Well this happened today….

That's good Kacie. Always best to go OEM when you can. Hope everything goes well!

 

Hey Kacie Thought I'd post this to give you a little chuckle. Hope you like it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgDGUb2TjyM

 

I'm sorry this happened and bet it must have been scary. I was driving on the freeway next to a Ford Ranger that lost his front wheel at near 75 mph. Scared the hell out of me but it steered his truck away from my direction.

We bought a 2002 Tacoma Quad Limited new and have never had these replaced. Now we're very near 160k miles. We always have it serviced at Toyota in Beaverton as my mother loves to visit with the folks around the shop and the cafe.

When I bring it in for service in April I'll definitely have these looked over closely. My mom is 85 and this would definitely stop her driving career if a wheel was to disjoint itself.

 

I can’t imagine how scary that was to witness. Glad it didn’t cause you to also have an accident.

Oh yes that’s good, your mom absolutely is way too precious to be worrying about any failures like that.

 

Classic lower ball joint failure.

Like everyone else said, glad you are okay. Trucks are repairable/replaceable.

 

Granted your truck right now needs more than just lower ball joint replacement, but for future reference they are very easy to replace (with the help of a pitman puller).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfLvtEnX9qk

 

Hey Kacie. Haven't heard from you in a few days. Hello, hellooh, hellooooh!!! LOL! Hope all is going well with the repairs. If you need anything, I'm here for you.

 

Hi! Everything is going well. I was out of town a few days and just got back. Thank you Rob

Thanks for the video @Madjik_Man,
I made a parts list with my dad when we did a once over on the truck so all the parts that I need and then some will be arriving at some point hopefully soon

 

That's good, Kacie. I was a little concerned. I hate waiting for parts ordered online. Lots of porch pirates around here where I live. They actually stole my washing machine suspension rods I had ordered. WTF...
Anyhoo, here's a song for you & glad you're back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZTo3iJng7U

 

Update!
Finally got the update for y’all, I was out of town and all the parts arrived and my pops and our mechanic took the initiative to fix my baby boy while I was away. What a lovely surprise to come back to him all fixed or else I would have more progress pics. My rims even got a new paint job in my absence! Now all is left is going in for an alignment…. Gonna be around 2 weeks until I can get in unless a spot opens up before then. I’m just so thrilled to see my boy on all 4 tires again!

 

Thank you everyone for the support, links and feedback!

it was incredibly helpful, I learned a lot in this process and am excited to keep educating myself on my truck care.

 

Re: "This Happened Today"..... "Tip of the Day"....
Kind of related, but maybe more: "Tip of the Day" because THIS happened today...

So: It was actually two weeks ago, but I had to go into the city a couple of weeks ago for something and performed the old "city dweller trick" of installing my hitch ball mount into the hitch in case I was stuck parking in a tight spot on the street or in a tight garage: "Bumper Ding" (or worse). Things were fine in the city, but back in the 'burbs on the way home, a younger guy zoned-out and rear-ended me at low speed in an old clapped-out ex-Police Crown Vic. (Uh-Oh!) while I was stopped-dead at a red light. I anticipated the worst, but when we got out it turned out that the 4-way ball-mount (with pintle hook) on my truck took the whole impact: went right through his grill and touched the radiator, but did not damage it. Didn't touch my bumper: Lucky day. We exchanged info, I told him the truck was fine and he barely avoided having a stroke. Only "damage" I had was cleaning off his misc. grille pieces from my step-bumper.

Word to the wise: spend the $50 and get one of these ball-mounts and save yourself a few C-notes later: especially if you spend time looking for parking spaces in the city. If you park in the city, trust me you're going to get bumper dings and damage when the "don't cares" hit your bumpers attempting to jam into the space behind/front of you. My son lost a back-up sensor in his F150 this way and it was big $$$ to replace. NO ONE ever leaves a NOTE. He bought a real nasty looking one with a menacing looking 3-ball mount (and/hook) and never removes it. It has scars, but his bumper and sensors are fine. The hitch balls and hook are welded right to the bay.

Resist the urge to get one that extends way out: That would be mean..... and you'll slam your shin into it when you forget it's there. (Tip: Get a locking hitch-pin for it or it will be: "Gone in 60 seconds".)

 

Loooooking gooood! New rubbbers & all, lol! Tell your dad, I said he did an excellent job. Top notch!