Aftermarket Timing Belt Tensioners

[Allen Gregory]

I am getting ready to replace the timing belt and tensioner on my 1993 hzj75 1HZ Troopy with 330k , I have always used original parts from the agency. Are aftermarket parts just as reliable ? Thank you

 

[silvercruiser]

For something so critical i would stick with genuine

 

[Chris]

Well kind of a trick question really. Are after market parts as good as genuine? Well it depends on how good quality they are doesn't it. There are some excellent parts that are as good as original and some that are rubbish.

Remember that Toyota aren't making these parts anymore so if you're buying 'genuine' for a 1993 vehicle, are these exactly the same parts fitted in the factory? Did they lay down 20 years stock of spare parts?

Personally I'd fit an after market tensioner. I can't say as I've ever heard of a tensioner that failed. OEM or not. The belts go obviously, but tensioners? I guess sometimes it comes down to price and availability. If OEM and pattern are the same price, well I'd choose OEM I suppose. But just because the OEM is 10x the price it doesn't mean it's 10x the quality does it.

So really you need to look at the replacement part, who made it, where it was made and what people have said about it. It would be a tremendous effort to set up a factory to make these things and not to bother making them half decent.

 

[Towpack]

Are after market parts as reliable? I think Chris has nailed it here. There's aftermarket rubbish and there's aftermarket quality as good and sometimes even better than OEM.
The tensioner on the 1HZ/1HD-T looks to be a pretty simple affair, a pulley with a bearing in it tensioned by a spring so not an awful lot to go wrong really. The quality of the bearing is probably the most important factor and good quality bearings of that size aren't expensive.

 

[Dave]

See who made the bearing in the tensioner - known brand, ok, no brand, crap!

 

[Chris]

+ 1 on that. But let's remember that this bearing isn't working particularly hard or running in a very harsh environment. It's unlikely to fail catastrophically and you'd most likely hear deterioration as you would in an alternator end bearing or air con idler