Ball joint!! Happy Friggen New Year to me!! Ugh

Went to back out my 2001 to check some deer spots and drivers side dropped to the ground!! Good thing it didn’t happen while out driving around…especially the day before when me n my son were 45 mins from home out bird huntin in the woods!!

I had scheduled the truck w a mechanic prior to this for front end work and he said after the holidays…now it sits in my driveway. He said he would come over and fix it in my driveway so towing it wouldn’t break anymore parts…but he been a no show so far. A tow truck can’t access the front of the truck….so they wud need to drag it onto a flat bed.
If this mechanic is not a man of his word and fix it in the driveway…shud I have a tow truck drag it up a flat bed n bring it to a shop? I wud also try n do it myself but I have never done it before and wud need to jack it up somehow pretty high.

 

Is it just the ball joint that snapped? Any damage to the spindle or upper control arm? You could get a jack in there if you have something stable to put it upon like a 2x10 or maybe 3 2x4s. You’d probably want to jack it under one of the front crossmembers to lift both sides of the truck and put jackstands underneath.

Replace with OEM ball joints only. Most others are inferior and don’t last. Toyota even has a recall on them years back.

Good luck.

 

Its a pretty basic mechanical job if you are good at that stuff and have a decent jack. But really, I don't know you, so you have to figure out if your up to it or not yourself.

 

You could totally repair that ball joint. You got this.

 

Thanks!! Just looks like ball came out of joint…I think no other damage.

 

It looks like it punctured the tire? Hopefully it’s just an indentation…

 

Are those the original factory shocks?

 

Looks like it's just an indentation. If it punctured the tire, the rim would probably be closer to the ground.

 

Thanks! I think I can do it…seems basic enough…I have repaired boat motors and other mechanical stuff …just have to jack it up high enough somehow. I will try and find some videos on replacing it.

 

Yepper. I even took a different road the other day w less tandem dump truck traffic cuz I heard some squeaking down there…cud have drifted rt into oncoming lanes of those big rigs carrying fill dirt!! Wuda been a goner!!

 

Yikes!

 

Yup….just resting on the tire n causing an indentation….now I have to worry bout the integrity of that tire now. I knew I Shuda bought this LB a few wks ago!!! SMH

 

^^^ THIS ^^^ Make sure to do both while you have in up in the air.

 

Sorry, that sucks! That LBJ looks newer than all the frame and stuff around it. Has it been replaced before?

Current one that snapped doesn't necessarily look like OEM.

 

Please use OEM replacements and buy new bolts while you're at it.

 

I think they were done many years ago…can’t remember much bout when

 

Seems easy enough…just gota get her up high enough n don’t want her coming down on me!!! Ugh

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0YnxkhBIix8

 

What front end work were you scheduled to have done?

 

Mechanic checked it out and said everything seemed “tight” but he could buy $500 in parts and $400 in labor to do a complete front end job….I imagine he was guna do both LBJs cuz the main issue was a horrible squeak while turning the steering wheel. Guys credibility dropped off big time since he been ghosting me

 

On new years day there was a Tacoma in a Dennys parking lot with a failed LBJ, in my town. I was thinking to myself... what a sh!tty way to start a new year.

 

Lol. Yup. That’s exactly how I felt…& it was actually on New Year’s Day n been sitting since waiting on this guy.
I got the kind of luck that….if it was raining titties…I wud get hit in the head w a dick!!!

 

Yeah, sounds like maybe time for a different mechanic ;-)
I was going to suggest throwing a cheap aftermarket LBJ on just to get it to the shop, depending on what was scheduled to replaced, still could be an option- just don’t leave it on there.
LBJ is pretty easy diy if you’ve got the tools for it.

 

Thanks! Tools are at a bare minimum…but my pal has a shop n cud probably borrow some jacks etc…fix it then get it in to his shop for other side

 

It's not a terrible job, but it isn't fun. You don't really need any specialized tools besides a 36mm socket for the cv axle nut. You can pop the joint (what's left of it) out with a jack and two 3lbs.

In the dead of winter, I'd probably opt to let someone else do it though, especially if the price was right.

 

As others have stated make sure and get OEM parts from a reliable source like rockauto and not Amazon. Do both sides either yourself or let the mechanic do the other side. Best of luck to ya.

 

I didn’t remove the axle or anything, basically just unbolted all the LBJ bolts, removed cotter pin and castle nut, used a pickle fork to separate the ball joint and reassembled in reverse, torque to spec. Get new bolts too, don’t reuse the old ones.
It’s been a couple years since I did mine so I don’t remember it vividly, but it was no drama (unlike the upper balljoint…).

 

Good luck with the repairs. Really glad you weren’t hauling ass when it happened.

 

This is how I do it too. No need to take the axle off.