SANKEI555 vs OEM Low ball Joint - 2006

Hello,

I'm doing this thread to compare the Sankei 555 lower ball joints with the OEM ones for a 2005 Sequoia.

A month ago, I've changed my LBJ with Sankei 555, thinking they were the same as the OEM but for a better price.

Well, I made a big mistake, the ball joints started to seize not more than 2000 miles after the installation, with some lateral play as well.

So I decided to go OEM after that, and make a comparison to see how they differ from the Sankei one.

First of all :

• Sankei555 have greaser, OEM don't;
• Sankei are grey/metal color, OEM are black;
• The holes for the tie rods are different, the metal machining is also made differently;
• The thread on the Sankei is very weak, the nut is also very weak (once I've taken them off, and wanted to put them back in place with the good torque, the thread of the BJ broke?!)
• Sankei, when they are manually moved, you can feel the metal of the BJ scratching against the outside part (brand new and greased!), you can't feel that with the OEM, it is way smoother without any friction;
• The boot of the Sankei is weaker than the OEM.

In conclusion, OEM =/= Sankei555 for many many reasons.

I have read that they are the Toyota manufacturer for LBJ blablabla every where. Well, if that's the case, the ones they sell on their name are VERY different and poorly made compared to the OEM.

Don't go cheap like me to save some dollars, go OEM for a part that is known to fail and cause damage.
And don't listen to people advice on "they are the manufacturer of toyota so it's the same", because it's not the same quality and same product at all.

[DISCLAIMER : This post is based on my personal experience only, the installation for both Sankei and OEM were the same, with everything torqued to spec.
I am not affiliated with anything or anyone that sells automotive parts.
Take it as a "My loss, your win" kind of post, since I've wasted hundred of dollars on this mistake.]

 

Bottom line: Always use OEM LBJ with fresh bolts, and proactively replace OEM joints before 125k-150k miles.

We have a whole thread full of 1st gen LBJ failures, many of which are confirmed aftermarket products from all the big names, including Moog and Sankei: https://www.tundras.com/threads/first-gen-lower-ball-joint-lbj-failures.141860/

 

Thanks, I've answered to this thread as well.

The information you can find on the web are false, Sankei and OEM are definitely different

I just wanted to share my experience, hoping it would help someone.

 

I've seen two versions of the Sankei LBJ part: One with zerks, one without. It's possible each has different part quality. @The Black Mamba, do you remember if your 555s had zerks?

 

I'd take a sawzall to the 555, check out the internals and post some pics. Methinks there's some plastic in the ball/socket joint.

 

I have sent them back on warranty, can't cut them open to check sorry

 

Even if they send you new ones as a replacement, I don't see them having more value than bookends since you'll probably never use them.

 

@208Tyler Tyler already did that for us. At least with one version of the Sankei.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYKDoSSKCVs​

 

I'm asking for a refund only, or credit to buy other things from them.

 

Everybody on FB says your wrong lol

 

No zerks

 

Yeah I listened to them, and now I'm stuck with 3 balls joints so +/- 400$ worth of Sankei 555 LBJ that are bad after 2000 miles.

It's my own experience and comparison, if you want to take the tip I would be happy for you.
Otherwise if you want to listen to a guy that has heard from a guy that has read from a Facebook post of another guy that says he knows a Toyota mechanic, well, do so !

I have made the mistake and posted about it so that hopefully less people will make the same one.

 

That’s funny. I thought you were joking.

 

nah they will do anything to avoid OEM prices. Some be like "30k on my MOOGS and still going strong"

 

oh shit @KNABORES shots fired

 

He's good now. His Moogs went 60k, I think.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/ode-to-fgt-a-refresh-story.144308/page-5#post-3680809

 

They was good, Till they wasn’t. More like ignorance was bliss, even though I was nervous. I cannot recommend them in the slightest. They had silently failed with symptoms of increased steering resistance and failure to return to center, but passed the wheel up tire tug tests.

 

Same for 4Runner (except most of their fan sites say 100K) T100 Tacoma GX470 Prado and LC of the era. I like to step up to the Black bolts where you can use 'dust shields' for a hair of extra protection against limbs and such.

 

I typically tell folks 100k-125k. Not sure why I wrote 125-150k.

There's a lot of proactive stuff to do on these 1st gens in the 100k-125k range. Radiator, LBJ+bolts, timing belt, water pump, t-stat, etc. Some you can probably slide on. Others, you'd be a fool to wait.

 

Might as well combo it all together at the belt change

 

I am on my original UBJ's and LBJ's with 180K on the odometer. When front end is jacked up in the air, I take a pry iron under each front tire and pry up.....there is absolutely no slack or slap in the LBJ, suggesting that it is still good. I thought these LBj's are non-greaseable. Is that correct ? Thinking about repacing them anyways, as they do have 180k miles on them. The upper ball joints are original as well. Looks like hard caked-on grease up there around the joint. I suppose it is time to change them as well.

OEM Upper Ball joints $50 / each; Lower ball joints $145 / each....

Anyone have a better price and where ????

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

 

Why pull the knuckle ? Easier to press out ?

 

Way easier to press out with the knuckle on the ground than trying to fiddle with getting the damn BJ press up in the fender well. And with 2WD, you don't have a CV axle to contend with, and you'll be replacing the LBJ also which means the bottom half of the knuckle is already out ... so it's kind of a no-brainer, two bolts to pull the caliper, pop off the rotor, then loosen the UBJ castle nut, flip over and thread until it's 2-3 threads off the UCA, and tap the knuckle free, unless I'm missing something obvious.