1998 tacoma 31 inch tires. Just wondering if I should go with toyotas parts when replacing the ball joints and tie rods or if there is a better product out there for the larger tires?
Thank you for your time

 

Are you planning on going to larger tires? 31s are not considered 'large' as they came as a stock option.

I stick with Toyota parts for those items.

 

I dont plan on going bigger but the tires are not stock. I bought the truck with the 31s and they are the good year all terrain. Not sure on the other dimensions but thank you for your response

 

31s were a stock option. My 95.5 has had 31s since I test drove the rig at 0.8 miles on the odometer and just over 200k miles now.

The lower ball joints have a bad habit of failing somewhere between 150-200k miles. Several of us have replaced both upper and lower BJs at around the 200k mark as a preventive maintenance item

 

I eventually need to replace mine as well. From all studies I have done Toyota is the brand you want. Moog offers ball joints and that is a big no no from my studies and several on here. I hear you can get a big discount by being a member of Ih8mud and some place else as well just dont remember where it is. I think it is Lowes Toyota out of Georgia that has the best price on them.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Ya don't want this to happen.

 

Yep, go with OEM only, same thing happened to me.

 

Happened to my pastor too. I told him a year earlier that the LBJ boot had a hole in it, but he didn't replace it.

FYI, it seems that Toyota uses either a specialty alloy or some other proprietary treatment to strengthen the LBJ components that aftermarket companies DON'T use. OEM's seem to last SIGNIFICANTLY longer than any aftermarket LBJ. I haven't heard of premature failures on Napa premium LBJ's, but I have read multiple accounts of Moog LBJ's failing prematurely, like in the 5k-30k range. I used Napa premium to fix my pastor's 4runner, but he also sold it right after, so I can't follow up on it.

Personally, I'd only use OEM. Maybe Napa premium if I was desperate and OEM was available.

 

I have to wonder if some of these early failures were do to just a very poor install rather then a poor product.

Not that the Chinese have got there act together as of yet .

There will come a time when Toyota parts can no longer be had.

I think Toyota just uses a better grade of steel

 

I doubt install is a factor in hardly any of these failures. They all fail pretty consistently, and exactly as I'd expect them to based on their design and loading. And considering that Toyota redesigned them in the exact way to prevent this type of failure.

If the install was part of the failure, I think we'd see some other damage on the failed parts than just seeing the ball pull out every time.