There’s a difference between bando aftermarket vs bando oem etc

[LexusToyotanut]

I agree with everything you've said.. The one thing to think about is Japan was junk then got to their excellent quality levels.. China is doing that too! They will get their quality higher..because I think they've realized they couldn't continue to make junk, selling it to the world, eventually people would not buy their products.. They have to compete with better products. There are some I've seen now that are much better than they used to be.

back to the genuine Toyota products, you're right, Toyota created a specification and asked Bando to make it for them. Then Toyota using the quality processes (The Toyota way) they check to make sure the supplier is manufacturing exactly what Toyota asked for. It's a fascinating way Toyota will go to a supplier and help them to make it the Toyota way.. I've heard Toyota will do that instead of getting rid of the supplier because it saves time and money.

When I bought a Gates branded belt for my scion tC (camry engine 2.4L) it was made in USA and it's been excellent. The difference between the factory (japan) belt and gates was that the Toyota one was stitched together the gates was bonded. Now the Civic's belts by Gates are now made in mexico. Guess some get made on different lines. About the tC..I didn't get the Toyota belt, was trying to save money.. I know that's not the best, but Gates belts have been good to me over the years.. so I went that route. Now the coolant hoses I go with Toyota. Not even Gates has the correct sleeves on them, the lower one is to protect anything being flung up by the drivebelt, the upper hose has a sleeve for the 02 sensor wiring (clamps on to it), and for the price of those hoses, not much different than aftermarket.

This is why I joined this forum. I’m interested in oil and filter specs, but I’m most interested in automotive parts, which ones are “best”, and how they are made. I’m currently very interested in how Toyota genuine parts work and how they are made.

 

[LexusToyotanut]

Toyota Wholesale Parts & Service Website | Collision | Application Charts

Quickly find and download up-to-date Toyota Wholesale Parts & Service collision application charts.

www.toyotapartsandservice.com

There is a chart for radiators, with listings for OE and MVP.

Hmm that’s cool. Every time I buy genuine parts online or in person I never have the option to choose from something like this. All I see is my part number and that part and that’s it. Maybe it works that way for only certain parts like ac, radiators etc

 

[willbur]

Again, the current Honda TB is from Unitta, not Mitsuboshi.

huh? I wrote the original Honda OE TB I removed during TB service appeared identical to the Aisin supplied Mitsuboshi replacement. Not who makes the current OE TB...

 

[drtyler]

Hmm that’s cool. Every time I buy genuine parts online or in person I never have the option to choose from something like this. All I see is my part number and that part and that’s it. Maybe it works that way for only certain parts like ac, radiators etc

The product tiers are not across all parts. I believe they exist only with radiators, ac condensers, wipers, brake pads, and air filters.

 

[Oro_O]

Yes it does. I bought a gate pulley which is supposed to be the oem supplier for my tundra. The gates pulley from the auto parts store was stamped made in china with a no name Chinese part number bearing, the pulley from the dealer is stamped made in Canada and has a nsk bearing. My point is they are not the same, that’s all. And btw, would u rather have a Chinese pulley with a Chinese bearing or a Canadian pulley with a name brand nsk bearing lol? Don’t pretend like you wouldn’t choose a Japan/ usa/ Canada part over a Chinese. Chinese parts are garbage and will be for s while longer…. Just like how stuff from Japan used to be garbage back in the day but now is top notch

The only way to prove they don’t perform the same is to destructively test them. You have proven they came from different factories. That is all. Also, you said the belt in question was a Bando. That’s not a Gates. Now you say it’s a Gates.

Other than proving there are multiple factories that make belts, it doesn’t prove that they are functionally different or not used OE on one production line or another. You’ve made an observation about production techniques, but nothing about quality or that it’s not OE.

The other thing this argument wholly overlooks is that the same car model can come from multiple factories. Examply: US made Camrys will generally have US or Mexican made components to a high degree where applicable. Japanese made models will almost never have that. But if Asian-sourced components end up in teh US supply chain, that does NOT mean they are not OE parts.

 

[LexusToyotanut]

The only way to prove they don’t perform the same is to destructively test them. You have proven they came from different factories. That is all. Also, you said the belt in question was a Bando. That’s not a Gates. Now you say it’s a Gates.

Other than proving there are multiple factories that make belts, it doesn’t prove that they are functionally different or not used OE on one production line or another. You’ve made an observation about production techniques, but nothing about quality or that it’s not OE.

The other thing this argument wholly overlooks is that the same car model can come from multiple factories. Examply: US made Camrys will generally have US or Mexican made components to a high degree where applicable. Japanese made models will almost never have that. But if Asian-sourced components end up in teh US supply chain, that does NOT mean they are not OE parts.

My only evidence for it being a bad part is as soon as the installed the part the pulley was wobbling and not running true with the engine on… out of the box already junk. Bought the oem Toyota and it’s perfect

 

[LexusToyotanut]

My dealership belts looks way more well built compared to regular bando, gates, dayco belts. It’s very apparent when side by side

 

[LexusToyotanut]

The product tiers are not across all parts. I believe they exist only with radiators, ac condensers, wipers, brake pads, and air filters.

Makes sense!

 

[Oro_O]

My only evidence for it being a bad part is as soon as the installed the part the pulley was wobbling and not running true with the engine on… out of the box already junk. Bought the oem Toyota and it’s perfect

Belts don’t make pulleys wobble. Bearings make pulleys wobble. I’m still not clear whether it was Bando or Gates, you said it was both in different places.

 

[researcher]

This is why I joined this forum. I’m interested in oil and filter specs, but I’m most interested in automotive parts, which ones are “best”, and how they are made. I’m currently very interested in how Toyota genuine parts work and how they are made.

