Timing belt AISIN or Mitsuboshi

I just did the timing belt in my new to me 2004 limited and bought the aisin timing belt kit (tkt-021) with water pump. I bought it from summit racing for $183 had it overnighted to me for additional $33 and still cheaper than any parts store near me by $70.

That being said the Aisin timing belt kits are the only ones I use at my shop.

Recently replaced my 2004 UL timing belt at 100k and it came out looking like new with no real evidence of wear. Worth doing though, for peace of mind. Highly recommend the Aisin kit.

Yes. Those are the only brand kits I use for the most part (unless a customer wants factory).

For Toyota, the Aisin timing belt kits are good. I've had one one on my Tacoma for a long time. Regardless, it is a quality product.

Make sure whatever you do, it's a genuine Aisin timing belt kit.

I used the Aisin kit. There was a thread on CL about how "the Aisin belt isn't the same standard, look the text on the original is still there but the new one rubbed off fast". Idk, I'd call BS on that, all the text on my belt was gone and it was serviced at a dealer.

Aisin is the one you want. Full stop.

I just did a timing belt / water pump kit on my bugeye. All the components you get with it are exactly what you’d get if you went to the dealership (even down to the little component boxes albeit with a different logo stamped on it), except for maybe the pump itself. Aisin was one of the OE water pump manufacturers, and they have a long history in Japanese car parts and motor sports. The instructions that come with the kit make it super easy, too.

I used to always go with OEM Honda parts for timing belt and water pump jobs. But the price of the OEM parts have gotten so high that I went with [this kit] on Amazon for my last TB job on my GSR, in late 2018. Mistuboshi timing belt, NPW water pump, GMB tensioner pulley. Those are all Japanese OEM parts suppliers, so I was comfortable using them. Almost 20k miles on thost parts now and everything is working great.

I'd definitely want to at least peak at the timing belt for its condition / date stamp. Aisin kit with water pump and OEM Subaru thermostat is what you want.