LCA Ball Joint Options

So my stock ball joint on my stock LCA has a small tear - I see grease. What is the best option, get an aftermarket ball joint? OEM ball joint is not sold separately - it comes w/ the entire LCA for a small fee of almost $400

What have you used on your 3rd gens? All I can find comes w/ grease fittings and it may come in contact w/ the CV...maybe?

 

Go OEM. I tried mevotech TTX, used bougee grease and all yet the boots separated in under 3 months. 555 Senkei I am sure are the OEM joints. My local Toyota dealer stocked then for out of warranty repairs. They ran me around 160$ for the pair.

If you disregard the oem recommendation then I used angled grease fittings to allow access and prevent contact with the cv axle.

in Canada I was quoted 1200$ roughly for a pair of OEM arms

 

I got a pair of hilux balljoints on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/154012666304

 

And fits our 3rd gens just fine?

 

555 senkei...searching, why is it so hard? I really don't want to replace a perfectly good LCA.

 

Ya I don't know why Toyota doesn't just sell the ball. If it helps I got mine from Noral/Fort McMurray Toyota, they may ship them to you for a reasonable-ish price from Canada... atleast in comparison to a whole arm. If you plan to keep the truck for a long time, it may be nice to buy two sets at once just so that shipping is a little more worth while. Otherwise they told me the local Napa also carried them so hopefully your local Napa does too.

 

Yessir, installed myself with no issues and I've driven about 800 miles since doing it no issues as well.

 

Keep in mind you’re gonna have to buy or rent a balljoint press tool

 

If you're doing it yourself, this video was super helpful:
https://youtu.be/3OFH6Ja2jtQ?si=1HrYJ-_4l29snKEC
Rental kit #46 from advance auto has the pieces needed to press it in and out

 

Yup, I have a ball-joint tool

 

Good vid! Is that "The Mellow Mechanic"?

 

My local Napa doesn't sell it either. Must be a US-based policy to avoid lawsuits if the ball joint was not properly installed.

 

Is it easy to improperly install them? Mine may need to be replaced soon.... I'll probably give it a go with my buddy, but I've never done them before.

 

It is an easy install but folks get sued for the most common sense things nowadays.

 

And you bought it from the same vendor in the link you supplied?

 

I mean technically it's the same thing up here. The 555 ball joints they only use outside of warranty repairs. Under Toyota warranty the vehicle has to be repaired with Toyota supplied/OEM parts and since Toyota the manufacturer doesn't technically sell the ball joint alone the whole arm is what they have to replace.

My local dealer choosing to supply and sell 555 ball joints is an independent choice on there part. It'd be like selling tires. Toyota doesn't make their own tires so who the dealer decides to use as a supplier for their tires is up to them and has no relation to Toyota unless it's the set that the vehicle rolled off the assembly line with. They can use dorman or scrapyard parts even for repairs if they wanted if it's not covered by warranty because unless Toyota the manufacturer is paying for the repair( via warranty) the manufacture can't tell you or the dealer what parts to use. Outside of warranty it's basically like going to an independent shop. Of course they'll want to sell you the OEM part because they probably make more profit plus they know what they're getting vs. An aftermarket part that could fail soon and cause them to eat the cost of labour to warranty their repair. Alot of dealers wouldn't use aftermarket parts because of that risk but, if they decide to do that as an economical option for the customer that is purely their independent choice.

 

Yes that's the same seller I placed my order with.