Lower Ball joints or upper and lower?

Parts all ordered, probably going to do something about my CV boots while I have everything accessible and perhaps some new anti-sway bar bushings as well. Going to be one hell of an upgrade sometime in the next week or two. I did go OEM on the Ball joints, both upper and lower. Really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!

 

I've had Moog LBJs on my truck for 6 years. Did they explode? No.

Will I do it again?

Also no.

Honestly, as others have said, just get 555's. You're only saving like $40.

For a daily driver, I would spend the money for OEM. In the grand scheme, they are THAT expensive.

Whatever you get, don't just put them on and ignore them for the next 100k miles.

 

EDIT in bold for clarification:

Does anyone here want to jump into the importance of torque values, and why one should not reuse the bolts? I’m heading out the door but it seems like a good tip.

to be clear, I feel that I understand but I dont have time to get into it rn.

 

The bolts are cheap, why would you not want to replace them?

In fact, some of the failures are due to the bolts sheering off in the spindle itself.

Just ask @BartMaster1234 as it happened to him in a parking lot late at night.

Also, torque values should matter to anyone thst cares about their vehicle.

 

Edited my post for clarification, sorry for the confusion.

 

Definitely will be replacing the bolts. And hard to imagine someone getting far enough in their mechanic skills to replace these types of parts without learning about torque values and having the right torque wrench in the toolbox. I love my torque wrenches, makes me so happy to know that I am doing things the right way! (I am also a big fan of having a good feel for how tight things should be and not cranking on bolts until they snap in situations where there are no torque values: construction, appliances, whatever.)

 

I think it's just considered good practice to get new ones and not reuse the old. That being said, I've reused mine plenty of times without failure. The bolts have to come out when changing out a CV axle (LBJ has to get moved out of the way) and I've always reused the same bolts when putting it back together.

When changing to actual LBJ out though I've always replaced them.

I don't believe they are torque to yield bolts so replacing them isn't mandatory, but it is good practice. They are cheap from the dealer relatively speaking, $1 each or so.

 

What part number did you use for the lower ball joints? I have to replace mine in the immediate future also.

I'm actually in a very similar situation as you are. looking to rebuild my suspension. I might be getting a smokin deal on an ICON suspension kit. but if that doesnt work out, I still need to do a bunch of work. My LBJs are in pretty bad shape, so I want to replace/rebuild as much of the suspension as possible.

 

1st gens

From what little I know on the 2nd gens, I don't think Toyota offers the LBJ separate from the LCA do they? I know Moog does and some guys buy them aftermarket, but I thought with 2nd gens if you wanna replace the LBJ with OEM you had to buy a whole new lower arm with it attached...I could be wrong though

 

43330-39815
43340-39585

Are the ones that I ordered, right and left. Found on ebay from a Toyota dealer for $138 each plus tax, free shipping. I think the total cost was about $294 with the tax. Would have been around $380 from my local toyota dealer.

I saw 555's on ebay for $174 for the pair. I was mighty tempted, and they have a grease fitting to keep flushing grease through and keep it clean inside, but in the end I decided OEM based on how many people here on TW were strongly of that opinion.

 

and here I thought it was a bit strange to be buying the metal armature with four bolts instead of just buying the ball joint and pressing it in. On the other hand, sounds like it is often those bolts that fail, so perhaps this is a good thing. Glad I don't have to do an entire LCA.

 

Yeah 2nd gens have a different lower ball joint setup than ours. Toyota redesigned it for the 2nd gens, theirs is a much better/safer design but harder to swap out.

 

No doubt, given the pretty horrific failures that people have on the first gens at times, they decided to make things a bit more robust. Nothing wrong with that!

 

oh oops. lol disregard me, I'll see myself back to the 2nd gen section...

but that would explain why I can't find a part number for it... I guess I'll go with Moog then. I don't think I have a reason to replace the entire LCA.

thanks for the reply, but it has been pointed out that I'm in the wrong section of the forum, and therefore pretty much nothing in this thread applies to me, haha.

do you know why its harder on the second gens? or easier on the first? either way. I'm considering just knocking out the LBJ replacement myself, if the full suspension rebuild/upgrade doesnt come through in the next couple of weeks. (which if you're down, we could have a repair/mod day, and help each other out if you have any work you need help with on your truck!)

 

My truck is a never ending money pit these days, more than usual lol. There's no shortage of things I need to work on haha, especially since we have our daughter now it's hard to find time. So I would definitely be on board for a mod/maintenance day

I'm not entirely sure how they redesigned it, I just know that it was essentially flipped upside down - the issue with the 1st gens was that the ball joint is constantly under forces that want to pull it apart, whereas with the 2nd gen those forces are what's helping to keep it together. As for why it's harder to change out, I'm not sure...haven't really looked at how it's done on 2nd gens, just what I've read on here.

 

oh haha, that's how i feel about my truck right now, at 130k miles, a lot of parts are ready for maintenance/replacement, especially in the suspension. I gotta wait a little bit to see what happens with this suspension package I might be getting, and if it falls through, I'm probably going to order some parts on own, and try to do the rebuild (at least what I'm capable of) on my own. So I'll definitely keep a mod/maintenance day in mind!

 

Passenger Side

$215 43330-39556 Suspension Ball Joint

43330-39556

Driver's Side

$136 43340-39436 Ball Joint Assembly

43340-39436

I think these are the correct numbers. I'm a bit confused as well since there are a few parts number floating out there but the ones that you provided are for the 4X4 equipped Tacomas.

 

I just replaced my lowers late last year with OEM. you'll be glad in the long run buying the best lowers. I purchased the sankei 555 for the uppers, but haven't installed them yet. Just another project waiting to happen. while you have everything torn apart, I'd check the bushings on your upper and lower control arms. If they need replaced, now would be the time to do them.

 

Input appreciated. I am definitely going to try to do as much maintenance as I can while I have it all torn apart up front. I definitely need to do a thorough inspection of all of the bushings and the tie rod ends. I am working on a mud driveway, so it isn't too fun yet to crawl around under the truck. Hoping to get under there in a couple days when it gets sunny again and hopefully the ground has dried out a bit.

 

that would suck, maybe you could reach out to another member close to you with a concrete driveway or garage? never hurts to ask, and they might even lend you a hand.