92 Toyota Pickup 2wd steering parts

[BigD1]

Center link is bad on my truck, and since I have to remove the inner tie rods I am going to replace center link, inner and outer tie rods, and replace the idler arm too since it has some play. Upper and lower ball joints are good.

RockAuto has MAS, Mevotech, Moog, ACDelco Professional, and Beck/Arnley. Was going to buy all Moog parts, but thinking about just going with Beck/Arnley for all the parts. Beck/Arnley is just a tad bit higher overall than Moog. Beck/Arnley good choice, or should I stick with Moog?

MAS or Mevotech would save me a good bit of money if I chose to go a cheaper route, so are those parts any good? Mevotech has standard or Xfactor part lines, and claims Xfactor is better than the original parts.

 

[mk378]

The idler arm is by far the first part to wear out. The rest may not need replacing at all unless crash damaged. There is a third-party type of idler that has a kind of ball joint at the pivot instead of the shaft and sleeve of the original. I don't know which is better.

 

[FlyNavyP3]

My 1987 4Runner has all of the original steering and suspension parts with the exception of the idler arm at 326,826 miles. The original Toyota stuff in my experience is far far superior to the majority of the aftermarket offerings.

The idler arm of the OE design (sleeve and bushing) is far superior to the ones offered in the ball joint style in my experience.

I would be comfortable with using Beck Arnley or Moog Problem Solver if it's your intention to keep the truck long term. If you're not keeping it long term I've found the premium Mevotech and MAS stuff to be decent but I've never had them long term their cheap lines are just that.

Hopefully that helps.

 

[Kool1]

You can email the Beck/Arnley part numbers to Beck/Arnley and they will tell you the country of origin. I personally have good luck with Beck/Arnley made in Turkey steering and suspension parts.

 

[BigD1]

Hope I don't regret it, but I bought all MAS Industries parts from RockAuto. Truck will only be driven about 6,000 miles a year. Moog or Beck/Arnley would have cost me round about $300 with shipping included. MAS cost me $145 total.

My truck has 294,000 miles on it. On the left hand side of the center link image below, the threaded shaft is pulling out of the center link. The threaded shaft goes to the idler arm, and then the nut/cotter pin holds it to the idler arm. If it breaks, it's going to cause a big mess.

 

[Kool1]

If the center link is made in Japan, Turkey, or the U.S. I would feel comfortable using the part. If the part is made in Taiwan, China, or India, I would have second thoughts about it as it is a critical steering part.

 

[Trav]

I wouldn't sweat made in Taiwan, they have some good steel foundries there and can make some decent stuff. IMO Taiwan should no longer be considered third world, they practice fair trade with the west and have good QC standards.
High quality steel products and machines form Taiwan should not be confused with cheap rubbish.

http://control-arm.ready-online.com/en/p...ntrol-arms.html

http://machinedesign.com/news/taiwan-makes-bigger-bet-machine-tools

 

[nobb]

How are the MAS Industries parts? Although MAS and Mevotech are Canada based (my country), I've always thought of their build quality to feel kind of cheap. I like Moog because of their lifetime warranty and they do have nice little touches (eg. larger castle nuts and cotter pins on the tie rods I bought).

 

[Trav]

No Idea I have never used them. I understand Mevotech has a new line that may be worth a look.
Things change it seems like almost every month in the parts industry, what was great a year ago is garbage today and vice versa.
You try to stay on top of it but its almost impossible, you have to look at the parts and make a call sometimes as COO and brand doesn't mean much these days. When in doubt go OE.

 

[BigD1]

I will have the MAS parts next week, so I will get a good look at them then. They claim a limited lifetime warranty.

Here is a picture that I snagged on the net that looks like what is going on with my problem. In the pictures, the idler arm ball stud is broken, but that ball stud is installed on the idler arm of a 4 wheel drive. On a two wheel drive, the ball stud is installed in the center link, but it is the same problem that I have with mine.

Broken ball stud.

And it should look like this.

 

[artificialist]

Sometimes good part companies make stuff in Taiwan. A few Sankei/555 parts that I have used were made in Taiwan, even though it is a Japanese brand.

 

[BigD1]

MAS parts came in from RockAuto today, and they are all made in China. Parts looked OK. Had one inner tie rod that had a good many spots on the threads that were buggered up, and not happy about that.

I did manage to get the inner and outer tie rods assembled together in the new MAS tie rod sleeves. The buggered threads on the one inner tie rod went in OK, but it was not smooth like it should be. I am not a steering man, but it took a couple minutes to figure out that there was left hand threads on one end of the sleeve. Left hand thread end of the sleeve was marked with an L which clued me in why righty tighty was not working!

Besides the one inner tie rod with buggered threads, everything else looks OK. If I had to do it over again, I would just buy Moog, and be done with it. If I do have to replace ball joints in the future, they will definitely be Moog for sure.

 

[stephen9666]

I'm always interested in seeing pics of parts. I'd be very interested in seeing pics of these parts, because I've not seen much posted about this brand.

 

[BigD1]

I would take some pictures, but I used Permatex anti-seize on all the inner and outer tie rod threads when assembling them in the sleeves, and by the time I got done assembling both sides I had anti-seize all over me, and on various areas of the assemblies. It's kind of like bearing grease that ends up in places that I have no clue how it got there.

That center link is one impressive hunk of metal though, and it's the main piece that I need to change immediately because of the broken ball stud that is pressed into the center link. Pretty sure that ball joint is not replaceable, and the reason I had to buy the center link assembly that has two ball joints pressed into it ready for installation.

All the ball studs were nice and tight, and I had to pull hard to get them to move. Grease seal rubber was double wire clamped on the top and bottom of all the tie rods, and on the center link ball joints. Most of the joints had grease fittings, but some did not like the outer tie rod ends. No nipple on the rubber seal to expel old grease on the joints that did have grease fittings.

 

[BigD1]

Got center link, inner and outer tie rods with new sleeves, idler arm, and steering damper installed today on my tuck. All of the old joints were super loosey goosey for sure. Just worn slap out. Steering damper was on it's last leg too.

Got the toe lined up best I could by measuring tire treads by myself because everybody around here was being lazy today. Took her down the road, and it was tracking straight, and that new steering damper really put a stop to the steering wheel vibrations. Steering wheel is not centered, and I will have some help tomorrow, so I will go round two with the toe adjustments.

Everything I bought was made in China except for the Monroe steering damper which was made in the USA. Even the Lisle 18520 tie rod separator was made in China, but it sure did work good. Only joint that gave me a hassle was the one that went to the pitman arm, but it eventually came out after I got the stepping of the tie rod separator in there deep up under the joint, and that allowed me to double hand swing the four pound engineering hammer I was using.

Who knows how long it will all hold up. I am thinking these MAS parts are the same or similar parts that the auto parts stores stock, and sell as their house brand, but cost more money.