you? How many miles have you put on them? What type of grease did you use?

 

For the grease, I used this one:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...-2006-toyota-tacoma?q=grease+cartridge&pos=15

Hopefully, this is capable as they didn't have the Vavoline brand in stock

 

Nice to hear!

I already installed and greased everything... If I wanted to switch to red n tacky, would I have to squeeze out all the old grease, or can I mix the two?

 

Do you have brembo blanks installed?

 

You check the inner rods two ways. Push up on the inside of the tie rod adjustment bar and feel for movement. The other way is to remove the outer tie rod and gently push and pull the adjustment bar into the rack/pinion, checking for play. I had some play both ways.

 

No I just know that brembo makes good shit

 

Next time you regrease (oil change) just push red n tacky until you see it coming out.