Newer??? Lower ball joint failure

I have not. I have noticed increased grease seepage over time. I should check for play.

 

Oh yes! The alternative is rather grim as the unfortunate OP found out (below). But to be perfectly clear, when I took my original OEM LBJs off after 16 years of severe offroad abuse, they still passed the rotational torque spec in the FSM and rotated smoothly. The OEM LBJs had not failed but were replaced proactively while still testing to be serviceable. At 8 years, the JAPAN 555 LBJs did not rotate smoothly at all and has several pin holes in the boots which is all very unacceptable: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/greasable-97-tacoma-4wd-ball-joints-268729/. OEM LBJs are the standard by which all other LBJs are judged, and rightfully so IMO. Just be sure to use the black bolts torqued to 37 ft./lbs. as per the FSM.




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No..haven't checked for play since then...no reason to..brand new

 

I have to agree with your logic. At 1 year, that box should have been well checked even with JAPAN 555 LBJs. OP, something is not right here.

 

If they are indeed the original ones/20 years old, I wouldn't bother checking for play...just replace those things

 

agreed! I was just interested how much play was in 20 year old OEM ball joints

 

That would definitely be the smart move. LBJs, even OEMs, are consumables and should be treated as such.

 

Haha, they are indeed original (2002) and have approx 216k miles on them....lifted the majority of that time/miles. I've had the new OEM LBJ's and bolts sitting in the garage for a year, if not longer, just gotta do it.

 

Always bought Moog from oreillys and just warranty them out every year to be safe. Grease the whole truck every oil change never had a problem. Always keep a spare set as a trail repair though.

 

I put Moogs in 100K ago. Hope they are ok after this

 

OEM ONLY for LBJ. Yes I'm yelling, to get my point across. Don't gamble your life to save $50. Don't do the job 5 times over with an inferior part to save $50. Do the job 1 time, the right way, with OEM LBJ.

To the OP your LBJ failed because of 2 things, rust and aftermarket LBJ. You failed to research this weak link on the 1st gen Tacoma. You found out the hard way.

 

The Toyota garage came and picked it up. They're covering everthing. McPherson LBJ's were installed last summer. The service manager said Toyota doesn't make their own ball joints. They either install McPhersons or some other brand he said...don't recall the name. More to come....

 

Uhh...yeah that's a load of BS. Show him the part numbers, these are genuine Toyota parts, in stock everywhere online.

43340-39435

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota....ension-ball-joint-left-front-lower-4334039436

43330-39555

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota....nsion-ball-joint-right-front-lower-4333039556

 

By local Toyota Garage do you mean a Toyota dealer Service Department?

just a local Garage that you the OP uses to work on Your Tacoma??

This could get real interesting depending on this answer.

 

Please keep the thread updated, because this is getting really interesting.

 

Yes...Toyota Dealer Service Dept.

 

Or you could just get OEM parts and replace them every 50k

 

This is more than a year's worth of corrosion even in northern states:

 

OP,
Glad you are getting it done this quickly. 10 or so years back when I looked into who actually manufactures the LBJs for Toyota, I was told that Sankei JAPAN was the original manufacturer of the LBJs for the 1st Gen Taco. But Sankei manufactured the non-greaseable OEM Toyota LBJs to a much higher standard than the greaseable Sankei 555 JAPAN aftermarket LBJs I tried out. Someone actually cut both brands of LBJs open to expose the internal surfaces. As I remember, the OEM Toyota LBJ internal ball was highly polished whereas the Sankei 555 JAPAN internal ball was very rough in comparison. HTH explain what we are talking about here.

 

Why is your Toyota dealer service dept. using low-end non-Toyota aftermarket parts?

Had to search around for Macpherson Ride, but they do exist: https://www.macphersonride.com/ball-joints