Lower Ball Joint maintenance question

I suspect I know what y'all are going to say, but figured I'd ask anyway. Looking at my LBJs today and noticed they're putting out a little grease. Wasn't able to find evidence of play in them, but I'm wondering what your opinions are on replacing them at this juncture since I'm not sure about the service history on them and I'm just about to hit 200k..

Any advice is appreciated!

 

I did mine at 200k just cause I suspected they were original. And they looked pretty good.

 

Boots are torn, just replace them as it's cheap insurance anyway.

I replaced mine about 2-3 months ago and although I didn't have any play when I lifted my truck and moved the wheels by hand, the LBJ's had a ton of play when I pulled them off.

Not only do I recommend OEM LBJ's, make sure to buy all new bolts as well as a set of cotter pins.

I'd replace the tie rod ends too; going to do mine in the next few weeks.

 

Those should be replaced. That's a fair amount of grease coming out of them and you can't put more in.

Check them for play, that's the best way to know for sure but I'd still plan on replacing them just based on how much grease is coming out.

If you see any play at all with the naked eye then it's time to replace. Use a pry bar to push up/down on the joint with the tires off the ground and you'll know right away.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tqw85L_sMgE

 

My last OEM pair of LBJ's lasted about 55k miles. Probably could have gone longer but they had a noticeable amount of up/down play in them so I swapped them out. Better to replace them when you suspect they're bad than to wait until one fails on you while driving down the highway.

Offroading takes its toll on them unfortunately, the LBJ design on 1st gen Tacomas is very weak. Toyota redesigned it for 2nd gens and you rarely hear about them having the same issues we do.

 

Mine also have 200k and I double checked them again yesterday because I thought I remember them having no play at all and sure enough they don't. But I do zero off road driving.

 

The maintenance interval is 100,000 miles. Change them with OEM parts. Don't be this guy:

 

Or worse - seriously. Is it really worth a couple of bills? Absolutely. No skimping on new bolts either.

 

Thanks y'all- I figured replacing them would be best practice but I'm still learning and appreciate your input. Time to order some parts!

 

I would use Genuine Toyota Parts for any steering/suspension parts replacement, especially for the ball joints.

 

If you do go with OE, reach out to @gunny1005 - CamelBack Toyota is a great source!

 

is there any type of 'warning' before something like that were to happen and you need to pull off the highway for safety?
any wobble in the steering or abnormal noise?

 

Nope; when it goes it just goes.

The only warning is doing a physical and visual inspection as stated above.

I replaced mine just because; I consider it maintenance. If I have to question it, I replace it.

 

Same, I suspect mine were original at 195k and couldn't tell they had play till it was off the truck.

 

Once they were off, I was like "holy fuck..."

The new and old could not be compared; it was like a sword in the stone with the new ones, and an old joystick from Street Fighter II Turbo at an old laundromat.

 

i ought to buy some new OEM ones before upcoming offroad shenanigans in wisconsin
and/or maybe get some pics for you to evaluate, i would hate to be stranded almost 600 miles away from home!

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Oma...6871792a7fa3!2m2!1d-90.787778!2d46.855556!3e0

 

Replacing them is easy if all goes well. I got the 2nd side done in ~45 min.

First side took me all day because I broke a bolt in the spindle but that's not the norm.

 

I almost did my LBJ's but realized there was a recall for em on my VIN. Got toyota to do em for free. Check ur VIN.

 

There isn't really any "maintenance" per se to do on them.

If you feel ANY slop in them, they are way past due; replace them. If they're leaking grease; replace them. If it's "been a while" (more than 90k miles); replace them.

The torque on those bolts is also surprisingly low (59ft-lbs), so watch that. I got my replacement bolts at Ace hardware. They have a surprisingly good selection of high strength hardware and had exactly what I needed.

Get the best BJs you can afford. Don't cheap out with store brands. If you want a no nonsense daily driver, just get OE, but you still need to check them regularly to catch small problems (leaking boots) before they fail on you. But in my experience 555's are great, MOOGs are okay, too. If you're on a real budget, I wouldn't be afraid to run moog. Like with ALL 1st gen BJs (OE or not), just keep an eye on them. Seems like most failures are either user error (wrong bolts) or ignoring them for too long. Some people think your truck will explode with non OE brands, and that's just not true. Some people even buy the store brands with the free replacement guarantee and replace them annually. I wouldn't do that, though...

I plan to replace them at regular intervals, regardless of condition. Probably every 3-4 years or 20k miles, but mine is also a dedicated trail truck. My cheap MOOGs lasted 6+ years as a daily driver before I preventatively replaced them, and I plan to replace my 555's more often than that, just to be safer. I'd still do that if they were OE, so I don't see a point in spending 2x the cost for the OE.

As others have said as well, it's not hard to replace them. It took me probably 45 minutes for both sides.

 

There's no such thing as an ending to a LBJ topic, has TW taught you nothing