So I just seen some useful information, apparently Moog's AUTHENTIC codes at the beginning of their part #'s to identify if your getting "Genuine" Moog parts shipped directly from their wharehouse starts with a "K", I've been online and a lot of the big brand autopart sellers are selling non genuine Moog parts from China and Taiwain and those part numbers start with "RK" and ship in a Moog box or a plain white box with moog stickers on them, apparently Moog is aware of this and a rep for them when asked about this said "Well, they are Moog, but their not", WTF!! I guess Moog is aware of this and does not care and is involved to save a dollar,now your average buyer would never know this so I'm just relaying the message to u guys so u buy Genuine Moog products at checkout, especially us ball joint guys... STAY SAFE!.!.!.!.!.

 

Well they're all "technically" MOOG. Moog is not the part manufacturer, but rather a parts distributor. They probably have 2 lines with one made in Japan, and the other line made in Mexico/China. The Japan made parts by Moog are actually the 5 star brand. The Mexico made parts are just unbranded.

 

Good info. Thanks fellas

 

Wtf.. I need to buy upper ball joints and was going moog from rockauto and they all start with RK, where are you supposed to get authentic ones then?

 

I've looked on all sites, but certainly other people on here must have ordered moog on rock auto before, everyone says they do, and always say they work great? So maybe it's not a huge deal? I don't wanna get some crappy part but upper control arms are like 750$ for an oem set

 

I wouldn't worry about Moog products labeled as such if you're purchasing from a seller such as RockAuto. I can't comment on JeffTsai's information about them being a manufacturer or distributor, but he knows his stuff so I'd take his word on it.

OP, not to discredit you or anything, but not all of they're products are "K" or "RK". For instance: [on RockAuto] their outer tie rod part numbers begin with "ES" and the inner tie rods begin with "EV"; however, ALL of their control arms (upper and lower) begin with RK. If you try searching for the same number without the "R" in front, nothing comes up at all.

 

I looked on moogs actual website and even on there the UCAs were rk, if they worked from rock auto for other people here I'll give em a shot

 

It's been a couple years since I replaced my LBJs. I went with Moog but I recall seeing the 555senkei logo on there and I I'm pretty sure they were the ones producing them for Moog which was made in Japan

 

Moog doesn't make good UCA's for our cars. That's the R-Series brand and they are crap.

 

Not trying to hijack the thread, but can you explain why they are crap? I just ordered mine a week ago...

 

^ I say that in accordance to Moog standards. Everyone on these forums praise Moog, but just like every other manufacturer of car parts, they don't excel at everything. There was a time when Moog made very good UCA's for our cars however, they've downgraded and outsourced to save funds on some of their products. In the business world, this can either help or hurt you. The R-Series components isn't one of their Japan spec auto parts. They are manufactured at a factory in Mexico. Now this may mean nothing, however, moving your manufacturing plant to another country for cheap labor, then renaming the brand tells me that the quality of the component is not up to par in comparison to the original brand that was manufactured at the original plant. Downsizing and outsourcing can really hurt a products reputation.

 

kinda off topic but now that everybody know old oem ball joints suck has lexus redesigned them? how much cheaper are moog from rock auto vs sewell lexus? I was going to buy some from rockauto as my car just hit 100k about 20 mins ago (still no issues from oem though, just a precaution)

 

Honestly you probably don't need to replace the UCA until like 150-200k miles. If you do, I would recommend going with the SPC adjustable upper arms instead of buying OEM or the other aftermarket brands. They are good quality and are fully rebuildable after another 150-200k miles of service.

 

Mine are due, Jeff, can I run those on stock suspension buddy, or is it pointless? My UBJ is bad on drivers side and I failed inspection, 130k miles, so of course I'm gonna replace both sides...BTW guys I replaced my lbj's with Moog and the part numbers are as stated and stamped with "555" on them, if u don't get lbj stamped 555 in the mail SEND THEM BACK!.!.!.
Part numbers for authentic Moog Lbj's for our Gs'
K500101
K500102

 

I am curious how you know the RK branded items are crap, those of you who say so. Issues with 2G Lexus are pretty well vetted on this forum. If there are issues with parts SOMEBODY will report it on this site. Other than these latest threads that focus on the manufacturing source, I haven't seen any substantive evidence that the parts are problematic. I recently purchased Moog LBJ. They are R series with triple 5 and the box says made in Japan. My understand these are high quality parts. Yet, one of the posters says that R series parts are not good. I would much rather hear from someone who says they purchased an RK series part and it wore out or failed in 5k miles rather than alarmist declarations that they are crap just because they are made in a different country. IJS