Pattern suspension parts

Basically would you or wouldn't you?

I appreciate it's a cost decision as we'd all buy genuine if it was the same cost, also even by cutting out the Toyota mark up, can an arm costing a quarter of the price of genuine be of the same quality, I'm thinking no, but then as long as it lasts more than a quarter of the time of a genuine arm that's ok?

I bought these on a whim,

eBay no. 222021326355

At £115 vs a lot more for genuine I'm happy enough to give them a go especially as I'm thinking this top arm does less important work than the bottom arm.

I'm accumulating parts for the future and don't need to fit these I'm just curious about whether cost cutting like this is worth it. Part of me says no, but then part of me says in 5 years or so when all th genuine arms are gone these are the only choices we have?

Are there any international standards or 'kite' marks etc on car parts?

Germany has TUV, we have some certification. Easy to fake a mark in a casting.... Short of a metallurgical inspection, a set of X-Rays and also testing ball joints and bushes, which would be hugely costly, you just decide if you feel lucky or not. Could be fine, could be deadly.

But it's unlikely to start an interior fire unlike Vauxhall pattern heater ballast resistors Just roll you over a motorway barrier in front of a line of artics.

Basically would you or wouldn't you?

 

I appreciate it's a cost decision as we'd all buy genuine if it was the same cost, also even by cutting out the Toyota mark up, can an arm costing a quarter of the price of genuine be of the same quality, I'm thinking no, but then as long as it lasts more than a quarter of the time of a genuine arm that's ok?

 

I bought these on a whim,

 

eBay no. 222021326355

 

At £115 vs a lot more for genuine I'm happy enough to give them a go especially as I'm thinking this top arm does less important work than the bottom arm.

 

I'm accumulating parts for the future and don't need to fit these I'm just curious about whether cost cutting like this is worth it. Part of me says no, but then part of me says in 5 years or so when all th genuine arms are gone these are the only choices we have?

 

Are there any international standards or 'kite' marks etc on car parts?

All I will say, is you get what you pay for! If it's cheap then the quality is unlikely to be there. A friend of mine put on cheap eBay rear arms on his soarer and the welding failed and he wrote off his car at 30mph! It was very fortunate that it was only 30, could have been a lot worse at say 70 or 80! Not worth taking a chance when your life is potentially at risk.

I'm happy enough with the arms I bought, but appreciate not all pattern parts are equal and I take the point re failed welds etc

http://www.optimal-germany.com/en/optimal-spare-parts

I'll just keep doing my research if I go this way again in the future.

All I will say, is you get what you pay for! If it's cheap then the quality is unlikely to be there. A friend of mine put on cheap eBay rear arms on his soarer and the welding failed and he wrote off his car at 30mph! It was very fortunate that it was only 30, could have been a lot worse at say 70 or 80! Not worth taking a chance when your life is potentially at risk.

What a load of nonsense. ......Toyota parts are made by Aisin, go and compare the price of a Toyota part vs the equivalent Aisin part....significantly cheaper and the quality is exactly the same.

Companies cant manufacturer and sell sub standard parts like suspension arms etc.

There is nothing wrong with pattern parts at all. Its not like someone sat and slapped them together in their garage.

More unbelievable is the fact that certain users on here think that "genuine" parts are manufactured by the original vehicle maker. Where do they think the design for pattern parts comes from.....

What a load of nonsense. ......Toyota parts are made by Aisin, go and compare the price of a Toyota part vs the equivalent Aisin part....significantly cheaper and the quality is exactly the same.

 

Companies cant manufacturer and sell sub standard parts like suspension arms etc.

 

There is nothing wrong with pattern parts at all. Its not like someone sat and slapped them together in their garage.

 

More unbelievable is the fact that certain users on here think that "genuine" parts are manufactured by the original vehicle maker. Where do they think the design for pattern parts comes from.....

But not all pattern parts are even. You can but cheap 'pattern part' coilpacks on eBay, which are notoriously poor quality. You can buy them from Toyota, which are great, but cost a fortune. Or you can source genuine ones via the Denso part number, for a much lower cost.

Pattern wings, sills etc rarely fit properly, and are made from lower grade materials than OEM.

Personally, I doubt I would use any pattern parts on my Supra, though I probably would on a cheap run around.

What a load of nonsense. ......Toyota parts are made by Aisin, go and compare the price of a Toyota part vs the equivalent Aisin part....significantly cheaper and the quality is exactly the same.

 

Companies cant manufacturer and sell sub standard parts like suspension arms etc.