Hey no problem, glad to add to your knowledge on how Toyota works. I, too, learned recently, on this forum, that Toyota had a "value line up" of parts. The first automaker that I heard of doing this was Nissan. but again this forum helps massively! I just saw that database of parts listing what was the value part number and the original or "warranty" part number.. awesome!

Also.. welcome to the BITOG forum! It can get quite "colorful" in discussions about most anything when people are passion about their recommendations! But I think that's what makes it awesome.. differing viewpoints that come to a consensus.. best way to debate!!

 

[willbur]

My only evidence for it being a bad part is as soon as the installed the part the pulley was wobbling and not running true with the engine on… out of the box already junk. Bought the oem Toyota and it’s perfect

Yeah- had bando serp on my Honda. Made a rumble until engine warmed up. Put Honda OE on it and quiet. It was thicker and "fuzzy"

 

[LexusToyotanut]

Belts don’t make pulleys wobble. Bearings make pulleys wobble. I’m still not clear whether it was Bando or Gates, you said it was both in different places.

Yes that’s exactly what I said. I installed a gates pulley and it was wobbling out of the box. Despite people saying gates supplies oem pullies

 

[GMBoy]

My post disproved this, and I have a separate example specifically for gates. I bought a gates belt tensioner pulley from Napa and it was stamped made in china. Last time I checked, my oem tensioner pulley wasn’t made in china. There’s a difference between gates bought at the parts store, and going to your dealerships parts counter and receiving a genuine _____ part stamped gates next to your cars brands stamp

It is also a possibility that they moved production to China since your car was built.

 

[LexusToyotanut]

It is also a possibility that they moved production to China since your car was built.

Sure it’s a possibility but I have confirmed it’s not true. The oem pulley I bought from the dealer was made in Canada with a nsk Japanese bearing

 

[kschachn]

Sometimes it's not quite as black-and-white. For example, the Mitsuboshi timing belt and the Koyo tensioners in the Aisin timing belt kits I've used are exactly the same as the components you will get from Toyota. But yes the Bando accessory belts you get from Toyota are different than the Bando belts from elsewhere. However I have never had a problem with multiple Bando belts in the long history of my vehicles.

For European vehicles it's a bit better. Here the marketing for parts is different than Asian parts and often you know the OEM producer of a part. A Lemforder control arm, or a TRW steering link, or Jurid brake pads are exactly the same as what you will get with BMW branded items. Same for many other components as well. Most of the time all that is different is that that the BMW logo is either ground off the part or isn't printed.

So yes you can get "same as" parts sometimes (and oftentimes) but it's not always clear cut.

 

[nthach]

For European vehicles it's a bit better. Here the marketing for parts is different than Asian parts and often you know the OEM producer of a part. A Lemforder control arm, or a TRW steering link, or Jurid brake pads are exactly the same as what you will get with BMW branded items. Same for many other components as well. Most of the time all that is different is that that the BMW logo is either ground off the part or isn't printed.

So yes you can get "same as" parts sometimes (and oftentimes) but it's not always clear cut.

yep, that’s why it’s not so much of a gamble to get the OES part for Euro cars but there’s differences as well. Mercedes OE spark plugs are indexed, the Bosch aftermarket ones might not be. A friend installed an Elring timing cover on a VW CCTA 2.0TSI, it looked a bit different than the OE part.

The Toyotas I care for use a regular “naked” smooth-backed belt. Ran Gates and Bando with no issues. I’ll use OE if it has a fabric back.

 

[GMBoy]

Yes that’s exactly what I said. I installed a gates pulley and it was wobbling out of the box. Despite people saying gates supplies oem pullies

I stopped using anything Gates in my shop in the past year simply because of multiple quality issues. Have had bad tensioners and pulleys bad right out the box or going bad months later. In addition have had belts that were not the correct length causing install issues. Granted - these are all from their aftermarket parts division coming from my local parts suppliers such as AutoZone etc and even RockAuto.

I can assure you the Gates parts made for OEM are a better product because the are built to a stricter standard...I worked in several GM plants and the Gates sourced parts were never an issue like their replacement parts line. They do make OEM parts.

 

[kschachn]

yep, that’s why it’s not so much of a gamble to get the OES part for Euro cars but there’s differences as well. Mercedes OE spark plugs are indexed, the Bosch aftermarket ones might not be. A friend installed an Elring timing cover on a VW CCTA 2.0TSI, it looked a bit different than the OE part.

Elring casts the part for VW? I guess I'd be surprised if they did.

 

[goofy]

Inspected the OE belt on my yota, It has no markings, has a textured back and "fuzzy" grooves.

 

[y_p_w]

Yeah. Just wondering myself. My parents just got the split belt on their 2008 Rogue replaced. Didn’t see a manufacturer’s name on the belt like I’ve seen on OEM Honda or Subaru belts, along with the OEM part number. My Subaru belts were both Mitsuboshi made in Japan but the replacements bought at a dealer were Gates made in US or Mitsuboshi made in Thailand.

The factory Nissan belt was very smooth and soft to the touch on the flat side. I couldn’t tell if it had a part number printed or if maybe I didn’t see it where it was stopped. The OEM replacement was US made and only had sparse dot printed markings on a textured surface that I’d characterize as “rough”.

Other belts I’ve seen have large areas on the flat side in colors like green or blue. It’s obviously just for appearances like typical for Mitsuboshi.

I’m just wondering about opinions on the Goodyear Gatorback or whatever Continental is calling it now that they bought that division. Aren’t there claims of being quieter?