96-04 Lower ball joint failure ?SOLUTION?

Only way to go is OEM for the lower ball joints . Someone on the site here had cut a few different ball joints to compare the construction and design. Just to add my .2cents , I've seen a few 1st gen tacomas and some later gen 4runners running around at 200k+ plus with original ball joints.Not a good idea but people do it. Heck mine are still good at 180xxx miles, boot is leaking that is about it, guess I am driving on borrowed time.

 

Always go with OEM when it comes to critical parts like this, you won't be sorry. Might cost a bit more than aftermarket but I assume you'd rather spend that than risk an accident. The ball joint design on these trucks is their only real weak link that needs to be monitored closely like the frames.

 

Actually, 555 is pretty good. The real sankei 555 thats Made in japan.(not rebranded Autozone junk) Sankei 555 makes a lot of oem parts for Japanese auto manufacturers. I would trust them over moog. But back to the lower ball joint issue. I had over 200k miles on my original oem ball joints. Wheeled the hell out of it too. Replaced them with oem again. Actually they were still good but just wanted to be safe. I highly recommend oem for suspension parts.

 

Yep I agree! Don't skimp on suspension parts.

 

Looking for a LBJ info link? Here is a recent one of many. Post #34
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-ball-joints.374853/page-2

 

in my opinion, NAPA is king with their NAPA Chassis line of steering and suspension products. i honestly believe these parts are better than OE quality. check out this video. it details the design differences.


here's another video by raybestos with more detail.

 

You could always SAS if you REALLY wanna fix the LBJ problem...

 

I was gonna say SAS as well...

 

All those videos mask the important fact that they do not apply across the board to all applications. The Moog, Rabestos and bla bla bla "premium" ball joints for 1st gen 6 lug Taco are all re-branded aftermarket Sankei/555 joints, period. There are only 3 types/grades/manufacturers of 1st gen 6 lug Taco LBJ's on the market, OEM/555, aftermarket 555 and Chinese super cheapo knock offs.

As far as a "solution" to a catastrophic failure other than the relatively brief number of defective factory joints, it's called maintenance. They do not "just come apart" until they are well past worn out.
When a tire is worn out you replace it or risk a potentially catastrophic failure, LBJ's are no different.

 

The bj isnt really the issue on these trucks its the bracket between the bj and control.arm that fails. Bjs go bad, thats part of maintaince. These brackets however have a tendancy to snap in half. I broke 3 including one at 70mph before I went LT (went lt because that was the easy fix). And i was not beating on truck at all either.

Check out he 5 lug section, lot of info about people looking for custom cnc'd brackets and such to fix issue. As fsr as Ive seen nobody has ever pulled trigger though.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/any-interest-in-custom-1st-gen-5-lug-ball-joint-brackets.139342/

Looks like Joel pulled.trigger and had some made. Id do this if your worried about failure (or even of your not cause i wasnt until it happened)

 

I have 2.5" lift (toytec coilovers) I replaced the lowers with Napa Chassis greasable lower ball joints. After 10K they still function and look brand new. They are not OEM but they work well IMO. It's on my 98 4x4. 32x11.50 tires and I am by no means easy on my pickup.

 

if you truly believe this, buy 1, cut it open, prove them wrong, and start a class action suit over false advertisement. the information in those videos are not false. and raybestos doesn't sell their professional line to everyone. it's almost entirely proprietary to NAPA.

why do you think you can't find any raybestos on rock auto? or their professional line in just about any parts store other than napa?

 

He did cut one open. Several in fact.

 

If its the one i that video where a bunch of balljoints were in the coca cola crate ive seen the beginning. And i can tell you he didn't open a raybestos/napa balljoint.

 

Let me ask, if price and availability were all the same between the NAPA and OEM Toyota, which would you go with on your truck?

If i was to go to NAPA and just ask for their LBJ for my Tacoma, do they carry different lines of NAPA branded parts, or would they just have a single Raybestos brand of LBJ?

 

Depends on the store. But for the most part, they all should be pushing their premium "NAPA Chassis Parts"/ Raybestos Professional chassis parts.

They do offer a value line that i believe is supposed to be actual moog reboxed. It is not branded as napa. Plus they have a supplier called Altrom that provides many oem and oes parts from the manufacuturers. Some reboxed and debranded, some actual. Theres a good chance youll get oem replacement parts from that supplier.

And yes, when my chassis parts go bad, i will be replacing them with napa chassis products.

 

Actually all my ball joint boots and sway bar link boots have cracked open, im just keeping a penny pincher mentality as im trying to save up for a house

 

Even if price wasn't an issue, still over OEM Toyota? That says a lot. So quality wise, Raybestos for Toyotas would be to Lemforder for Mercedes/BMW.

 

So you know your truck needs parts to keep it safe from potential failures but don't fix it?


I got 200k out of my first set before I decided to replace them and went with oem. I had no issues with mine but they were ready to be replaced which "solved" them I guess