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Shopping for ball joints, 4wd. Seeing prices on OEM are high, any other brands get good reviews?
one shop is selling meyle. Never heard of these but its a toyota specific shop.
Other than that Im just seeing Moog and Beck Arnley.
Fortunately, our generation has torsion bars that compress the load-bearing upper ball-joint, unlike 3rd gen 4Runners/ 2st gen Tacoma where load-bearing lower ball-joint is being pulled apart. Therefore, our BJ's are not as critical/deadly. OEM is best, but others from reputable suppliers OK.
If you care for people who own the "SWOOSH" generation, share below with them. Toyota did a poor job of communicating this.
UPPER BALL-JOINT UNDER COMPRESSION LESS LIKELY TO FALL APART.
LOWER BALL-JOINT UNDER TENSION. MANY HAVE PULLED APART.
ISSUE WAS FIXED IN SUCCEEDING GENERATION (APPROX 2003)
Last edited by RAD4Runner; Jun 21, 2020 at 03:16 PM.
Thanks RadRunner. I was reading up on that yesterday.
i used to think the Tacoma era front ends were better due to the inclusion of coil springs but now maybe my opinion has changed.
ive seen lower ball joint failure on a 3rd gen 4runner, luckily at low speed. Its not pretty.
Probably going with the sankei 555 when the time comes
Agreed about Moog products. Ive used their tie rods before in a pinch but would not trust them for ball joints.
Thanks for the updated info RadRunner. Good to know the problem was fixed in 03. Its too bad because that 1st generation of tacos are otherwise great trucks, if you can keep the frame together.
I agree on OEM for ball joints. I did the moog thing and it was crap. I did the research thing and I concluded that OEM simply uses better materials. Especially things with rubber/silicon parts, and metal parts. and plastic parts. lol
I will also vote OEM. My reasoning has always been that Toyota designed and built it, they built the reputation for longevity and toughness, not some aftermarket company.
Especially for parts critical for truck running in correct direction and stopping in correct time, AND those we only do every 20 or so years. Many people end u wasting labor on poorly-made after market.
Especially for parts critical for truck running in correct direction and stopping in correct time, AND those we only do every 20 or so years. Many people end u wasting labor on poorly-made after market.
yes. but, so many people only own these for a few years and then sell them, so they aren't looking at "long term". i feel like i've only had my red '87 a short time, yet i bought it in May of 2013, and had it on the road by July 1 of that year. barring accident, i'll own it and run it for at least as long again, maybe double, which would put about 400K on the odo.
In general, I agree. I plan on keeping this one a long time. However, with the purchase price, new tires and maintenance on my other vehicles Im not lookin to break the bank.
but I think Ive got a while to do suspension so maybe Ill wait and go oem in a few months.
For the record, I have oem ball joints on my T100.
I just replaced the upper and lower ball joints on my '94 with the 555 brand. Also did the inner/outer tie rod ends along with adjusting sleeve's with 555's. I had my local Toyota dealership install and perform a wheel alignment. They were impressed by the quality of the 555 parts...
Jun 20, 2020 | 07:03 PM
