taikowaza

Guys it's been a long time I hope you all my fellow 2nd gen bros and sis are doing great!
My beloved '92 is doing amazing. All the advice I got from you all has made my 4runner so bombproof that it's been 10yrs w/hardly 1 repair.
I just replaced my odyssey battery after 11 years!!! Also, just replaced my BFG T/A K/O 33X10.5 R15 after 10+ yrs! Hard to believe.

When putting the brand new BFG 33X10.5 T/A/Ko2s on there (they look amazing and I bet I will get another 10yrs from them) it turns out my upper ball joints are really loose.
I wanted to get your thoughts on the best parts to acquire to fix this; do you recommend OEM (if so, what part #s) or aftermarket? (I'm running a full OME setup thanks to TRDparts4u).
Still loving my beautiful TJM bumper, Sonoran Steel Truss, Budbuilt skid, belly and Xmember plates, NWOR extended gas tank, boyle alternator, downey HD coils (so sad they are out of business!).

Love the Thorley headers and feel that they have been a big part of the power and reliability of the 3vze. The weezy Sea2Sky cams also made a huge difference!
Only mod I never really got into was the 7mge VAFM swap, not sure if I will ever do that but it may be worth a shot (anyone who has done this successful to your 2nd gen I'd love to hear from you).
I must say that the power, reliability, and sheer beauty of the 2nd gen has been a source of pride and happiness in my adult life. I've also been very grateful for the camaraderie of all of you in the forum.

Your friend, and with thanks for your thoughts re: the upper ball joints and most bombproof solution— Taiko

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Go with Toyota Ball Joints they might be more expensive but to me well worth the money

I would hope you can still get them I got some in 2014

Using your VIN figure out just what your 4Runner needs

Charchee

I think the Toyota joints are probably the best. I have tried a lot of different joints on my fleet at work and have had real good results out of Moog joints. Mainly tie rod ends in my application. They seem to hold up best in our log trucks and labor trucks. Not sure if they even offer an upper ball joint for a Toyota but I wouldn't doubt they do. They seem to stay greasable longer than most of the others.

89fourrunner

Toyota parts are king, but you can order a set of Sankei 555 (toyotas oem manufacturer) online for cheap, they are sold as the Beck/Arnley line here in the states. Rock Auto sells them. They are a third if the price of the OEM. Also, another school of thought, part stores with a lifetime warranty. You take a gamble on thE brand however. I am using part store brand lifetime warranty ball joints, some of which wound up (to my delight) being Sankei 555s, the others wound up being TRW (same part number different manufacturer. Just look inside the box before you buy).

Moog is not what it used to be, as they are now a global distributor and the same part number can come from one of 16 countries. There are so few suspension part manufacturers thst do not outsource and use multiple companies for the same part number these days.

1. OEM Toyota at dealer
2. Sankei 555
3. Part store brand with lifetime warranty

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Your Log trucks might be seeing a better quality or new old stock from Moog`s glory days when they were the go to suspension and steering parts people

I have yet to see any of these so called mystery parts 555

Life time warranty yea right the cost of the front end aligments and if you need to pay for the removing and installing of the new parts gets expensive fast

Maybe because I am lazy and would love to do a job once and be done I don`t mind paying more for Toyota parts

89fourrunner

They are sold by Beck/Arnley in the states. Beck arnley doesnt make their own stuff anymore. What do you mean you havnt seen 555s, you can order them at any parts store, its a brand.

As far as lifetime warranty, I install my own parts - shops get way to much labor for these simple bolt on ball joints. Regardless of what a shop tells people, if the truck was in alignment before the parts became worn, it will go right back into alignment with the new parts. Maybe the tie rods are an exception, depending on who replaces them.

Wont argue that the toyota parts are the best. They are.