Camry sway bar links at 210k mi

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Hi world, hope some find this interesting...

Vehicle is 04 toyota camry 2az-fe
After 210k+ miles, i finally caved and just replaced
The sway bar links and bushings in the front....i know nothing about suspension parts so i just started here.

Replaced the original parts with
Mevotech ‘original grade' links
Mevotech bushings
From rockauto... total ~$45

Interesting to note after so much use and time the original bushings are still very much intact.
Links look pretty worn out...check it out

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


My reason for posting,

Does anybody have any experience with this brand mevotech? Is there something better for an easy driving highway car?
Perhaps another camry owner has replaced parts of their suspension?


Looking at front struts next.

Thanks for any feedback or discussion.
 
Maybe you will have better luck with Mevotech than I have had. I won't even quote them and when my one vendor delivers them I refuse the delivery.
 
Originally Posted by Marco620
Try Moog


I cannot find an offering for struts by Moog...
Links have already been installed .

Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Maybe you will have better luck with Mevotech than I have had. I won't even quote them and when my one vendor delivers them I refuse the delivery.


Whats your story?
 
I used Moog rear sway bar bushings on my wifey's 04 camry (2AZ-FE), after a year, those bushings started to squeak and make clunking sound.

I replaced them with Mervotech blue and no clunks since (been 2+ yrs now).

RE: rear sway bar end links, I have no comment ( I replaced them with B-A from rock auto, non-greasable units).... I think either MAS or whatever sealed unit will get the job done @ a fraction of the OE price. Simply replace them every 100k and you'll be ok.

Q.
 
Just my opinion, but after having dealt with those links on my Sienna for 409,000 miles the only ones that last are the OEM. Anything Moog for my Asian cars has been junk and fails just as quick as any other white-box part, whether it is that link, the tie rod ends or the ball joints.

If 555 sold an aftermarket link that would be fine, but they don't for my Sienna. But the price of a 555 part is about the same as a Toyota branded part from an online dealer.
 
My neighbor's experience with Mevotech (I won't touch them because of this) is as long as you don't mind the part literally coming apart while you drive, they're great. He had a Mevotech front ball joint in his work van. Was driving into the neighborhood (slowly, fortunately) when the ball joint separated. That gouge in the asphalt has been there for a few years now.
 
Originally Posted by Insertcoolname
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Maybe you will have better luck with Mevotech than I have had. I won't even quote them and when my one vendor delivers them I refuse the delivery.


Whats your story?


Had to get a pitman arm for a 1999 F350 that was obsolete from Ford. Normally we are OEM only, as a dealer should be. I came in on the tail end of this as the part showed up after being ordered by another counterperson. The tech got the part and the new/reman steering box and went to install them. On this application there are 32 tooth and 36 tooth pitman arm/steering box combos. We have now figured out that you can use the 36 tooth in place of the obsolete 32 tooth design. The tech came back concerned because the nut would only thread on 2 threads on the steering box where the pitman arm attached. If he took the washer out it would thread on all the way, but that would be an improper repair. I looked and found a Moog one, which incidentally enough is the same part number as the Mevotech one and the Moog fit fine. We ended up going with an OEM 36 tooth box and pitman arm, part because we are a dealer and should only use OEM, and also because I had seen this before and the technician and I wanted to see if it would work for future times that this would come up.

Other times we have ordered parts for used cars, or competitive make cars and the technicans bring them back asking for Moog or OEM because they just didn't like the Mevotech part. Either it wasn't fitting properly, was the wrong part in the box multiple times, or the part they were taking off the vehicle was in better condition.
 
For springs and shocks, I like KYB. Given that your car is Japanese, they may well have manufactured the OEM ones for it.

Buying suspension parts that aren't name brands can be a lottery - sometimes they go off pretty fast, sometimes you get a good one and they last for ever. If your links start getting clunky after 5k miles, chalk it up to bad luck, get some name brand ones and at least you know how to replace them now. They may (and hopefully will) give you many miles of service. A Camry is not exactly rough on its suspension.
 
Originally Posted by Insertcoolname
Hi world, hope some find this interesting...

Vehicle is 04 toyota camry 2az-fe
After 210k+ miles, i finally caved and just replaced
The sway bar links and bushings in the front....i know nothing about suspension parts so i just started here.

Replaced the original parts with
Mevotech ‘original grade' links
Mevotech bushings
From rockauto... total ~$45

Interesting to note after so much use and time the original bushings are still very much intact.
Links look pretty worn out...check it out

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


My reason for posting,

Does anybody have any experience with this brand mevotech? Is there something better for an easy driving highway car?
Perhaps another camry owner has replaced parts of their suspension?


Looking at front struts next.

Thanks for any feedback or discussion.



Mevotech=Genuine rubbish 2c lb scrap price, Moog isn't much better. OE is the best but Proforged seem to go the distance and much better than the other aftermarket.
For the bushings go with BECK/ARNLEY there is a good chance they will be OE, Moog is made in India and atrocious garbage.
 
I haven't had the greatest of luck with Mevotech but I'll take them over Beck Arnley. I put a mixture of Beck Arnley and Mevotech control arms and wheel bearings in my Lexus five year ago...the Beck Arnley bearin lasted 7,000 miles and the Beck Arnley and Mevotech control arms lasted 50,000 miles. I'm not sure Moog would have been much better but they couldn't have been worse.
 
Up here end links are consumable-- they rust in place and won't pop loose to allow other work, so I budget for their replacement. Since it's way cheaper to mail order them ahead of time, I check my old ones to see if there's any hope of them unthreading.
 
UPDATE: am sorry to bother anybody...I did end up replacing all the motor mounts, FRONT sway bar links, struts, and shocks on my older Camry .

6 months after driving with them...

The KYB brand quick struts (strut, shock and mount) are a dream. I love them and highly recommend. What a quick fix. (From rockauto)

I used BECK/Arnley (rockauto) motor mounts and transmission mounts. They work just fine and If you just need a replacement part that works and doesn't wear out too quickly...I recommend.

The sway bar links I chose (mevotech original grade) broke less than a year after installation. No road salt, no corrosion...they just did not hold up. I do NOT recommend mevotech original grade sway bar links.
 
[quote}
The sway bar links I chose (mevotech original grade) broke less than a year after installation. No road salt, no corrosion...they just did not hold up. I do NOT recommend mevotech original grade sway bar links.


I also had a bad experience with Mevotech 'Supreme' sway links on my daughters 2008 Elantra....didn't last 2 years.
I wouldn't buy anything made by them because of it.
 
Mevotech Honda/Acura compliance bushings are absolute junk. So soft that you'll eat tires up in about 3000 miles or less in a higher powered V6 car. Also cause some really funky handling under hard throttle and braking.
 
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