Part Identification - Leaky Lower Ball Joint?

My newly acquired Tacoma has a growing list of issues. I've spotted some tar-like goop on the inside of the front wheel at what I think (after looking at the '03 service manual) is the lower ball joint. Is this the lower ball joint? What are the potential consequences of this residue?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Photo is of passenger side front wheel, taken from front of vehicle.

 

yea that's your LBJ; the oozing you're seeing is rather common and not a huge concern IMO. Mine has looked like that for 2years+

LBJ failure can be a very serious problem though so keep an eye on it and check the torque on the 4 bolts holding it to the spindle; they have a tendency to work their way loose.

lots of info on LBJs here, use the search function in the upper right tool bar.

Welcome to TW!

 

Anybody else notice the one LBJ bolt looks like it has a washer on it ?

 

The ball joint works when there's grease in the joint. When the grease leaks out, the joint will wear out quickly and eventually fail:



The wear is progressive, and you can monitor the condition by checking the joint for play every few months:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqw85L_sMgE

Interesting you have a shield around the ball joint. Be careful with the prying.

 

the shield is rubber. garbage. i reinstalled mine for fucks knows why

 

someone decided to use there own bolt. If i were the OP i would go buy me some Moogs and not have to worry about the LBJ for a few years

 

I think it's just the boot shield haha

 

^Yea, the shield mounts using two of the four bolts:



New Toyota ball joint is about $100 online, for example (note this is the RH part, as shown in your photo):
http://www.villagetoyotaparts.com/p...-LOWER-BALL--FRONT-RH/2068380/4333039556.html

 

Wow. Thanks for all of the awesome responses! Now that I know that I'm actually looking at the LBJ I'll search the forum for more info. I"ll get under her after Turkey Day and check on the play.

 

I would just go ahead and replace it. I recently did mine and it wasn't that bad. When you do the lowers go ahead and do the uppers and the tie rods at the same time, that way it is all new. The truck will ride and handle like new and that way you only have to get it aligned once. I put all MOOG parts on because I like the fact you can grease them, I ordered everything from Rockauto except the poly bushings I put in, those I got straight from Energy Suspension. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

 

^^^ Truthiness bomb wrapped in awesome sauce. OP, you just bought the rig, and buttoning up the front end properly will make you a lot more secure and confident while you spend time tracking down all the other little things.

 

Do the rack bushings too - while you have it all apart, might as well. At 270k my rack bushings were bad enough that a shop wouldn't align it. $20 in Energy bushings later, it was fixed.

 

Don't buy Moog LBJ's.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/266989-ball-joints.html

 

If I remember correctly I went oem on my Gen 1 every time. Good quality but pricey.

 

Just read the entire thread that Johnnie linked to and I think I"ll be going with OEM's. Even if there is a lifetime warranty on the non-OEM parts, the risk of having to do this again in 10k miles (even if the replacement parts are free) doesn't sound good.

jvallin - I like the idea of getting all of that done at one time, but that is pushing beyond my skill set and time limitations I think. I need to be able to get this done in a couple of hours and since it is my first time trying to get something like this done it will probably take me way longer than it should.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and assistance.

 

i replaced one of my lower ball joints because i didn't want this to happen. i stuck with a toyota dealership lower ball joint. figured it lasted me 160k miles. I've heard bad things about the moots. there are some really good videos on youtube of tacoma specific ball joint replacement. i was going to do it myself but my mechanic buddy only charged me like 40 bucks.

 

Install LBJs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaQCb894F_M

 

OMG! Man i think i would have shit a brick if that happened to me!!! Did this happen to your truck??? (Referring to the pics of the carnage)

 

I finally got under the truck this past weekend and tested the play in the LBJ's per the video above and everything was nice and tight! Thanks for sharing all of the how-to videos and links to replacement parts. Hopefully I've got some time before I need to replace my LBJ's.

 

I've been running MOOG upper ball joints for a year now with no issues. Don't understand why so many people so they're bad quality.