Lower ball joints leaking - need advice

Hi,

My truck's lower ball joints are leaking. The Toyota technician recommended replacing the LCA. What?

Looking at them myself, I think it's not too bad. I wiped the grease off and I don't see any crack.

I need your opinion and advice:

>Do they look bad that the LCA need replacing?
>Can I remedy them by greasing? How? I don't see grease fittings?
>Can I replace the ball joints only or maybe just the boots? I can't find part Toyota part numbers for either ball joint or boot.
>How will I know that the ball joints are not good now?

Passenger side


Driver side

 

Chris,

Can you give me a link for the write up to do this? It's not in the FSM.

I wiped off the grease at one side last week. So far, I am not seeing leak. I think it leaks after every wheeling. Is there a way to replace the lost grease (without removing the boot)?

 

Thanks Chris. I'll go to the dealer tomorrow to find out if Toyota extra care will cover the LCA under warranty. If not, I'll start looking into replacing the ball joints.

Btw, is it safe to drive in this condition? It's a 5-year old truck.

And oh, do you know if can replace just the boots?

 

Is it common after lifting the truck or it's just mine (being '05 model bought on 2004)? I can't seem to find a lot of thread on this.

 

Extra care will cover them. I will have new LCA then!

 

Finally, I got the truck back. Service advisor said extra care covered it because he did not mention that it's lifted Anyway, I don't mind it. At least, parts ($706) and labor ($166) were free. I just paid a deductible.

I have a question though. My front was 38" before, but now it's 39". What caused the increase in lift? Will it settle later? How long should I be driving it before I crank the coil-over down?

Thanks/

 

I thought so. Thanks Chris.

But, the 39" gives a 3.75" of lift. My caster is 2.8 at one side. I have rubbing at full turn and it's wandering. I might do it in 3 days if I can't stand it.

 

What are the symptoms of a lower ball joint going out? If there was a noise, would it be a rattle of sorts? I've taken some pretty rough trails with my 08 prerunner and had a number of hard impacts from jumping. I don't have any rattles driving on the street but when I go over a speed bump or if I'm hitting up a trail without reducing my tire pressure, the front suspension rattles a bit or perhaps knocks. What would you attribute that too?

 

Reviving this thread. I have a 2011 4x4 with the same problem as the pictures shown above. I only have 20k miles on it, lifted 3" and running 285s. I hadn't noticed any leak a few days ago, had tires balanced at discount today and took a look underneath and have leak on both sides. I do some light off roading on sand, sometimes a little bumpy. I'd like to take it in to dealership but don't want to get shot down due to lift. Surprised to see no other threads on this problem. What do you guys think?

 

Workman would attribute those noises to jumping a factory "prerunner?"

 

Not stock. I'm mid travel. Not that it matters much since jumping is bad news regardless.

Turned out to be my LCA bushings. They became loose. Problem is now resolved thank god.

 

Leaking boot is not indicative of failing ball joint.

 

Cleaned the leakage and will monitor.