Lower ball joint replacement

This set would likely get it done. I have the basic set that you would rent at Autozone. It didn't have the proper cup size for pressing. So I ended up buying a master cup set, to compliment my ball joint press set.

Tacoma 2nd/3rd gen lower ball joints are in there tight. Definitely doable if you have the correct cup sizes to press.

 

Yeah I bought this just to have on hand for if-when I need it.

I would never attempt to do lower ball joints with improvised pressing equipment, i.e. trying to find sockets etc. that match & using a bench vise and/or hammers etc.

 

Ive had way better experiences with factory ball joints than I have at large with off brands. I understand just needing to get a vehicle working, but mevotech etc is trash. Even moog is making some trash now. Its almost always ended up that spending the extra money up front was worth it. Buying the same part twice plus the time I take off work to do it ends up costing more and is certainly more frustrating.

 

I just did my upper and lower ball joints. Do-able, but my ball joint press took a beating. I would impact the screw as far as I could, heat the a arm a bit, then whack the screw with a big hammer. Do another 90 degree turn with a 3 foot breaker bar, more heat, and another whack. Eventually they popped out. These were original joints from 2012. I replaced the uppers with Mevotech. They are good joints but the boots are crap. Ended up buying urethane boots for them. Lower ball joints were replaced with O'Reilly parts. I don't off road so I should be good for a while.

 

I replaced the entire lower arm. Have a sawzall ready to cut the bolts if they are seized.

mine weren’t and the job was actually very easy to do in my garage. Lots of YouTube vids to give the how to.

 

Not really. Its just a press out/press in, but dealerships do not stock the ball joint only in North America. You can order them from Ebay, usually its someone in Australia selling them. So in North America they just replace the whole arm.

 

You can usually rent a press tool set from an auto parts store for free. My local parts store had the powerbuilt 648617 set, which is very nice.

 

Oh wow. So basically test your luck with what ball joint you can get, or get an oem one with a bunch of stuff that certainly woudnt hurt but you dont need? Thats pretty sucky.

 

That’s a lot of cupping and balls for one post

 

My original thought was " well im doing this all myself and it's a fraction of the cost so lets roll the dice" I was certainly smoking a bit faster the second time I punched out the ball joints. Especially since the aftermarket joints had a bigger diameter flange which prevented the receiving cup from staying situated and in turn me breaking a snap on tools cup. Ended up having to just send out the ball joints with a hammer directly to it's top. Lucky the aftermarket joints didn't bore out the arm and prevent me from replacing them again

Be careful with heating the arms, a little too much will compromise the metallurgy. I've had good luck with cranking the press until it starts to flex then hitting on the side of the control arm with a heavy hammer where the ball joint goes through. Usually with that the ball will drop on impact and the press will be under minimal tension. I usually do the same on installation to ease the load on the press and make sure it's fully seated.

 

Yes. When they begin to wear significantly, you will absolutely know. Take your road trip, you’re good.

 

That’s insane. I got these TQR off EBay and swapped them in 3hrs.

 

I replaced both my LCA and hardware myself using floor jack and jack stands. Had to fight a little to get them off, very rusty. Installing the new ones was pretty easy. I was disappointed to see that the Mevotech TTX that Joba used did not last as that is what I installed. I don’t do any off-roading so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I think total parts was a little under $300.

 

Mevotech makes OEM chevy front end parts and honestly they're very good if you grease them occasionally. I was quite disappointed in seeing them come apart so soon. I feel like if the boots were mechanically fastened to the shell instead of being glued on it would of been fine.

 

So Far my TTXs are holding up. Installed November 2022. My boots had a wire ring holding them on, but maybe that was only on the top? https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...al-crisis-thread.655948/page-12#post-28065257

 

Looks like you had a great time on your trip, I've gotta explore more. Interesting though that you have a wire on yours, I don't think you'll have issues for a while

 

Mystery Chinese A Arm from e bay..what could possibly go wrong?

 

I'll never understand why people who buy Toyotas for their long term reliability and high resale value swap worn out oem parts with the cheapest crap they can find.

Makes 0 sense.

 

My truck has 260k miles on it and I’m not going to sell it. Start doing the math.

 

Sorry bro....trash parts are trash parts.
If you're fine with it, that's cool.