Complaint about aftermarket parts

[SC Maintenance]

And often they are not.

For example just because Denso sells a radiator under their own brand on the aftermarket/RockAuto does not mean that radiator is identical to the radiator Denso manufactures for Toyota as the OEM radiator - which has Toyota's name stamped on it. Same is seen with Aisin water pumps, fan pulleys, etc. Denso in particular is known to manufacture their aftermarket radiators in China / Taiwan, but order OEM through Toyota and you get one made in the USA. Which one do you think was built to a higher (Toyota's) standard?

So you just confirmed - your speculating. You might pay 3X the price and get the same thing. Or not? So its the perfect BITOG topic - we can argue it forever.

People compare the denso they got today from the one they took out and there different. But if they ordered from the OEM it might have been different also. Parts change over time depending on production.

People want to argue this all the time, but I can tell you professionally there are no real guarantees. Do your research. People like to think they pay 3X and get better. Sometimes. Sometimes not.

Yes if its the same price or close or even sometimes 2X i buy OEM. It depends on the part.

I once was having thermostat problems on my 2002 GC. I got one from AAP, one from NAPA, and an OEM. Price was $6, $12 and $40. I can guarantee they were all from the same factory right down to the stamping marks where the die had been repaired and the hold marks from the assembly jig. I have some professional expertise in these areas. And they were all garbage. I solved my problem with a NOS one from ebay when they were made differently.

 

[bdcardinal]

I was only going by what information the OP gave for his vehicle. Thank you for correcting the inaccuracy. Maybe you can pony up additional part numbers to assist the OP.

He showed the lower column and those all had the same part number across the board while the manual shift with the upper attachment was additional cost, that's not what he showed in his picture.

For the manual adjust column, the illustration does not show the 3B676 by itself so there is no available lower shaft. This is why we always use VINs, or at least try to, when looking up parts. There are 2 different columns for the manual adjust. BA8Z-3C52-H was updated to BA8Z-3C529-K for build dates 2011-04-06 to 2019-12-02 which is obsolete and then DA8Z-3C529-F for build dates 2012-02-29 through 2019-02-11. Some voodoo going on there with the overlapping dates so the VIN would bring up the BOM and we can go based on that.

The power column shows the shaft by itself and then that column has different part numbers. Also notice how there is a 3B676 in the power column illustration and it isn't in the manual one? That means it isn't offered by itself. Now you can probably get the engineering number off the old part and cross it over, but officially it isn't available outside of the column for some reason.

 

[bdcardinal]

I have been burned plenty of times with aftermarket parts. On my Silverado the AC high side charge port was leaking. I ordered the 4 Seasons line and it looked right but it had what seemed like a few extra inches of tubing that no amount of bending would fix. Also had an Omnicraft condenser from the huge firesale Ford had when they ended the experiment with Omnicraft that might have fit, but it was damaged in the box. Ended up getting GM Genuine replacements and they literally fell right into place.

 

[OVERKILL]

So, this is a pretty amusing one, just to add to the theme of the thread, but of course my son used quite a few aftermarket parts when he was getting his '03 Ranger on the road, including shocks from Rock Auto. Well, the rubber shock isolators on the front shocks? Complete trash, split and now the passenger side is missing the top one

Luckily, Energy Suspension (also aftermarket, lol) makes some nice poly replacements that I'm going to have him purchase.

But yeah, it's a roll of the dice for sure!

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

So, this is a pretty amusing one, just to add to the theme of the thread, but of course my son used quite a few aftermarket parts when he was getting his '03 Ranger on the road, including shocks from Rock Auto. Well, the rubber shock isolators on the front shocks? Complete trash, split and now the passenger side is missing the top one

Luckily, Energy Suspension (also aftermarket, lol) makes some nice poly replacements that I'm going to have him purchase.
View attachment 289808

But yeah, it's a roll of the dice for sure!

These look like Monroe shock isolators

 

[SC Maintenance]

So, this is a pretty amusing one, just to add to the theme of the thread, but of course my son used quite a few aftermarket parts when he was getting his '03 Ranger on the road, including shocks from Rock Auto. Well, the rubber shock isolators on the front shocks? Complete trash, split and now the passenger side is missing the top one

Luckily, Energy Suspension (also aftermarket, lol) makes some nice poly replacements that I'm going to have him purchase.
View attachment 289808

But yeah, it's a roll of the dice for sure!

What brand were the originals?

 

[OVERKILL]

These look like Monroe shock isolators

Yeah, look similar to what the new ones came with (but failed).

 

[OVERKILL]

What brand were the originals?

Will have to look it up, not sure. They are just shiny black, don't have any markings on them.

Edit:

Think they might be these, these are the Gabriel ones:

 

[Andyd95]

I'm waiting for someone to say "aftermarket parts are often equal or better than the original part."

Always something along the lines of if the original part was so good why am I replacing it

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Always something along the lines of if the original part was so good why am I replacing it

Because I live in the rust belt. The sudden sharp and violent impacts chew up the suspension so much that a "front end rebuild" is a thing over here that happens multiple times over the life of a vehicle. The road salt and high humidity can be so bad that the rust can eat AROUND the various seals in the car.
So yeah maybe Im willing to risk going with an aftermarket sintered metal bearing because in my particular scenario it will last longer than OEM with PTFE/plastic bearing which go out faster around here.*


*This is an exception to the rule for the most part, OEM is the way to go 99% of the time.