Not another LBJ debate

I've always thought that, too. Why spend the money for a Toyota if you're not going to replace with same or equal? It's the sum of all the parts. Looking back over the years it's almost always a non-OE parts that let me down. Non-factory timing parts (chain exploded) took out my 22R-E after only 45K miles (on the timing parts, the engine was at 187K when it happened). I will say that the Tacoma may be a little different since it's got a lot of domestic sourced parts that I'm not sure are up to the same standards (e.g. I present the whole rotting frame debacle).

 

That is one reason I never buy the "OEM only" mindset. I've heard it about multiple vehicle types. People talk about how great OEM is in regard to Toyota's but then forget about the frame rot issue, the LBJ design in the first place, etc. The fact that there is such a huge debate about LBJ's goes to show its not a cut-and-dry issue.

But, I wanted to not make this a debate about OEM verses aftermarket. I did not ask what to buy or the like. I simply wanted to hear feedback from the high end NAPA users.
But it does lead to why I'm not an OEM/aftermarket only mindset guy. If someone is stuck in an OEM-only mindset and won't give any other parts a chance they may miss a superior product. But then again, I understand the idea of, "it may not be best but we KNOW it is reliable."

 

Indeed, I'm not sure the debate really is OE or not. I'd consider buying Toyota ball joints but not with the control arms attached (I run aftermarket uppers anyway, so lowers maybe). So it seems to me it's whether the NAPA parts are better or worse than the Moog. I'm curious too, since I have no complaint yet about the Moog uppers I'm using.

 

I haven't read too many issues with Upper ball joints in general though. But to be fair I haven't searched either.

 

No way to avoid the debate when you open the can of worms.

 

Well, if people get their panties in a bunch I have no problem with it. I didn't ask a thing about OEM but any ball joint discussion gets hammered with oem-only. But a small handful of people on here gave me some answers I appreciated, the rest made for a livelier discussion. It's all good.

 

I do not think that the OEM/Aftermarket debate can ever be resolved until there is an apple - apple comparison. OEM parts will fail prematurly when run at angles that they are not designed for, same thing for the aftermarket parts. There are many examples of bone stock 300k + mileage tacoma's "finally" needing front end work and many examples of lifted tacomas with failure of OEM parts in very few miles.

 

There are some things that people here will go aftermarket on... like shocks (5100's usually, which I consider 'oem plus'), coils and coilovers, leafs, wheels and tires, seats, stereos...

But I replaced my LBJ's with OEM because I wanted to quality and peace of mind. BUT that's not to say that I didn't consider the options. I got dissuaded from Moog/555 after I read that thread where the guy cut one open to get a cross-section. Rockauto has LBJ's 'MAS' brand that I looked into - but in the end I couldn't find any info on it and no one online had tried them, so I decided against it.

 

Yeah, I think the considering is what is important. Being open to the idea that OEM anything may not be the best. OEM ball joints have a good track record but it is also 17+ year old technology. Also, all manufacturing seems to have bad batches at some point.
On top of that, I would take a new cheep moog over an oem with a half-inch of play any day.

 

umm, all dealerships outsource.....difference is its built to their specs. Gates/timken and all other manufactures can make it differently as long as its for that specific model vehicle.

 

I know they all outsource, and when they do $$$ is the final deciding factor. They don't look for the very best possible quality no matter the cost. They're going to look for the cheapest possible that is going to meet their needs, i.e. durability and longevity for a certain amount of time. That does not mean there can not be something better in the aftermarket.

Also, all these parts are man made products and errors occur. that means means you could get an oem joints from toyota that fails at 5k miles just as easily as getting an aftermarket that lasts 300k.