Ball joint failure after two months

Recently bought a 2003 crew cab 4wd and had the ball joints and front end aligned after doing a steering rack as well as some bilstein 5100s. I’m running 285/75r/16 with a 2inch spacer. Had the ball joints replaced end of October and had the driver side fail going about 35mph and completely caved in my fender. I read that this is a common failure on these trucks but should they last longer than 2 months?

 

Sorry to hear this, what brand of ball joints, and what bolts were used, and what type of failure? Did the bolts break? Or did the bj separate? Pics please.

 

In my opinion that shouldn't happen if they were replaced correctly. Do you know if they were OEM?

 

Was the castle nut properly torque to spec and cotter key in place at the lca?

Need pics plz

 

That reminds me to keep those spare parts.

 

At this point, issue could be anything from possible eBay LBJ to improper torque or reusing the elongated bolt. Or broken spindle at the UBJ causing failure.

 

Pictures? What part of the ball joints failed, snapped ball, sheared bolts, what? Whoever you "had" do this job should be held accountable, no that is not typical. You should be able to trust new OEM ball joints for 30-70K. I'm betting on aftermarket parts.

 

smells like a Hack had their wrench on yer taco and not necessarily a part failure but it definitely Could Be Both...

 

Until the questions posted above are answered, it's all speculation as to why those failed.

 

I see 2" spacers and 5100s and wonder just how much lift you're running.

 

Maybe Santa will bring you some tools, floor jack, OEM ball joints and FSM.

 

How do I upload photos. I’m new to this forum.

 

At bottom of post reply box- upload a file

 

I’m only running a 2” level

 

Damn! Glad you didn't total your Taco and yourself. Unless I am mistaken, the actual ball-stud did not just pull out but broke on both the LBJ and UBJ. The Zerk grease fitting on the LBJ tells us that it is not OEM and the 10.9 marked LBJ bolts don't match the LBJ bolts I have seen used with 555 JAPAN LBJs. Do you have any idea what brand LBJ was used or where it was purchased?

 

+2" is not "level", it's +2".

I see a zerk fitting- so not OEM. Also.. only 2 moths? they look way older than that.

Either way- @ 2 months for any new part (OEM or otherwise) is likely an installation error.

 

I have no idea where they are from. Both lbj and ubj on both sides were replaced two months ago.

 

Over the past 25+ years, I have used-abused/worn-out/replaced both OEM and 555 JAPAN LBJs on my '97 3.4L Taco Xcab 4X4. After reading about more and more LBJ failures like yours, there is just no way that I would use or recommend any other LBJ other than OEM Toyota. Because of Toyota's seriously flawed LBJ design (below), LBJs are an extremely critical component on the 1st Gen Taco. In addition to fixing the broken/failed BJs and any associated damage, I would also change both BJs on the other side of your Taco before putting it back into service. Either do it yourself or find a reputable mechanic to do it. Good luck and here's to hoping you have a better Christmas!

Below is a very good graphic explanation of the flawed LBJ design on the 1st Gen Taco/3rd Gen 4Runner. (not my pic)

 

Glad you're OK as well as other drivers around.
Good thing you were going slow when failure happened and good luck with the pursuit of responsibility.
Ball joints should last thousands of miles.

 

Cheap ball joint and probably over torqued plus more strain due to the lift and angles involved in my layman opinion. Ive replaced a fair amount of suspension parts in my life and will pay the money for oem/better parts. Its well worth it. All that mevotech and etc parts are complete trash.