LBJ Question

So I have a 2003 AC 4x4 SR5.
I ordered TOYOTA LBJ's part numbers 43340-39485, 43330-39605 like the book and everyone says to.

I get the parts and go to compare the LBJ's with what I have on the '03 and I can tell these new LBJ's are not gonna work.

The arms on my truck's LBJ's are a completely different angle and shorter too.

If I didn't know better, the LBJ's on my truck look real similar to what is on a '04?

Is this a thing?

It looks like my '03 needs toyota
43330-39825, 43340-39595 LBJ's?

Any ideas?

 

DISCLAIMER: The following part numbers are pulled from the recall campaign documents by someone that isn't me. If you're not 1,000% positive which recall kit is for your truck or your truck is a 'crossover' year for LBJ design changes (there's a couple, clearly, at least 3), then pay the extra amount to buy individually so you don't get stuck holding the bag on parts you can't use!!

• Late '04 - '06 kit is Toyota p/n 04006-62134 (bare joints only, no hardware)
• Early '02 - '03 kit is Toyota p/n 04005-21134 (bare joints only, no hardware)
• Early '01 - '02 kit is Toyota p/n 04005-04134 (bare joints only, no hardware)
• 2000 trucks: I found no kit for you, your joints are 43330-39466(passenger) and 43340-39356(driver), comes with cotter and castle nut and protector but no hardware

WARNING ¹: If you're in a "crossover" year (i.e. a year where the part number changes halfway thru the year i.e. '02, '03, '04) ALWAYS doublecheck compatibility in the actual TSB docs, see the link next warning!

WARNING ²: SEE THIS POST FOR IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE KIT COMPATIBILITY SINCE THESE WON'T SHOW COMPATIBILITY IN THE TOYOTA SYSTEM.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/lower-ball-joints-part-numbers.97100/#post-2465807

https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-...ught-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/#post-2980386

 

What is the manufacturer date on your truck? I believe 9/2003 is the changeover date but that hasn't really been confirmed.

Pictures of what's on your truck and what you got would be good too.

 

Where did you order from? Did the dealership not confirm the part via your VIN???

 

I would suggest visiting the below Toyota site set up for the that purpose and follow the steps for showing the kit part # needed for you 2003 if it falls in the VIN criteria for the 50J recall.
The SSC 50J link is only applicable to 2002 – early 2004 Tundra's and not for late 04 - 06 Tundra's

50J Ball Joint Part Number Lookup

This is a sample of a 2003 for sale online showing VIN # and what the Toyota site says is needed for kit#.

 

This is great info. Udating the content TBM posted above, I think this solves the problem of having two different notes

 

Manufacture date is 08/02 per sticker on the door.

FishNinja I bought these parts from ebay.

Here's is a pic of my LBJ

 

So I tried this site and it says my Vin is not a valid VIN for a Tundra? That's interesting?

 

Hopefully you got authentic parts. There are a lot of vendors on scAmazon and fleaBay selling knockoffs. It's very easy to make the Toyota stickers, you can buy those things on a roll, and even buy compatible printers.

It did the same for me, I think because I used the wrong prefix. I do recall trying that tool previously.

 

Actually yep, it did it to me too.

​

 

At this point it's moot cause the parts don't fit. The LBJ's I bought with that part number are the same LBJ's that appear in all the photos I see on any site, whether it's a Toyota stealership or auto zone, etc...

The arm on my current LBJ's are def a different angle compared to what all the websites say I should buy.

I'd like to see a pic of someone with an '04 LBJ. Just to see if that is what I've got.

 

Couple things:

Can you show us a pic of your setup? Maybe the issue is the LCA, it's aftermarket or from a diff't year? Some people upgrade to use different knuckles, some replace knuckles with used/junkyard parts to reduce cost.

Did you try looking up your part numbers using the EPC tool, following just the first couple of bulletpoints in THIS THREAD? Your parts should be located under "Transmission and chassis", then under "FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE". You'll get the part number for the LBJ + cotter + castle nut for your VIN by clicking on the RH (right/passgr) and LH (driver) numbers shown. If you get multiple part numbers back, take a screencap and copy/paste into a reply here. Or shoot me your VIN and I'll look it up.

​

 

Well this sounds like I might just want to take this to a dealer and see what they say I need.

Yes you can have my Vin number to see what you can find.

Here it is...5TBBT441X3S334525

I bought this truck back in 2011.

Thanks.

 

Since your 10th digit is a 6, it knows to flush you since your a 2006. It’s looking for 10th digit of 3 in order to proceed.

