MAS suspension parts?

[BigD1]

Can always try Beck/Arnley, and hope for reboxed factory parts. They are still out there, but I do think it's the older stock.

Bought a Beck/Arnley fuel injection thermal time switch for my Toyota pickup, and it was a factory Toyota part inside the box.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: BigD1
Can always try Beck/Arnley, and hope for reboxed factory parts. They are still out there, but I do think it's the older stock.

Bought a Beck/Arnley fuel injection thermal time switch for my Toyota pickup, and it was a factory Toyota part inside the box.

B/A used to be almost guaranteed OEM stuff. I was such a believer in them especially when I started doing major car maintenance, modification and repair work 18 years ago.
18 years later, B/A has transformed into yet another reboxer. I hate that I can't trust their parts as true OEM anymore. For example, their Avalon tie rod ends are 555-brand stuff.
So folks like me have to venture out beyond the realm of the familiar and look to brands we never even considered before.

These are the voyages of the starship Sludger. To explore strange new brands. To seek out new parts, and new suppliers. To boldly go where no BITOGer has gone before

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
18 years later, B/A has transformed into yet another reboxer. I hate that I can't trust their parts as true OEM anymore. For example, their Avalon tie rod ends are 555-brand stuff.

But 555 is often the OEM supplier for Asian vehicles, they are for both my Toyota vehicles and I'll bet for your Avalon as well. Every piece of 555 hardware I have ever seen has been top-notch, they are pretty much the only suspension or steering parts I'll put on my vehicles that aren't OEM labeled. Don't be fooled by the weird name, they are legit (similar to Aisin parts).

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
18 years later, B/A has transformed into yet another reboxer. I hate that I can't trust their parts as true OEM anymore. For example, their Avalon tie rod ends are 555-brand stuff.

But 555 is often the OEM supplier for Asian vehicles, they are for both my Toyota vehicles and I'll bet for your Avalon as well. Every piece of 555 hardware I have ever seen has been top-notch, they are pretty much the only suspension or steering parts I'll put on my vehicles that aren't OEM labeled. Don't be fooled by the weird name, they are legit (similar to Aisin parts).

I bought and installed 555 outer tie rod ends on my project Mk3 Supra 13 years ago. They worked for two years until the car developed steering play again and was sold shortly after that.
I won't say anything unkind about 555 brand products, but I won't use them again if I have viable alternatives.
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.

 

[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.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Hi Colt, please offer up any kind of follow-up you can on the MAS parts.
It's impossible to find good info about MAS part quality! Most forums I saw where an OP asked about MAS, people close their ears and say "You get what you pay for LA LA LA" without actual MAS part experience - what a huge disservice to everyone to proffer that incredibly irrelevant opinion.

Parts are in a box waiting for when I put them in.
That'll probably be when I do the engine swap, so if all goes to plan before winter sets in.

 

[L_Sludger]

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!

 

[ToyotardSteve]

Ain't no way that Sankei 555 is selling their ridiculous metal on metal joints to Toyota. And they certainly don't make the plastic cup joints with the eternal grease.