Time to replace lower ball joints?

I have the two pitman arm pullers for the lower ball joint and tie rod. I'm not worried about doing the uppers before the trip, but I bought them and will do them ASAP (next week). I just recently upgraded the shocks/coils to Bilstein 5100 and OME 881, so I figure why not just do all the ball joints too. The truck is at 111k so it sounds like it's not a bad time to replace them. I'll have to rent/borrow the tool for the UBJ I guess

TBH though I'm going to risk it and take this trip with things the way they are. I'm not worried. The truck was babied its whole life, lived in a garage in California. I just bought it from the original owner back in January and it had 100k on it. The old man had all the service records, everything was always done on schedule and at the Toyota dealer no less. Super clean, no rust. I'll be careful not to push things too hard. There is no play whatsoever yet, so I think catastrpohic failure is unlikely.

 

Yeah, you're on the right track I think. Seems like most of the LBJ failures I read about are due to someone not noticing leaking or loose BJs for likke 30k miles, or it's from improper installation. You're aware of it, and are making plans to take care of it.

Maybe just bring a crowbar with you to check them at the half way mark or something, just to be sure.

 

Reporting back. No issues on the trip. Hit plenty of rocky trails, national park, hot springs. Did all 600+ miles as planned.

 

And your truck didn't explode!

Now you can replace the BJs at your leisure.

 

Well, going back out again next weekend, so I have a week and some change haha

 

Once you get the parts, should only take like 1/2 hr per side, unless you have a bunch of rusty bolts.

 

No rusty bolts. California truck, 2nd owner.

My only hesitation is that I was considering getting the upper ball joints and outer tie rods and just doing them all.
My steering is nice and tight on the road, but I do have some slop/play on trails over bumps. I'm told that's normal though?

 

Not when you have these:

 

@jbrandt good LORT that is a sweet pile of parts.

Related inquiry, do I really need to get new bolts for the LBJs? They aren't torqued that high, and mine have no rust. Was going to just clean them good with brake cleaner and apply some blue loctite once they are dry.

 

They aren't torqued to yield or anything, so you're probably fine. That said, I think I spent like $8-9 on brand new grade 10.9 bolts at Ace, so...

 

I just bought a set last week and the OEM bag came with the nuts, bolts, pin and castle nut.
This is something new coming with all the parts.

They never used too, you had to buy all the parts separately.

It says to replace the bolts!

I’ve seen plenty that were busted for some reason So why take a chance unless you gamble.

I replace mine every 100k regardless,

 

Good Man!

 

bought mine from Camelback Toyota, included nut and pin but no bolts

 

OEM?

The new OEM comes with everything sealed in one bag ,fyi

 

Yeah dude, Camelback Toyota. As in, Toyota dealer. When have you known a dealership to sell aftermarket parts?

Also I looked through the service records for my truck and found LBJs were changed 70k miles ago as part of the campaign.

 

Ok just checking because I bought mine last week and all the parts including the castle nut were all sealed in the same bag from my dealer.

 

Mine are new Toyota parts sealed in bags but yeah, no bolts.

Local Toyota dealer has bolts for $24 for all 8 bolts.

The bolts are not listed as single use in the service manual FYI.

 

Correct. My order from camelback did not include bolts. There are no bolts in my order. I did not receive any bolts in my delivery. No bolts arrived with my lower ball joints.

 

Interesting. I ordered from McGeorge. The parts came with bolts, nuts, and pins (e.g. everything you need).

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com