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Lower Ball Joints

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Csmith8911, Dec 31, 2016.

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  1. Jan 9, 2017 at 8:09 AM
    #41
    ThunderOne

    #41
    ThunderOne Well-Known Member

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    We need some sort of evidence to substantiate this claim
     
    ThunderOne, Jan 9, 2017
    #41
  2. Jan 9, 2017 at 8:19 AM
    #42
    Roadeater

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    Roadeater Well-Known Member

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    I believe most of the failures are from old factory "OEM"ball joints with more than 150k miles without replacing them.
    We have to think about the aftermarket failures this way also. People replace lower ball joints, but keep the old struts, coils, tierods, put big tires, spacers, lift, putting a lot more stress on the new aftermarket ball joints.
    The oem ones had everything in the suspension new to help them to last for a long time.
    Please correct me if I am wrong...I am no mechanic
     
    Roadeater, Jan 9, 2017
    #42
  3. Jan 9, 2017 at 8:52 AM
    #43
    cruiserguy

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    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    cruiserguy, Jan 9, 2017
    #43
  4. Jan 9, 2017 at 8:58 AM
    #44
    cruiserguy

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    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ball-joints.266989/page-4#post-7619181

    More info on the lbj's. Best thing anyone can do is check out all the actual information, avoid speculation if possible, and make your decision on the lbj's. Some aftermarket kinda last okay, some don't. There are places on the truck where you can skimp on a hundred bucks. I get it. Personally, due to other damage that would occur upon failure of the lbj, I will stick with OEM lbj's. But I understand it's hard to wing that extra money at times. Just know if you do go aftermarket you have a higher chance of a surprise failure sneaking up on you. That's all.
     
    cruiserguy, Jan 9, 2017
    #44
    The Driver likes this.
  5. Jan 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM
    #45
    cruiserguy

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    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately, the miles on rest of suspension or truck aren't what usually causes these 'surprise' failures.
     
    cruiserguy, Jan 9, 2017
    #45
  6. Jan 9, 2017 at 9:03 AM
    #46
    Roadeater

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    Roadeater Well-Known Member

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    What cause the failures on the oem ball joints?
     
    Roadeater, Jan 9, 2017
    #46
  7. Jan 9, 2017 at 9:18 AM
    #47
    cruiserguy

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    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    This design and application of the lbj is extremely stressful on the lbj on the tacoma. It's inherently in the design. The joint is constantly trying to separate itself, if I'm understanding the design correctly. So a lesser quality joint will fail earlier than an OEM.
     
    cruiserguy, Jan 9, 2017
    #47
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  8. Jan 9, 2017 at 9:23 AM
    #48
    cruiserguy

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    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    So I guess, in essence, the same thing causes failure in any of them.
     
    cruiserguy, Jan 9, 2017
    #48
  9. Jan 9, 2017 at 9:57 AM
    #49
    se7enine

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    se7enine MCMLXXIX

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    I see only one solution to this debate
    706231d1352324082-addicteds-96-4runner-u_146ed9dd8a439e64e9d61369527dcf40d79f2ba3.jpg
     
    se7enine, Jan 9, 2017
    #49
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  10. Jan 9, 2017 at 10:15 AM
    #50
    mwrohde

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    mwrohde Well-Known Member

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    What's "555"? The part number or something like that?
     
    mwrohde, Jan 9, 2017
    #50
  11. Jan 9, 2017 at 1:07 PM
    #51
    mechanicjon

    #51
    mechanicjon They call me "Jonny Stubs"

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    It's a brand. It's stamped on bottom of ball joint.
     
    mechanicjon, Jan 9, 2017
    #51
  12. Jan 9, 2017 at 3:02 PM
    #52
    53rdcard

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    53rdcard Well-Known Member

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    Just out of curiosity, have you checked for recalls on your vin? My 2004 had one for lower ball joints, and i got them replaced by toyota about 3 months ago.
     
    53rdcard, Jan 9, 2017
    #52
  13. Jan 9, 2017 at 7:14 PM
    #53
    Csmith8911

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    Csmith8911 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Mine is a 96 so I don't think it falls under that recall. There wasn't anything wrong with the ball joints that I could tell, but as far as I know they had never been replaced and the truck has 211k miles. It was more of a precautionary thing.
     
    Csmith8911, Jan 9, 2017
    #53
  14. Jan 10, 2017 at 10:34 AM
    #54
    Sicyota04

    #54
    Sicyota04 Slowly but surely.

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    I had that same recall and had them replaced in 2012 w/ 180,000 miles on them. Now I have 252,000 miles. So now I have 72,000 miles on the Toyota OEM LBJ's that they replaced for the recall. Is there a certain amount of miles that you're suppose to replace them at? I have Camburg UCA's so not too worried about those.
     
    Sicyota04, Jan 10, 2017
    #54
  15. Jan 10, 2017 at 4:35 PM
    #55
    se7enine

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    se7enine MCMLXXIX

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    Inspections starting at 100,000 miles then every 25,000 miles is my guess. They will show signs that they are going bad so you just have to be up on checking them out before they go.
     
    se7enine, Jan 10, 2017
    #55
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