Beck/Arnley Balljoints - Made in Korea - Are they worth a darn?

[foreverly]

So, I'm trying to get an alignment after replacing my rack & pinion & the shop says 'no' because the lower balljoints need to be replaced.

So I ordered the beck/arnley lowers & uppers (since the uppers were only $15 ea). I was shipped one Made in Japan lower, one Made in Korea lower & two Made in Korea uppers. They appear to be made by CTC whose balljoints for the Toyota Van Wagon 2wd sell for significantly lower than the Beck/Arnely's.

My ordered was purchased from FCPImport who had the lowest price on the parts I could find, however, the lowers were dropped shipped directly from B/A.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Should I install them or get something like Moog whose pricepoint is a little above Beck/Arnley?

[timsrv]

It's hard to say. Where they are made doesn't have to matter but seems like things made in China or Korea are a bit more at risk. I installed all new Beck-Arnley ball joints in my 89 2wd a few years back. The R/H lower only lasted a couple of years, but so far the rest (and the new R/H lower) are holding up okay. Now I check them every time I replace brake pads. I always keep an extra set on hand just in case. Tim

[foreverly]

Thanks Tim. I've read your old TVP posts on balljoints & you had about the same luck as I did with mismatched parts. From the photos I can you have some of the same CTC marked units. Our uppers look identical but mine were painted black for some reason.

If the uppers are fine maybe I should just leave the originals in there & hang onto the new ones just in case. I would really like them to give me another Made in Japan lower. I prefer installing suspension parts & tires in identical pairs.

Reading around a little bit it sounds like many suspension companies source there parts from the same overseas factories.

[F22hb]

I've always went with moog over any other aftermarket and at least with other cars, I've always been impressed. Just ordered lower, upper, and tierod ends for mine, so we'll see. I've had terrible luck with less expensive ball-joints in the past.

[foreverly]

There have been a lot of complaints with Moog selling the same Made in Korea repackaged stuff. If you are ok with the Made in Korea parts then just buy the inexpensive CTC brand parts. Its the same thing that Beck Arnely is repackaging & selling at a higher price. My BA tie rods were 555 made in Japan though.

It looks like lower OEM's are $52 & uppers are $25 if they have them. I think I'm going to return the Made in Korea stuff.

[F22hb]

Just got new moog lower, upper, and tie rod ends and all of them were made in japan. I also got a really sweet swaybar endlink kit they make.

[foreverly]

Just got new moog lower, upper, and tie rod ends and all of them were made in japan. I also got a really sweet swaybar endlink kit they make.

Yeah, I need to do the endlinks & saw they have the kit for pretty cheap. Where did you purchase from?

[F22hb]

I got all if it on one big rockauto order. They make two styles, I got the updated style and I'll have to post some pictures, they're pretty neat. I'd have to check the email to see what they were lol
edit: they were about 5 bucks each side. http://wiki.rockauto.com/1986%20TOYOTA%20VAN%202.2L%20L4%20_Stabilizer%20Ba r%20Link_1279751_7580

[foreverly]

Awesome. I think they are called 'problem solvers' right? - you had to buy two of them?

[F22hb]

Yea they are the problem solver ones. Each box/part number is for one side. I did go cheap on the 15$ Monroe shocks so we'll see how those last lol.

[foreverly]

I can also confirm that the Moog Ball Joints are 555 Made in Japan. I also ordered from Rock Auto.

They look a whole lot nicer than even the Made in Japan Beck/Arnley (not 555) that I received. Prices are comparable between the too. But I will say that 1st Toyota quoted me $45 ea for lowers which isn't bad for OEM. The Moogs are greasable & appear to be OEM though.

I also ordered the Moog endlinks. They do appear to be good quality - Made in USA. The bushings are a very hard plastic unlike the soft rubber ones that are on there now.