What do you guys think of this steering joint package off of ebay; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/STEER...#ht_1411wt_931 Would it be a good deal? Or should I pay more and get the parts from the likes of NAPA or Autozone?

 

personally I would just spend the extra money and buy it from a parts store. If your buying any kind of parts that your truck depends on, make sure they are new and you know it, not a ebay items imo... but thats me.

 

my question is what would you do in the case of breaking anything. how do you return it, how much down time for shipping it. Just get them from an autozone etc with a lifetime warranty.

 

I purchased the exact same package from ebay a little less than a year ago, and so far so good.

 

Don't do it; that's my advice.

I purchased an entire front end package from a place on e-Bay called Can-Am a couple years ago; I put it all in, one of the bottom ball joints stripped when I tightened down the nut so I went ahead & put two Duralast lower balljoints in. They went in flawlessly & are still in decent shape, the boots on the Duralasts were much thicker & sturdy than the ones I got from e-Bay (Chassis-1 parts) & the grease zerks still take grease, whereas the e-Bay special parts zerk holes were all tapped too big & stripped save one.

I now have an entire front end that needs rebuilt again (except the two lower BJ's) because it's clunking & it's seen mostly highway use in those two years. The top two BJ's are sloppy & the tie rod ends rubber boots are shredded.

Personally I'm looking into Land Cruiser tie rods etc. to see what will fit my 2nd gen 4Runner & what won't. The reason being, I want the toughest front end parts out there & the e-Bay specials, although the work pretty much they're light & weak. I'll either go Moog or stock Toyota parts next time.

 

I ordered a similar kit, same brand of parts tho, mostly o.e brand. Mine came with 4 balljoints too.

First impression, package was in horrible shape, some stuff wasnt even in the box..

Nothing really felt smooth. I painted the pitman and tie rod ends and then decided to sell most of it off.

I held onto the tie rod ends, but thats it. I might even sell them.

From what Ive read o.e brand (and A.I) are some of the worst out there. Ive heard of quite a few people snapping parts while in parking lots. Scared me enough..

Im looking into XRF componants now.

Oh and a side note, the idler arms are pretty bad. Not even close to stock.

If you want a nice idler go get the McQuay norris idler and get some brass bushings from SDORI. I got my idler on ebay for $50 shipped.

Another side note, from what ive heard (we dont have the same stores up here) autozone sells the O.E brand parts as their cheapies..

 

I guess then I'll go with Autozone or NAPA parts. All of the steering parts I found on ebay were the O.E brand, so I'll just steer clear of those. Thanks for all of your opinions

 

Are Altrom or Master Ride Chassis good brands? If not I'll go with Duralast. I could also get Moog parts, but those are pretty pricey

 

Bump for my question

 

personally haven't heard of the 1st two brands you listed--could be fine but I usually stick with brands I know..decent experience with duralast the last few years..autozones are like 7-11 everywhere

 

I needed to rebuild my front end and did not want to spend money on the factory parts..

I bought the same kit as the OP except with the upper and lower balljoints...

Installation was great and everything fit fine. I have to trim the outer tie rods on the adjuster, but that has to be due to the bracket lift, as they were the same as the ones that came out.

My only problem with that particular E-bay seller was that my kit came without the pitman arm and I had to contact them about it and then they tell me they were out-of-stock... Well just email me and tell me it is out-of-stock and you are going to ship separate..
They did give me a $10 refund and the pitman arm was here a couple of weeks later.
Then once I got it all installed, the boots on the tierods split after being in the truck for 2 weeks....

Oh well. that is what you get for the price you pay..

I can replace those later if need be... Possibly replacing the boots with urethane???

 

I just replaced installed all of those parts and the tie rod ends are thicker than stock and the boots seem to be durable. I put on a new idler arm and pitman arm which all seemed to be stock equivalent or better. Ball joints seemed great, and anything is better than what I had. Cost me 100 bucks for everything and if I have to replace it later, then so be it.

 

for tie rod ends... Don't Fj80's fit? And are way heavy dutier?

As for Moog being pricey... come on! get a price on OEM stuff? That will make the Moog a great buy.

I always get the MOST EXPENSIVE stuff retailers supply. NEVER the cheapest, aka what everyone else gets... It's called piece of mind.

I needed to rebuild my push-pull arm and $50 got me a Moog box... Well in that box, EVERYTHING down to the dust covers was MADE IN JAPAN! I was VERY happy wit dat!

I got a "Perfection Clutch" kit after that, and everything was stamped made in China... Forget that junk! You put a made in china pilot shaft bearing in! That's what I thought!

You can put that silly putty, swept off the floor metal shavings, made in China krap in your truck all you want... Just don't say you were warned...

Cheap asses

 

Moog parts aren't even that good. Who knows where the hell your part is made??

My moog tie rod ends lasted 2 years.. Not worth it..

Front end work sucks, do it once!