First gen lower ball joints

they are holding up great. Even though I do little to no offroad they are still in brand new condition.

 

The OEM ball joints are at a reasonable price.

 

Not really, and lower ball joints that are bad aren't bad for long before the separate. These joints support the weight of the vehicle with the ball stud trying to be pulled out of the socket. There is a delrin liner/bearing in the socket to isolate the steel ball from the steel housing. Once that liner wears due to contamination or age, the ball is pulled against the steel housing and we will have very quick wear from that point, but zero slop while the vehicle has weight on it. It won't change the alignment until it breaks.

 

I've cut open every available aftermarket (and OEM) ball joint for the tacos/4runners/1st gen tundra. The OE is the only one with a reasonable good design. The others are all garbage.

 

Looks like McGeorge is not a Participating Dealer. $303 shipped to Indy.

 

Not sure what you mean - they give you free shipping on orders $75.00 and up, with the cap on free shipping being $200.00 saved. If the shipping is more than $200.00, you pay the difference.

 

Get them from whatever toyota dealer (be it online or brick and mortar) that fits your price point and time frame. Some online toyota suppliers may have longer ship times, especially now due to weather. Point is, shop around for OEM (skip that aftermarket crap... well maybe this would be the exception).

2nd link (in red) in my signature line has all the part numbers.

Change em out. Don't wait. Motivation (courtesy of FB 1st gen group) as follows...

 

I don't know an easier way to say what I mean.

 

I’ve noticed the same thing. Not all online Toyota sites acknowledge the FREESHIP code. I’ve ran into that a few times

 

I think there is TWO McGeorge website and the freeship might only work on one of them I think I read that somewhere here in the past. I would try that and see if it makes a difference.

 

I saw Gettel Toyota in another thread - tried the code there: $273 shipped for the set.

 

For ball joints only (4334039436, 4333039556) -

McGeorge - subtotal $234.73

Toyota Colorado Springs - subtotal $235.19

Toyota Parts Deal - subtotal $239.73

Salinas Toyota - subtotal $244.94

 

Thanks for the leads, although with different p/n. I assume these are known "good deal" parts departments. I checked online with my closest dealer that wanted $208.09 per side. Subtotal of course is not enough info.

I'd need more than simply the ball joints, and my truck is a '99 so - For ball joints, bolts, castle nuts, cotter pins (

$216 43330-39815 Toyota Genuine Parts - Joint Assy, Lwr Ball (43330-39815)

43330-39815,

$201 43340-39585 Toyota Genuine Parts - Joint Assy, Lwr Ball (43340-39585)

43340-39585).

With receipts:

McGeorge (charges tax and shipping, but discounts "handling" ) -





Toyota Colorado Springs (charges shipping and handling) -


Toyota Parts Deal (???) -



Salinas Toyota accepts the coupon (no tax, no handling, no shipping) -



Gettel Toyota, accepts the coupon (no tax, no handling, no shipping) -




Considering that the last two are exactly the same price, it seems there is a standard discount price or a standard markup over cost that certain dealers use. Or it's just coincidence. I also found that not all dealers have an online portal for ordering parts yourself.

Anyway, wasn't that a fun little journey of discovery? Hopefully my 171k mile LBJs hold out until my order arrives!

 

I get it now. I thought maybe the discount code was not being applied. My apologies.

 

When was moog bought by Federal Mogul? Reason I ask is because I just put in some Moog LBJ's that I bought way back in 2016. They're 555 made in Japan. Now I'm worried if they're junk and should replace them with OEM.

 

MOOG has been owned by FM for a very long time. Now is DR1V, but basically the same otherwise.

The Sankai 555 (if they're real Sankai 555) do not use a delrin liner like the OEM ball joint. They are a metal ball stud in a metal housing and most certainly REQUIRE regular servicing, ideally with a high moly content grease. Same concept as MOOG, except MOOG uses a sintered "gusher" bearing instead of having the ball stud bear directly on the housing.

The OEM joints use a 2 piece (urethane bottom cap with a solid delrin bearing surface) liner and a highly polished ball so there isn't ever any metal on metal contact, which means no wear.

If you grease them on a regular basis, they'll be OK. If you just install them and forget about them like you can with the OEM parts, they start to wear pretty quick. I've seen galling on the bearing surface of MOOG and 555 balljoints after 15K miles with no grease after installation.

 

From what I remember, the grease zerk was not in a good location. I'll have to double check it.