It happened to me and it can happen to you.... Another NOT oem part failure with pictures

Blue boot I'm going with Moog the Dorman of suspension parts

 

@Xbeaus

My issue is nowhere as serious as yours, but I was hit by a recidivist drunk driver back in October 2015; 70-year old man in a 2002 Mercedes E320 who was almost double the legal limit. He floored it through a stop sign, smashed my left rear fender, almost ripped my rear bumper off, and totaled his car.

I later found out he killed someone while driving drunk in the late 1980s.

On top of that, even though the scumbag got a DUI, he lied to his insurance company and said I ran a stop sign and they believed him. My insurance company (USAA) was forced to pick up the tab. My truck was five years old at the time of the accident, and USAA's policy is to use non-OEM parts on vehicles older than two years to save money. As a result, I have a non-OEM bumper and OEM step plates which don't fit together and have to re-secured with with epoxy every year or so.

 

See my thread,

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/napa-ball-joints-did-i-get-screwed.448617/

one Napa joint looked oem'ish, the other like Moog. Since Napa sells multiple price point of the same thing, I thought something (a return, shady part swap etc) caused my two premium ball joints to be dissimilar. Maybe I got one from old stock and one from their nee supplier. Anyhow that blue one started making a lot of squeaking noise so replaced it with OEM.

Damn good thing I did, the blue one has A LOT of play, it was about to sh$t the bed. It only had a few tens of thousands of miles on it.

I also bought the few dollars more steering links, they are made in Japan 555, IMO Napa's premium line is usually really good stuff and so far with the links and now according to this forum the CV axles, still pretty good, but I will only get LB Joints from Toyota.

 

damn, sucks. warranty the balljoints and keep em for spares. Anything can happen, especially if you off road.

 

If he can i'd just get the money back for them. There's no point in having new junk just sitting on a shelf

 

@Uncle Leo FYI

 

Curious about something. Why do most of the failures (the one I read about anyway) appear to only happen at slow speeds? I can understand if pulling out of the driveway or doing a sharp turn due to the ball joint being flexed. Like most members on here always say, "damn, it's a good thing that didn't happen going down the highway".

 

I bought the Napa Chassis brand. Lifetime warranty. Supposed to be the best they have. I put the ball joints back on there in 2015. Not knowing too much about this crucial point on the 1st gen until after the fact. After lurking more I found out ... hmmmm.... My napa joints seem to be doing well and then blammo. I hit a little chuckhole and it was enough to jossle it out of there. I will just be getting my money back. I am not putting any more aftermarket ball-joints on. Ever again. I have kids man! Don't want to have that happen while they are in there.

 

I've seen it talked of before and it's a good question. If I remember right it was more along "That's where the bigger bumps are".

 

That would make sense

 

Cause they'll be too dead to post here if it happened on the highway

 

I like those adjustable Bilsteins, how much did they cost?
Easy install?
Did they come with springs or reuse stock?

 

I wish they still made these https://www.ebay.com/itm/2020716409...DkxI-LzuH0M4iDpbMMsIJWyp9lBwpBkZ_0eAA1JUsapFk

 

I wonder if over torqueing has anything to do with this

 

It looks like he had trouble selling them.

 

His father had a machine shop but he passes away. His fathers wife sold the equipment so he was unable to make them anymore.

 

Is all the "road grim" by chance metal dust from the ball joint eating away at itself.

 

I used to buy from conicelli when I lived in FL for the same reason. Then I moved to Philly. Center city Toyota will match conicelli prices for me now! Just ask if they’ll price match at your dealer.

 

What sucks is that you've gotta pay that stupid 8% "city tax"...

 

Philly has an 8% on top of a state tax of what?

That can get ridiculous.