Anyone know what nut this is??

found this out, think it came out when i got my alignment done

 

That is one of the four nuts that hold your lower ball joint to the spindle. Replace it quickly. I believe it is a metric thread. Remove the bolt from the opposite side for measurement purposes and head over to the local hardware store(in a different vehicle) and get a matching bolt to replace. Grade 8, equivilent, or higher will do just fine. I belive torque specs are around 65ftlbs.

 

this.....
that is very close to being a disaster for you...dont drive it

 

are all four nuts the same you know?

 

Wow.

makes me cringe.

 

ya kinda scared me when i saw it

 

i would have their ass!

 

I would quit driving it until you get a replacement, seriously.

 

make sure you ask for a BOLT not a NUT.

 

No! They are all not the same bolts. The two protruding on the inner part of the bracket are a different length than the two not protruding on the outer part. Go to the other side of the vehicle and pull the bolt that is the mirror image of the one missing from the other side and use that as your reference for a new bolt. After you get a new bolt, I would check the torque on the rest of the bolts to be sure that they are tight. I doubt the alignment shop touched those bolts, because they have nothing to do with your alignment.

 

I dont know about you (your info says you have a second gen) but on my 97 all four of the bolts are the same.

Torque spec is 59 ft/lbs per FSM

also...IIRC when I had to take them out it looked like they had green thread locker on them from the factory. I would go ahead and use some red lock tight on them for good measure.

 

I had a 2000 Tundra that they were a different length. They may be the same length, but I wouldn't chance it.

 

The alignment guy shouldn't have been anywhere near that bolt. I doubt very much that the alignment has anything to do with that bolt coming out. But they definitely should have seen it and said something to you.

 

got the nut and fixed it

 

Sweet sweet beer time it is

 

fixed


and

 

Shit. Good catch. MT Girl had one of this hanging on by a thread (literally) after a long weekend, barely caught it in time.

Everyone should inspect theirs just to be sure. Make a note to do it whenever you change the oil or after any offroading.

Have you checked your VIN on toyotaownersonline.com to see if your truck was affected by the LBJ recall? (or call a Toyota dealer) This isn't necessarily related, but it reminds me of the horror stories of those coming apart at speed. Everyone with an 01-04 should check this.

 

Mine are all the same length too. The Moog balljoints I got came with 4 new bolts, all the same length.

 

thats what I thought

 

^^ Juan Hung Lo...mine too '01