In the 86-95 forum, people have noted Moog's inconsistent sources. Not sure how things go for Taco owners.

Well, I just got in two new, Moog lower BJs from Rock Auto and both are Sankei 555. They were $40 each, which is a total of $200 saved over local suppliers of the OEM parts.

 

Where was it I read that the 555 that many are getting over oem are not oem and not necessarily Sankei?

Ah, interesting read, I thought...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-ge...-findings.html

There are a number of threads of similar vein, though anything you want to read can be verified via the interwebs, can't it? Still, I'll stick to those $200a pair oem lbj. Too much massive oops possibility to be dealing with premature failures and the oem seem to be holding up better more consistently than other choices. Of course, I'll be replacing the bolts at the same time.

 

I used moog, less then 10k miles later:

 

Jeez. Somewhere along the line I came to associate Sankei with OEM (at least in terms of BJs).

Sucks. I really only have tomorrow to wrap up my front end work so I'll have to use the 555's, but I'll swap them out asap.

Tex, did yours fail because the stud snapped off, or is that a side-effect of bolts shearing, or some other event?

 

Genuine Sankei parts are good.

I think that the issue is that there are some counterfeit parts that are marked '555', but that are really inferior knockoffs.

I don't know how to tell the difference for sure.

I do know that I have been satisfied with TRW boxed '555' parts that I have bought.

The TRW packaging stated "Made in Japan" The parts themselves were also marked "Made in Japan"
I have seen some similar Moog parts, marked Moog and also marked '555'. They WERE NOT marked "Made in Japan". These may well be fakes, IDK.

I have never bought any Moog parts. Always had a bad feeling about them. aparrently with good reason.

 

No, like most aftermarket failures the ball simply pulled through the socket.

 

Lots of knock off parts out there being sold as brand name parts.

For important parts you can`t beat Toyota Sure they cost more They need to pay for all those recalls some way!!

Well worth it to me paying more now then fixing the carnage of a failure .

 

LBJs, get them from the dealer..........the savings are minimal buying after market and the dealer's price is competitive for the quality and peace of mind.