txbonds
Senior Member
Are those the same as OEM parts that come from the various toyota parts discount websites? I've been reading lots of posts about whether the 555 parts are the same so I am just not sure and that's why I'm asking.
Ball Joints
- Thread starter Singtoe
- Start date
Are those the same as OEM parts that come from the various toyota parts discount websites? I've been reading lots of posts about whether the 555 parts are the same so I am just not sure and that's why I'm asking.
txbonds
Senior Member
Here is one of the articles. May be just this one persons part or an anomaly though.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...tos-poor-quality-design-flaw-my-findings.html
I'm curious to know for sure as I need to do my ball joints soon as part of my rebuild project.
TheeMikeB
New member
Sankei 555 are NOT oem. They are aftermarket, I contacted Sankei directly and they said they are not and OEM supplier. Somewhere someone started this 'rumor' but it is not true. Below is pulled from the email I received from Sankei 555 diriectly:
Dear Mr. Mike B,
1. Sankei is not an OEM supplier but has been supplying our suspension and steering parts to North American Aftermarket through our customers for more than 45years.
2.Our products are designed and manufactured with our own engineering and technical standards, which are “equal” or “exceeding” to OEM quality. In fact, we have a high reputation as a qualityproduct manufacturer and supplier.
3. Sankei does not have different grades of product, though in these days, some American parts manufacturers and distributors have so called the “Premium” and the “Economy” which is lower grade of product coming from low cost countries. Our Sankei products are supplied for the aftermarket as the “Premium” through our customers.
Best regards,
Taro Yamazaki
Having said that, I would believe that Sankei 555 are probably one of the better aftermarket replacement parts.
Nelsonmd
New member
The brand discussion has been done the death, search for the thread where we had a flame war over it and you will learn more than you ever want to.
As far as prices, have you guys checked out Toyota of Dallas and Newnan Toyota? They are the 2 cheapest dealers I have found. I order from both, they are usually within a couple bucks of each other.
Either way, for LBJ's and OTRE's, I'd only trust OEM.
Also, while I praised Sankei in the other thread, I will always cast some doubt on a company that isn't the actual OES for the vehicle because only the actual OES has the quality conscious OEM on their backs about quality. Being a competitor for the OE contract (like Sankei is) is good, but if they didn't win the contract, then the OEM isn't breathing down their back...
Also, always remember that Sankei/555 may only have produced the castings, any aftermarket LBJ could be rebuilt, which means the ball could be cheap aftermarket even if the cup casting is high quality OEM.
As far as prices, have you guys checked out Toyota of Dallas and Newnan Toyota? They are the 2 cheapest dealers I have found. I order from both, they are usually within a couple bucks of each other.
Either way, for LBJ's and OTRE's, I'd only trust OEM.
Also, while I praised Sankei in the other thread, I will always cast some doubt on a company that isn't the actual OES for the vehicle because only the actual OES has the quality conscious OEM on their backs about quality. Being a competitor for the OE contract (like Sankei is) is good, but if they didn't win the contract, then the OEM isn't breathing down their back...
Also, always remember that Sankei/555 may only have produced the castings, any aftermarket LBJ could be rebuilt, which means the ball could be cheap aftermarket even if the cup casting is high quality OEM.
01thunder
New member
do they ship?
poleclimber63
Member
update?
Some of the posts a couple of pages back, say the Taco BJ mod is not worth the loss of turning radius and that, in fact, the BJ is the same and the arm and OTRE are larger. It was also stated the TACO has similar failure stats to our 4R's. Anymore updates from the guys that did this mod?? First hand comments would be interesting! Thanks ahead for the time!!
Some of the posts a couple of pages back, say the Taco BJ mod is not worth the loss of turning radius and that, in fact, the BJ is the same and the arm and OTRE are larger. It was also stated the TACO has similar failure stats to our 4R's. Anymore updates from the guys that did this mod?? First hand comments would be interesting! Thanks ahead for the time!!
awpsome
New member
what more reassurance do you need if the OEM 4runner ones go for 100k miles?
keep the turning radius and have the assurance that the OEM ones lasted majority of its owners 100k+ so changing them out for another set would be fine..
my 2 cents, i know you were specifically looking for comments from those who changed to taco BJs but before you consider that route consider that you are moving away from OEM BJs that did just fine its whole life till now..
all the BJs will fail at some point and the only way around it, is custom fab work to get them to the newer design where the BJ is on top instead of at the bottom which obviously isnt going to be worth it.
keep the turning radius and have the assurance that the OEM ones lasted majority of its owners 100k+ so changing them out for another set would be fine..
my 2 cents, i know you were specifically looking for comments from those who changed to taco BJs but before you consider that route consider that you are moving away from OEM BJs that did just fine its whole life till now..
all the BJs will fail at some point and the only way around it, is custom fab work to get them to the newer design where the BJ is on top instead of at the bottom which obviously isnt going to be worth it.
Nelsonmd
New member
Yeah, sorry to chime in with another non-taco LBJ user, but the fundamental problem with the LBJ is the design (paired with the design of the knuckle), which is exactly the same for the Taco, so the actual problem is neither solved nor improved by going with the Taco LBJ. Sure you'll get beefier TRE's, but those aren't the problem, and aren't really failing with any kind of frequency (Of course they wear out eventually, but not as frequently as the LBJ's, and not in a way that the taco ones wear less). You don't get actual improvement if you don't improve the weakest link.
RunnerLimited
New member
I live in Canada so I like how they ship to Canada, but im replacing MY Inner/Outer Tie Rods and my LBJ's but at this site they only have END SUB-ASSY, TIE ROD, RH&LH, seems like they sell only the Outer tire rods in this site? where would I be able to find inners?
SpidermanGeek
New member
Upper and Lower Ball Joints are all same PN from Tundra?
Previous owner of my T4R said he replaced the LBJs with Moog ones for the Tundra about 13k miles ago.
I've got an update...
A friend came to visit me in his 2003 Tacoma pre runner (2WD) with 122K miles. He wanted to do the rotors. The steering wheel starts shaking when he applies brake. Pulled the wheels off and found out the lower ball joint on both wheels are bad. I can feel the free-play when I try to lift the spindle by hand.
My 4runner with (4WD and heavier front end) had no issues with the lower ball joints even at 185K miles. I simply replaced those just to be safe.
So I think 4runner ball joints are much better than the Taco's LBJ's.
A friend came to visit me in his 2003 Tacoma pre runner (2WD) with 122K miles. He wanted to do the rotors. The steering wheel starts shaking when he applies brake. Pulled the wheels off and found out the lower ball joint on both wheels are bad. I can feel the free-play when I try to lift the spindle by hand.
My 4runner with (4WD and heavier front end) had no issues with the lower ball joints even at 185K miles. I simply replaced those just to be safe.
So I think 4runner ball joints are much better than the Taco's LBJ's.
Last edited:
BigKitty
New member
hey Bikerjosh, that's good news. I'm glad I joined this forum cause I am lifting my 97 limited and replacing ball joints tie rod ends etc. I will be going with the Taco parts. Thanks for showing the way.