 

There is nothing wrong with pattern parts at all. Its not like someone sat and slapped them together in their garage.

 

More unbelievable is the fact that certain users on here think that "genuine" parts are manufactured by the original vehicle maker. Where do they think the design for pattern parts comes from.....

Alot of the companies are selling the parts they made for Toyota now as toyota dont stock them or buy to sell anymore, ok in this post its not the case. But if you know where to look you can get those exact 'oem' parts from different companies

Not levied at you personally Scooter, just an observation, I don't understand car owners some times. Will happily spend thousands of pounds on wheels, coil overs, induction and body kits, then try and find the cheapest critical parts like suspension and brakes.

Way I see it is, the Toyota price is the price, the quality is known and guaranteed, and will last 20 odd years, who knows how long pattern parts will last?

Not levied at you personally Scooter, just an observation, I don't understand car owners some times. Will happily spend thousands of pounds on wheels, coil overs, induction and body kits, then try and find the cheapest critical parts like suspension and brakes.

 

Way I see it is, the Toyota price is the price, the quality is known and guaranteed, and will last 20 odd years, who knows how long pattern parts will last?

Did you not see any of what was said above regarding pattern part manufacturers and Toyota "genuine" parts?

What a load of nonsense. ......Toyota parts are made by Aisin, go and compare the price of a Toyota part vs the equivalent Aisin part....significantly cheaper and the quality is exactly the same.

 

Companies cant manufacturer and sell sub standard parts like suspension arms etc.

 

There is nothing wrong with pattern parts at all. Its not like someone sat and slapped them together in their garage.

 

More unbelievable is the fact that certain users on here think that "genuine" parts are manufactured by the original vehicle maker. Where do they think the design for pattern parts comes from.....

Used to have it all the time when i worked at Vauxhall aftersales

People would pay through the nose for genuine parts like suspension arms which were made by Lemforder yet the same Lemforder part from gsf will be considerably cheaper but as it doesnt have the dealers brand people thought they are cheap aftermarket copies

Cambelt kits were another all were made by contitech and gates which could be had cheaper from anywhere else

Not levied at you personally Scooter, just an observation, I don't understand car owners some times. Will happily spend thousands of pounds on wheels, coil overs, induction and body kits, then try and find the cheapest critical parts like suspension and brakes.

 

Way I see it is, the Toyota price is the price, the quality is known and guaranteed, and will last 20 odd years, who knows how long pattern parts will last?

Nah that's cool, I get what you mean, I really do. To be fair I won't spend loads on wheels or body kits either!

I bought brand new rear uk calipers, disk and pads the other day so am not a complete penny pincher but whilst not quite so vocal I share some of the views on pattern parts that they are often not totally shoddy, I do however agree it's difficult to know which ones are which.

Are they a pair, or 2 front right?

They are the same side just for a direct comparison, dirty one is a used (presumed genuine) one I got secondhand when considering after market bushes which I may still do on these now.

I'll try again.

You bought 2, are they a pair or both right fronts?

There was an aftermarket rear upper suspension arm on mine when I swapped them out for OEM, the cast on the unit was crap, swarf and it was cracked plus slightly disjointed

Poor quality

I would definitely pay the extra for OEM and did, safe, quality assured, its not worth risking your life on such a critical part

I bought 2 brand new pattern ones, one left and one right. I already had a left and a right used genuine set too. Given the OP's fitment issue I thought I would compare these brand new ones with the used stock ones to check I didn't have the same issue.

So in the picture is a dirty used 'R' one and a new pattern 'R' one.

All clear?

I do not know what make these are (fitted in Japan), but just be careful with aftermarket arms

I do not know what make these are (fitted in Japan), but just be careful with aftermarket arms

 

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb469/clodola/70F5AC7E-7295-4486-A5AE-E224964BA602_zpslbq5yxpw.jpg

 

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb469/clodola/F41DE39C-1B64-4BC5-BE98-FA4C224B1DD6_zps84urai37.jpg

That's one good reason why I would only buy OEM on parts like this:search:

Jellybean what type (positionally) of arm is that, front upper or lower?

God ignore me I see it was a rear upper from the previous page.........I'm going for a lie down!

I bought 2 brand new pattern ones, one left and one right. I already had a left and a right used genuine set too. Given the OP's fitment issue I thought I would compare these brand new ones with the used stock ones to check I didn't have the same issue.

 

So in the picture is a dirty used 'R' one and a new pattern 'R' one.

 

All clear?

That untangles it, nearly, the single lot number confusticated me.

Cheers.

no probs just realised I posted the pics on the other guys thread so not too helpful!!