Genuine OTC 6488 or Amazon knockoff

[CamTheHedgehog]

Alright, alright. Yes, I know, I keep asking a whole lot of questions for an automotive student, but these tools-and-tricks things are not really the things I'm taught.

Like stated before, I am preparing to pull my engine and do the timing in a few weeks and am purchasing the required tools and equipment. One such item absolutely needed is the OTC 6488 timing toolkit. Many other forum members have said to buy the tool used instead and save some off the sticker price, which is an option- about $15-200 on eBay. The other option, and one I can't seem to find much info on, is the knockoff/generic '6488' toolkits sold on amazon for $60-70. They don't look that bad, but many reviewers have seemed to complain about the fit and finish as well as structural build quality in general, including the tools breaking. I also have no idea what the accuracy is like on these knockoffs, and for an engine that trusts the accuracy of the toolkit to make sure the timing isn't even slightly off, that is a concern.

So what do you all think? Spend the extra ~$100 for the real deal I know will work, or spend $60 for a knockoff that might work great like it has for many, but also might be off slightly accuracy wise and may break in use. Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[sgtsandman]

For something as important as timing, I wouldn’t take the chance.

I can’t see what engine you have with the cell phone version of the forum but if you have the 4.0 SOHC like I think you do, I definitely wouldn’t go cheap since the timing system is so Rube Goldberg complex.

FordTekMakuLoco on youtube has a great video series on the process. Of course, he was dealing with timing chain cassettes being broken apart as well but the whole process is there.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Well, after a week of chaotic class work (and normal work), I had bit the bullet on the used OTC kit off of eBay which arrived a few days ago. In my infinite overdoing things, I took apart what little I could and cleaned all the oil and dirt off of them.
Now to order $700 worth of internals from Tasca and wait till AFTER CHRISTMAS for it to get here due to them having to order like two parts straight from ford…. Gotta love old vehicles!

 

[TDI Ranger]

Something you also need is the rear jackshaft sprocket tool. I didn't use this tool the first time I did this job. I just used the camshaft locking tool in the OTC tool kit, and tried to hold the front bolt. I'm not positive but I think this is what caused the camshaft failure minutes after startup on engine #1.
The tool is kind of crappy because it's not long enough for the amount of torque required. You can manage with a cheater pipe or blocking it against the engine stand.

Stallion ST-128-B Rear Jack Shaft Socket - 303-634 Alt.

4.0L SOHC Rear Jack Shaft Socket 303-634

www.freedomracing.com

I'm sure you are using OEM. I used a cloyes set. I only got 2 years and 25k miles before the rear cassette broke on engine #2....