Lower ball joints part deux: only one is bad...

Long story short: 2015 dblc, 50k, put in gen 3 struts, spacer, AAL in rear. Couldn't get an alignment because of too much lower ball joint movement. Crazy talk! I checked... lt front is indeed bad. Here's the question... just replace the left side? What say you?

 

I've replaced lower ball joints on Mercedes before and just the one that was bad. But they were easy to tell. With the car on a lift, all it took was an upward push on the tire to feel and see the play.
However, usually the other one was in the same ballpark lifespan area and not far behind.

I heard with Tacoma's, that checking requires a bit more; that the suspension must be jacked up into a compressed position and then the wheel wiggled, while the spring is no longer acting as a force to tense up the ball joint(s). Haven't tried it yet.

I imagine it's up to you and based on replacement difficulty and parts cost.
I'm not sure which product offerings exist for this application or what they cost. Normally I know ball joints to be somewhat cheap and affordable but I haven't checked for Tacoma's.
For me, the labor always looked more challenging. Because even on the aforementioned Mercedes, it still required an air hammer to knock the old one out of the spindle (suspension still attached to car),
and some fancy arm tool to screw/press the new one into the hole.

 

Do you plan on changing the whole control arm or press out the ball joint?

 

I'd do both, if you have the time. If not, one now then the other soon after.

 

I may sound dumb, but what is a cam bolt? I assume it's one of the bolts involved with the LCA, specifically an eccentric or concentric alignment bolt for toe adjustment or something. Which I hear can sieze in general on cars.

My way of making sure a bolt is free has involved numerous things, such as heating with a torch, spraying cold water, wacking with a hammer, and spraying with your choice of penetrating oil. Whether it be PB Blaster, AeroKroil, home-made mix, and so on.
I still wonder how effective AeroKroil is; I hear it's good.
One things for sure, it smells worse and more strong than any other penetrating oil I've used. Which is not a good thing for using in an enclosed tight space like a garage.

Would it be a good idea to lift the truck for an hour, not for a wrench session, but just a spray session?
To really go through the nuts and bolts of what will be worked on, and spray it beforehand with a penetrant.
This is what I did preparing to change an exhaust on a different car, when I had the time of it being my own personal car. (as opposed to shop mechanics rushed by a customer to fix a car in and out of the shop in 1 hour)
repeated opening of the hood to spray some penetrant, so that when the time finally came in a week or two to start the actual work, the bolts were more likely to come apart.

 

I might be wrong but I dont think you can buy a lower balljoint by itself, at least oem. I damaged one and had to buy complete lower control arms, went ahead and replaced both sides, and my cam bolts were seized on both sides so I had to cut them both out. Went with SPC cam bolts and so far so good.

 

I searched Olathe Toyota parts diagrams and don't see it separately, just the whole arm

but RockAuto lists them separately under 'Ball Joint' for $10-40 based on what kind, ranging from categories of "Economy" to "Daily Driver", "Premium", and "Heavy Duty"
Not sure which specific part number one is best.
Their affordability makes the installation sound like the challenging part, and not the part price itself.

Looks like they also sell a Cam Bolt Kit.

this was using search criteria: 2008 Tacoma Base, 4x4, 4.0 V6

 

Toyota does not support just the lower ball joint-you have to buy the LCA complete. I also have read that it is a bear to get those lower ball joints in and out-watched a few videos and read some threads that lead me to believe that I will just get the whole assembly (and bypass the swearing session...). I have been spraying the cam bolts periodically for week now with PB blaster-we'll see! I only ask because so many say they get 100k plus on theirs, and times are tight right now. I will do both, just in a couple of months (and my tdi gets MUCH better "diesel" mileage so the truck can sit.)

 

some car companies will only sell a $320 control arm even though their bushing supplier sells a kit to re-bush it for $50-80,
as well as rear main seals only as a whole casing for $200, rather than just the seal itself for $10

probably has to do with parts being made cheap and sold high (profit for the company), reducing technician labor time at a dealership,
and reducing potential for installation error by the technician, to install one whole large part instead of rebuilding individual components from it

IDK if other factors are involved, such as engineering a car to fail at 10 years old and providing only expensive solutions, to force customers to feel like they need to buy the new model