Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
There are lots of manufacturers out there that make replacement parts that are different from the ones that they supplied to the OEM, for whatever reason. The 555s on the Supra were NOT OEM-appearing or OEM-grade.
Yeah, I've never seen it with either 555 or Aisin parts but I'm sure it happens. Usually with Aisin parts what I have found is a place on the casting where the Toyota logo was ground off, I don't recall if I've ever seen this on a 555 part or not.
It's interesting your parts for the Supra were different than the OEM. Are you sure the ones you took off were OEM?
These days though I rarely seek out 555 parts as such (the only place I typically find them is Partsgeek). With online dealers the price for the OEM boxed part is usually very close to what I have to pay for 555 at Partsgeek.
It is unlikely that the car had original tie rod ends but I know what the genuine Toyota part looked like and the 555 wasn't the one.
Yaknow, Denso offers a bunch of off-the-wall stuff in their 'First Time Fit' product line. Stuff that they didn't originally make for the cars when they were new, now made universal for similar product lines. Example: 1996 Avalon radiator. Original is GM Harrison. Denso, the parts supplier originally part of Toyota proper, offers a replacement radiator made in Taiwan. This radiator fits concurrent model V6 Camrys and ES300s. But it is also the one they sell for the Avalon. They consolidated a bucketload of Toyota part numbers into one easy to mass produce and market part that they make cheaply with economies of scale. And their price isn't bad either. The rad can be had for $65 shipped. But OEM quality it DEFINITELY ain't.
Come to think of it, I remember getting Denso-branded spark plug wires maybe 15 years ago. I was expecting something excellent, exactly OEM quality. This was for another 1MZ-FE car, lol. So the original plug wires were Yazaki-branded. The Denso First-Time-Fit plug wires did not match in length and felt cheap. And one of the wires actually failed prematurely at some point. Guess what went back on the car to get it running again? I had the old wires stashed away in a dusty box for just this kind of occasion, and it saved my bacon!