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Ball Joints

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Tuhlrig88, Mar 6, 2013.

  1. Jul 21, 2014 at 10:54 PM
    #141
    Digiratus

    Digiratus Adventurer

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    I recently changed inner and out TREs and lower balljoints. I chose to use OEM for the LBJs and went with the 555 brand of TREs. I got the TREs from LowRange Offroad for ~$30 each IIRC

    http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/1995-2004-toyota-tacoma-inner-tie-rod-end-left-or-right.html

    http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/1995-5-2004-toyota-tacoma-outer-tie-rod-ends-made-in-japan.html
     
    cruiserguy likes this.
  2. Jul 22, 2014 at 6:21 AM
    #142
    r45d

    r45d Well-Known Member

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    Honestly I didn't even look for outer tie rod pricing after I saw the difference between moog and oem for inners; thanks for the heads up.
     
  3. Mar 14, 2016 at 2:37 PM
    #143
    quetzal

    quetzal Well-Known Member

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  4. Apr 16, 2017 at 9:52 PM
    #144
    zodc

    zodc Well-Known Member

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    Saw this old thread. I have a 2002 Tacoma Pre Runner I picked up a few months ago. Figured why not and checked online at Toyota Owners with my VIN and it indicated my truck was part of the recall. I took it to my local Toyota Dealer and they changed the LBJ under the recall. At 170k it was probably time for a change anyway. Thank you. Would have never known...
     
    Dalandser likes this.
  5. Feb 8, 2018 at 12:23 PM
    #145
    Ocstormtrooper

    Ocstormtrooper Active Member

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    This info is GOLD for any 1st gen owner!
    BUMP:hattip:
     
  6. Feb 8, 2018 at 2:07 PM
    #146
    04Burk

    04Burk Well-Known Member

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    Im in the same boat. Ran my 04 at the dealer and they said no recalls for my truck. This was 2 years ago, so maybe time to go back and see if anythings changed.

    AVOID AUTOZONE UBJ at all costs!!! If you're pressed for cash, sure. Replaced mine a few years ago after about 170k miles on original. Had one of them fail while in the woods and had to call a tow truck to the woods. Not fun
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  7. Feb 11, 2018 at 6:17 AM
    #147
    vettehigh

    vettehigh Tacoma Tank

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    Just received my L/R OEM lower ball joints yesterday and believe it or not, they came with bolt flanges. Ordered 8 bolt flanges that I don't need now
     
    04Burk likes this.
  8. Feb 17, 2018 at 4:34 AM
    #148
    vettehigh

    vettehigh Tacoma Tank

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    Installed my OEM LBJ's last night and they looked to be original (206k). No tears in the boots though, but the play in the joint was very easy to move on the old LBJ's
     
  9. Feb 17, 2018 at 10:43 AM
    #149
    Digiratus

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    I can't tell which model year your truck is, but I'm pretty sure it depends on the Toyota part number for the ball joints as to whether they come with bolts or not. I think the '01-'04 LBJs do not come with bolts so you have to order them separate if you want new ones. The ones for my '02 did not come with bolts.
     
  10. Feb 17, 2018 at 11:59 AM
    #150
    vettehigh

    vettehigh Tacoma Tank

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  11. May 17, 2018 at 6:33 AM
    #151
    Tacolex

    Tacolex Member

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    Well, I just joined the ranks of ball joint failure victims. My left LBJ failed recently...fortunately at low speed. But UNfortunately, my vehicle is slightly outside of the VIN range for the recall (see PDF of recall in post #42 of this thread) (My VIN is 5TE WN72N 04Z371680 and the recall ends at 5TE WN72N 04Z357097).

    The failure occurred close to the Toyota dealership, so I had the vehicle towed there for the repairs, which cost over $3K! There are 175,000 miles on the vehicle, and the original ball joints were still installed. According to Dirty Pool (see post #41, paragraph 5), a ball joint will be far out of spec before it separates. Inspection of the ball joints is part of the service at every recommended service interval. The dealer who performed this service is the same dealer where I have had all of my periodic maintenance performed at regular intervals. Also, at 165,000 miles (10,000 miles before the failure), I had this dealer perform a front end alignment as part of the service, so they were working right there at the ball joints.

    I have a couple of questions about this:
    -should the dealer have detected the ball joint being out of spec?
    -even though I am slightly outside of the recall VIN range, is there a chance that my ball joints could’ve been defective originally, and should have been replaced by Toyota?

    Thanks for your time… Sorry my post is so long-winded!
     
  12. May 17, 2018 at 7:30 AM
    #152
    49erfan

    49erfan Well-Known Member

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    my 04 didnt have recall for lbj's
     
    Tacolex likes this.
  13. May 17, 2018 at 11:10 AM
    #153
    Digiratus

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    Lower ball joints on 1st gens are a wear item and should fall into the normal maintenance routine. Waiting for failure, however it is defined, is an expensive mistake to make. Would you do the same with your tires?

    If you're a v6, install new ball joints when you replace your timing belt and water pump.
     
  14. May 17, 2018 at 11:18 AM
    #154
    Greensystemsgo

    Greensystemsgo 1 owner with clean car fox.

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    Dirty Nickers
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    I would call up toyota, they would probably wanna see your truck. Similar to that million mile tundra this is not the norm.

    Here in arizona, boots wont even last a few years just sitting.
     
  15. May 18, 2018 at 4:41 AM
    #155
    Tacolex

    Tacolex Member

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    Thanks for the replies. Yes, now I definitely know that this is a normal maintenance item. I have had all of the periodic maintenance performed at the Toyota dealership, pretty much following the recommended maintenance schedule. Since ball joint inspection is part of every maintenance interval, I assumed that they would let me know if there was a need to replace them... especially since a front end alignment was part of a previous service 10k miles ago (you know what happens when you assume!).
    Thank you
     
    Running Board Man likes this.
  16. May 20, 2018 at 3:18 PM
    #156
    Suggs12

    Suggs12 Well-Known Member

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    I got really lucky this evening. As I was changing my oil, I decided to check my Lower Ball Joints out that I changed roughly a year ago. The driver side was holding up fine but as I looked at the passenger side I noticed that one of the bolts was missing and the other 3 was rather loose. Now I am going to go back and replace all the bolts and make sure to put lots of loctite on them. Can anyone tell me the proper Torque rate for LBJ's? Could of easily lost all the bolts within the next few weeks if I hadn't checked this.

    Note To All: Check your Ball Joints!!
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2018
    Running Board Man and Tacolex like this.
  17. May 20, 2018 at 6:16 PM
    #157
    SouthernYoder

    SouthernYoder If you skarred, say you skarred.

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    Glad to hear you caught that before something bad happened. I’m so paranoid I look to make sure my bolts are there every weekend. Lol. Mine only have like 8k roughly on them and I’ve only lightly wheeled it twice since then but damn it keeps me on my toes. Lol
     
  18. May 20, 2018 at 6:27 PM
    #158
    Suggs12

    Suggs12 Well-Known Member

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    Makes me nervous too, when I replaced them last summer I didn't use OEM so I'm paranoid as well lol. Will probably do OEM's here soon.
     
  19. May 20, 2018 at 6:45 PM
    #159
    01GreenTacoma

    01GreenTacoma Well-Known Member

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    59 ft/lbs and a small amount of blue loctite will do it fine.
     
    Digiratus likes this.
  20. May 21, 2018 at 4:52 AM
    #160
    Suggs12

    Suggs12 Well-Known Member

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    Any clue what size bolts it takes?
     

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