Lower ball joint failure

How do you like the deavers? Have you ever run dakars? I'm trying to decide which springs to go with. I heard dakars are good but tend to sound like dogshit with the squeaking. Deavers have any common problems?

 

They were replaced from the recall when the truck had 50k miles on it according to service records.

33 tires and yea it adds stress but didn’t think to the point of getting only 15k out of them.... just ordered some new ones through camelback so I guess I’ll take 30 min to throw them in again

I run the deaver j59 pack also and like them. Pretty good all around back except for the uptravel but you can’t expect great numbers on a stock location soa pack

 

I like mine a lot. Every leaf has a slider, so they make less noise than the Dakars for sure. They are only designed for 1.5" of lift, and they don't hold a lot of extra weight. I'd only run 400ish lbs max if you can. Otherwise go with a beefier spring like the Dakars.

No common problems that I know of with Deaver on a weekend warrior, daily driver type rig. If you get a shit ton of weight on the truck, and start beating it really hard on long trips, they can fatigue. National and Alcan make some very nice springs as well, but I don't know what their Toyota offerings are.

My buddy has Dakars on his 3rd gen, and they do sound like ass. He drilled holes and installed delrin sliders on his, but he said drilling through the spring steel destroyed like 5 industrial grade carbide bits.

 

Need to replace my lbj’s what’s my 2nd option where to buy them beside the Steelership . Amazon , eBay rockauto ?

Thanks TW

 

Order them from Camelback Toyota - direct message @gunny1005 - parts director and a fantastic resource not too mention a cool dude!

When it comes to LBJs, accept no substitute - OE only - IMO only of course. Everyone has an opinion, do your research and then decide.

 

I’ve always used rockauto

 

Yea i deal with gunny just trying on a 2nd choice for lbj’s

 

what kind of lift kit is on that truck?

 

Hey guys I need help I'm hearing kocnking noise from the driver side. Whenever I go over bumps Idk what it can be. I'm new to this problem. Would like for some advice on what to do or how to fix this. I made sure everything was tighten. 2008 toyota tacoma

 

You prolly need to start a new thread in the second gen section hermano

 

That Is a nice setup on the rear. Any issues with it at all? I am running Kings and Total Chaos uppers up font and looking to upgrade the rear now.

 

No issues other than stuffing 2.5's back there is asking for rubbing. The Solo kit is nice, but i ended up switching to the @ARCHIVE rear setup and liked it better. Way overkill from a beefiness standpoint, but a much easier kit to install. Almost self aligning, with different options built in for different length shocks etc. The Solo kit is definitely a DIY/builders kit. Lots of things left to guesswork and measurements are up to you. No instructions provided.

 

Another one on my way to work. Bump city

 

Welp. This sucked in the middle of the black rock playa. 20 mph smooth as concrete.
Bolts are ok the ball came out of socket I'm sure pulling the other one out. Destroying a lot. This is not funny at all out here. This could have killed my co worker and myself at speed. Ripped the bearings out of the half shaft. Steering rack pouring out fluid. Damaged strut. Sidewall has a gash but still going.
Can't believe I got to limp to Reno. Seems to be no recall on this truck but WTF. We have all kinds of F150s and Chevy trucks out here no problems. Another tacoma one failed and in a month the other side as well!!! I'll go to the dealer tomorrow this is insane. Completely stock.

 

Sucks, but glad you're OK.

Just for background, there was a recall -
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2005/RCONL-05V225-5328.pdf

If you're keeping your 1st gen, you need to make the lower ball joints a routine maintenance check item
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu2rQMxXV2M

 

Since you asked what contributes to a failure....The picture below is exactly how the OEM ball joint is constructed. There are several types of ball joints. One is under load in use such that the ball stud is trying to be pulled out of the housing (up, in this case).

Some have a solid cup type housing with the ball stud being forced INTO the housing (2nd and 3rd gens use this type).

In the picture, what they call the "ball bearing" is not a ball bearing but a simple plastic liner...in the case of the OEM toyota part, its made from graphite impregnated POM (Delrin). It is very thin where it carries the load...simply because there isn't much room, and we don't need thickness here...all we need is isolation between the ball stud and the housing so they don't touch.

As the boots wear and allow in some contamination, or as miles/time rack up and the material of the bearing liner degrade and "creep" from being under load for 20 years...the ball stud will contact the housing. Once this happens, it's game over in a very short period of time. The polished ball will gall and become rough where it's making contact with the housing, and that rough surface tears up the bearing liner even faster, until it comes apart.

The OEM uses a 2 piece bearing liner...one of the pieces looks exactly like the one in this picture, while the other is a polyurethane cap that snaps in the bottom of it after the bearing liner is slide down the ball stud from the top. Once assembled, the bearing liner is captured around the ball stud, and that whole assembly is installed through the bottom of the housing, then a steel cap installed and a little lip on the housing roll formed down to retain the steel cap.

The aftermarket (All but one that I've seen) use a one piece delrin bearing liner...but it's not solid like the one in the picture. It has 4 or 6 slits in it running from the top about 2/3 of the way down to the bottom with a closed bottom. The ball stud is installed in the bearing liner from the top, and the slits allow the bearing liner to open up as the ball stud is pressed in. The design sucks, but it's cheaper. When the bearing liner/ball stud is installed the housing, all those slits are right where the load is applied...and since we're dealing with plastic (even though it's a very robust plastic), we do get some "cold flow" and "creep" out of it over time...and the material will displace into the voids created buy the slits, causing the ball stud to be lose in the liner.

Keep in mind, there isn't a lot of real estate in the loaded area of the bearing liner...and there's probably only about 0.5mm of material there when things are new. It doesn't take long, if the bearing material moves at all, for the ball to hit the housing. The OEM part doesn't have any slits, so there no place for the material to go...which is why they last 200K miles instead of 30K miles.

The problem is, the point at which they start loosening up and the point where separation occurs are not very far apart...1st gens are getting old and getting some miles on them. If you haven't replaced them, don't wait or bother checking them...just replace them and rest easy knowing that unless you tear the boots...they'll be good for another 100K+ miles.

Moog and Sankai 555 do not use a plastic liner at all, they simply have a steel ball running in the steel housing. There are some grease grooves in the ball, and the joints will have a grease fitting. IF they are greased regularly, these should last OK...but if not, they won't. If you service the vehicle yourself...this is an option I guess, but if you take the vehicle in for service, they'll never get greased. Technicians cannot be expected to look for grease fittings where there shouldn't be grease fittings.

 

I did not maintain my vehicle and it's ridiculous when it fails! Would you blame Toyota when your brakes failed because you didn't replace the pads too?

 

Everything seemed tight and then BANG! I had no idea that these were an item to be replaced after what? Every 30K? 50k? I've always had vehicles with a grease fitting. A friend took his Tundra for the airbag recall and after this wreck he told me they did his ball joints as well. Hmmmm

 

No wobble or whatever it was straight as an arrow no shaking or anything. It just went. And the recall notice is yes, an indication toyotas fault.

 

When they're worn like every other suspension part. You should be inspecting them every tire rotation and it adds like 20 seconds.