Lbj bolts again

Has there been any consensus if the protectors even do anything?

 

Some say they're mud collectors, some don't say anything at all
IMO, toyota put them on there in 01 for a reason. What that reason is anyones guess.

2005+ they revamped it and no 'dust protector' with the redesign so

 

Yes. Finding the proper torque value for the black bolts was not straight forward. The FSMs from several different years mostly indicated a single value of 59ft./lbs. for the LBJ bolts. But some FSMs such as the 2001 FSM below did list (2) separate torque values depending on whether you have the LBJ Protector boots (which required the longer black bolts) or not. Leon's data on the black bolts put them square in the YIELD area when torqued to 59 ft./lbs. (below). So I removed the original black bolts I had over torqued to 59ft./lbs. and replaced them with new black bolts torqued to 37 ft./lbs. which appears to be the proper value. I checked the blind bolts holes on both my original knuckles and I had room for the black bolts whether I used the LBJ Protectors or not.

In Leon's outstanding TTF (Test To Failure) graph, 59 ft./lbs. of torque put the 90119-10933 black bolts squarely in the YIELD range which I am not at all comfortable with:




2001 FSM:


2003 FSM:

 

Good deal on snugging up and being able to torque them to 37 without the dust protector. I have a couple of spare knuckles, LBJs and black w/washer bolts. Going to check it out as well.

Yep, that attachment you shared is from the older 2003 internet shared version - before it was revised. It was eventually corrected.

 

Nessal,
I offroad in deep mud/high water 150+ days a year. Small sticks/branches have punched small pin holes in my LBJ boots on multiple occasions. The pin holes were repaired with Ultra Black. The LBJ Protectors do collect mud but my '97 Taco usually has 100s of lbs. of mud on it anyway. The LBJ Protectors do offer me an added level of protection against small punctures in the LBJ boots from trail debris. But for many applications, the LBJ Protectors may not bring any real value to the table.