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Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

30889 Views 29 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  xlengr, 
dpg_override
9
Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

I recently installed brand new Bilstien shocks, ball joints and bushings all the way around on my truck. I set them to level it out on the top notch of the Bilstiens.

Yesterday I was parked at an apartment complex and upon leaving turning to the right to go around the car parked in front of me my front left tire dropped off...I couldn't open my door and had no idea what just happen. I crawled out of the passenger side and went around to discover my lower ball joint had sheared in half.

I bought these from ebay member worldsuspension. He told me that they are high quality and would work just fine with the suspension lift I added to my truck. HERE is a link a similar auction of what I purchased from them.

I have contacted him over this matter and have yet to get a response, I do plan to take them to court over this matter. Had I been driving down the road @ 70 MPH or something who knows what would have happened but Im sure it would not have been good.

Now don't get my wrong I am not saying that these are not good for a stock truck but I do know for sure that they are not worth a damn for a truck with a suspension lift.

Spread the word on the forums cause I do know that a few people were going to buy from him, these parts were discussed on a Bilstien 5100 thread. I had brought them to the attention of others looking to do the same that I was doing.

If any one has bought these please get them checked or changed out immediatley they are dangerous for lifted trucks.

Pictures of my truck below, thanks for reading and hope this happens to noone else. If a moderator feels this is in the wrong place on the forums please feel free to move and if this could get stickied that would great!

override (Robert)

















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defhaps
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

That really sucks and I'm sorry it happened but I'm not too sure you'll get very far with any claims you try to make with them.
worldsuspension said:
Warranty: Warranty will not be applied to items installed on vehicles used for racing or off-road, commercially, or modified from the standard suspension.
Any part without a professional proof installation, with damage caused during the installation or used in a different manner or application for which it was designed will not qualify for warranty claim.
To claim warranty:
1) Send your purchase/payment information via e-mail (include invoice, Transaction ID or receipt ID)
2) RA# will be issued.
3) Send parts to be inspected (follow instruction given when RA# is issued)
4) Once we receive the parts we have up to one week to have the parts inspected
5) If you warranty is approved, refer to the next step. If not we will contact you with an explanation.
4) Pay shipping cost of the new parts to our Pay Pal account (tab "send money").
5) If you want the new part to be sent right away, you have to buy the item you need. After we receive the faulty ones and once approved we will refund the part cost of the item, not including shipping.

Disclaimer: If our parts worn-out or fail for any reason we have no liability for any expenses incurred because of it. No expenses for towing charges, legal fees and cost, rental cars, labor cost, among others expenses that could be consequence of a worn-out or failed part will be considered our responsibilities.
We are only responsible for providing a new replacement part when the situation under our policy indicates that we have to do it.
Click to expand...
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M
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

holy cow batman. talk about dangerous. glad you weren't at speed when that happened. good luck with the case, he should be liable for all the damage to your truck imo. Sucks to see that happen. Sorry Dude.:(



well after that last post it doesn't look good, again Sorry Dude...
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T
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

That, is, ug-lee!

I feel for you.
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dpg_override
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Well thats no good...I don't know if that is something that was recently put in place or not. When I had originally bought the parts the gentleman I spoke with said that these would be ok with the suspension lift.

Farmers is handling the claim from here on out tho, so I myself won't actually be taking him to court. Farmers will do all the such for me. All they required me to do was give them the company information. We will see what happens, in the long run regardless I just wanted to make sure that anyone who has or is going to buy these to use on a lifted truck to not do so.

Now that you have brought this to my and everyone else's attention its obvious this is the case.
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Marauder
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Dude, that totally sucks!

On another note, you mention by the title of your post, not to buy OEM brand ball joints. You bought them on ebay. Are you sure they are OEM brand?? Who actually made those ball joints??
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dpg_override
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Marauder said:
Dude, that totally sucks!

On another note, you mention by the title of your post, not to buy OEM brand ball joints. You bought them on ebay. Are you sure they are OEM brand?? Who actually made those ball joints??
Click to expand...
Im sorry I need to correct that...They are OEBrand by FPD.
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Remmy700P
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

I'd argue that the fact your truck has lift was irrelevant. The part was defective and simply failed. I have no doubt it would have failed on any vehicle on which it was installed.

You really have to know your vendor if you're going to buy a no-name part from an eBay listing.

Sorry my friend. That's a gut-wrencher...
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dpg_override
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Remmy700P said:
I'd argue that the fact your truck has lift was irrelevant. The part was defective and simply failed. I have no doubt it would have failed on any vehicle on which it was installed.

You really have to know your vendor if you're going to buy a no-name part from an eBay listing.

Sorry my friend. That's a gut-wrencher...
Click to expand...
Im sure farmers will argue the fact, I agree with you with the fact that the lift should not have anything to do with it. I dont go offroad much in my truck, jump hills, I avoid pot holes and speed bumps etc. I drive it like a friggin car so IMHO I think it was infact a defective part.

