What Starter Drive Brand To Use Or Not Use??

Needing to replace starter drive on my 64 cj5. Which brand seems to be the best and worst ?
I replaced it around 8 yrs ago with a crown or omix I think. Went kapop on me. Luckly I was home.
A small sliver of what looks like the spiral cut gear broke off and lodged. Got it out, but now you
can rotate it all the way out and in by hand.. I going to replace it while I have the starter out.
The part # is 931463, starter is MDU 7004 type.

 

NOS

 

With respect, I don't understand the push for Toyota replacement, unless you cannot find an affordable starter otherwise.

My OEM starters have given little or no trouble over the decades. I replaced a bendix one time, with no issues. And certainly it was much less expensive than replacing the starter.

My .02.

 

After removing this one from the starter and pecking the sides of it with a heavy screwdriver, the end with the teeth pointed up, it spins down on its on.
When I point the teeth down and rotate the unit up, the teeth free spins the other way. Is that the way it suppose to work ? I thought it would "lock"at
the extended position.. But I really don't know..

 

Point taken. OTH, my perspective, regardless of cost, comes from my tendency to hope our jeeps will be around forever. I have some vehicles almost 100 years old, even one that was in the family before I was born. Over the long haul non-standard parts are a huge PIA.

I will always prefer having OEM parts to repair or replace, over trying to identify or locate an an off-brand component that may have been orphaned twenty or thirty years ago. An alternative that may have seemed logical in 1968 or 1988 can seem like a really poor choice some years later. As a vehicle gets cumulatively further from OEM, preserving it goes down a rabbit-hole of confusion. I believe that I'm thinking of the next generation as well as myself when I advocate for keeping things stock wherever possible.

 

DE BELLA PARTS may be a good source for NOS. Pete has a good selection of parts.

 

Keeping a vehicle on the road, dependable, and affordable frequently outweighs keeping it factory original. I respect those who strive to keep a vehicle factory original but that is frequently unrealistic for many/most. I’d rather see a slightly modified vehicle still on the road or trail and being enjoyed than a classic vehicle rusting away somewhere becoming parts or scrap metal.

 

Just replaced the Bendix drive with a NOS part. The sucker was extended and had to do some head scratching to get the drive back to the depressed position.
Could not see well enough to find the release, had to feel for it. Got it though....

 

Just saw your post. I was just about to say I have an oem nos bendix that I’ll probably never use.
But it looks like you got it done.