Although as defhaps did state they do have a disclaimer in place...Whether or not they had it in place when I bought them is in question. The gentlemen I bought them from told me they would work fine with the shocks and lift I was doing. I have it in writing somewhere im sure, just gotta find it.
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J
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Man you just never know these days what you're getting. I'm sorry to see this happen. What bothers me is the fact that the UPPER ball joint is stressed when you lift your truck NOT the lower one. The added angle on the lower ball joint from a small lift such as yours should not have added enough stress to shear a ball joint. No way this happened from anything other than poor quality. If those same ball joints are all around like you say I would immediately replace them with something else. I would include the cost of that in your case against them as well.
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deals4twowheels
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

That sucks! Two years ago I had my 2005 4X4 Tundra lower ball joints replaced for free at the dealer as part of a recall.
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C
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Another reason why buying parts on ebay isnt a good idea.

Ive personally never seen a brand new BJ do that.. You sure it wasnt your install?
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P
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

Sorry to hear about the issue, but seems like you have a good insurance company willing to go to bat for you.

When you're getting your truck back together, I'd strongly urge you to get that brake hose replaced. Brake hoses don't like to be put under tension like that and there may be internal damage that you can't see.
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DevinSixtySeven
re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRAND)

I am so glad you're ok! You are not the first person this has happened to...it may have been a different brand the other guy had, but his damage was damn near identical to yours...the joint simply cracked off.

You're currently the victim of cheap 3rd-world auto parts. NEVER, EVER buy any part that is not either made by the original equipment manufacturer (ie OEM, and several brands are called "OEM", "OE", and similar specifically to confuse consumers), or made entirely in a reputable industrial country.

I just called FPD and they confirmed that your part was Made In China.

Everyone, PLEASE, for the love of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and not breaking all your ****, STOP buying Chinese parts!

If the other guy with a similar accident sees this, I encourage you to track back your purchase and find out the manufacturer and country of origin. "O.E. Brand" is widely distributed, and I think there is a good chance they are the source of parts involved in both accidents. Incidentally, when I called FPD, the guy didn't even look anything up, he just said "it's made in China!"

IIRC it will cost you about 300$ for both lower ball joint assemblies, new from Toyota. Talk to some of our vendors/site sponsors here, many offer a discount to members.

I would definitely replace the brake hose as well, and I'd be tempted to replace the tie rod and upper ball joint as well, simply from the likelihood that the joints bound up when the lower joint let loose. They might also be ok, but personally I'd swap them.

-Sean
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GORILLA
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

hi 1st thank god your o.k.
with that said,
whenever you up-grade anything,
you must make sure that your other parts are also up-graded.
we have all made mistakes.
we hopefully live & learn from them.
i'm sure you thought you were buying the best.
sadly they were cheaply made.
just thank your lucky stars you weren't,like you said going down the road at 70mph.
there was a member here that something like this happened, he woke up 2 week's later from a coma.
gorilla
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dpg_override
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

Thanks for all the responses to my post....Thanks to jackill45acp, p-car-tower and devensixtyseven for the informative posts. I would think it would be a no brainer for the body shop to replace the brake hose, I know I would if I were fixing the truck. Thanks for the info on the difference of strain to the upper and lower ball joints!

I plan to print this thread and turn it in with all the other info I have gather to farmers for there lawsuit. I wish I could find out who this other guy is, I would like to get intouch with him. If he did infact buy the same parts then that would help farmers and he could take my case if he plans to sue as well. If anyone knows his username on her lemme know....

Also I was wondering, I was planning on replacing all the parts with Moog ball joints from autozone or oriellys whoever carries them, which is who I was going to use in the first place. Does anyone know if these are quality enough parts to replace with? I plan to go to the body shop today and talk to them about it aswell. I want to see who they are replacing the broken one with.

Thanks again for all the feedback!
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DevinSixtySeven
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

This is one of the most critical parts on your truck. As you found, the entire weight of the front corners are hanging from the lower ball joint assemblies--four bolts, one race, one stud, and one castellated & pinned nut, all in series. For something this critical, only get the original equipment from Toyota, or from the same company supplying the parts to Toyota, including those four bolts if they are damaged. In your case, I would personally replace them just to be sure...and it is absolutely critical that those four bolts are properly installed, with thread lock and the correct torque. There is another old thread where a member broke those bolts, resulting in a rollover in highway traffic.

-Sean
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C
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

Moog is the only aftermarket company I would bother with, AC delco is a close 2nd tho. Everything else is CRAP.
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dpg_override
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

Moog is who I was going to go with or Toyota brand.....Its gonna cost me $400 and something to get the body shop doing the work to put the other 3 on labor and parts.
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NoKz
Re: Do not buy FPD "O.E. Brand"! Lower Ball Joint broken! (NOT THE SAME AS TOYOTA BRA

For something important like a LBJ, why would you buy it off eBay?!
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