@sabbathman are you sure you selected the Tundra pull down menu and put in only last 9 digits in far right box. I’ve tried 5 other 03 VINs for sale and they all bring something back

 

You needed to change the dropdown to the right prefix. This is the correct part number according to the site

ETA- Still, a photo of your setup would be useful in case other parts like the LCA or knuckle were replaced.

 

I'll have to take the wheel off when I get home from work tonight and grab some pics.

Thanks for doing that for me I'll look and see what that part looks like.

 

I'll try it again

 

For future reference this link will show the EPC for YOUR specific VIN.

This takes you to front steering and knuckle.

On the inside edge of your driver door, either on the physical door itself where the latch opening is, or on the door jamb, you should have a VIN sticker with a barcode. Look carefully at that sticker for the manufacture date of your truck.

I say this because when I go into EPC with your VIN, it shows two part numbers with year ranges. They are as follows:

Passenger: 43330-39466 if made between Feb 2001 - August 2002, or 43330-39605 if made between August 2002 and September 2003.
Driver: 43340-39356 if made between Feb 2001 - August 2002, or 43340-39485 if made between August 2002 and September 2003.

Now, obviously your truck probably wasn't made before July 2002, it'd probably be branded as a 2002 if so. I don't know when Toyota made their cutoffs for production years, but I've rarely ever seen manufacturers on other cars start into the next year until July.

But at least knowing when it was made will pinpoint things, assuming nobody swapped the doors out from a junkyard vehicle. And to that point, compare the VIN you gave me or the VIN on the sticker, then compare both to the VIN visible thru the windshield, next to your wiper stem "just in case".

 

I took this pic of the door jamb last night. The vin on this sticker and the vin on my dash in the lower right portion of the windshield are an exact match.

 

Great. So your truck falls EXACTLY on the cutoff month, manufactured August 2002

Well, I guess we know what that means. Compare the parts you bought with the parts in bold on my last reply. I suspect you'll need the part numbers that don't match the part numbers you have. But the only way to be truly 100% certain is to look at the recall TSB document for your year, there will be a grid like this one in that document, and you can 100% confirm your VIN that way. It should technically work using the tool Bubba provided, I think? But it sounds like it's not working, and maybe it's because you're on a cusp year.

 

Hahaha! Of Course!

So the parts I ordered are numbers 43330-39605 and 43340-39485. According to your previous post these could be the right parts or...not.

However, when I hold the LBJ's that I bought up to what my '03 is currently wearing, it's a no go.

My LBJ's look more like part number 04005-21134.

 

Both of those parts are the ones listed for Aug 2002+ manufacture.
If they don't fit, then 43330-39466 (passgr) and 43340-39356 (driver) for trucks Aug 2002 and prior are the only logical parts that would fit.

But yeah, dammit Toyota, a clearer cutoff date in August would really help in this situation. But the TSB documents provide the actual 'end VIN' and 'start VIN' numbers usually, so that would be where I'd verify what I just said.

 

I'm like 3 hours away from a Toy dealership. I think rather than take a chance and ordering the wrong parts again, I'll park the tundra in the shop, pull both sides LBJ's and drive to the dealer and say...I need one of each.

Figures I get the toy built on the cusp!

 

So to add to the confusion, I thought there were two ball joints on these trucks, the small ball joint and the big ball joint with September 2003 being the cutoff between the two styles. What are we figuring is changing between these other years?

 

I'm looking at this picture you posted that you said was your truck. Are you saying the part you got has a different angle going up to the tie rod connection or what is different? The pic of the new joint you posted looks correct. Would just like to really see the issue here if you're able to get a pic of them side by side when you have a chance.

 

I thought they updated these ball joints anyways so they weren't prone to exploding? Is that not right?

 

When I place the new ball joint next to the ball joint on the truck, it appears that the angle of the arm is different than what is on my truck.

 

I guess what I really need to do is pull the ball joints off and set them side by side to what I bought.

 

Eh, they'll still come apart after a while. It's a design flaw that makes them be under load at all times.

I got ya. I ordered some joints for my 95 Tacoma I used to have and one of the ones I was sent was for a 4runner (part number on bag was right but wrong part in bag) and the angles were different. I think I may have gotten those on scamazon a long time ago, which is why I try to stick to the Toyota parts site to order stuff like this. If you can easily return these parts I would and then order from a Toyota parts site.

Snap some pics of the new and old next to each other when you get a chance.

Have you gotten a hold of new bolts for when you tackle this?

 

It worked fine for @sabbathman VIN # as noted in post #15 above by @Fragman

https://www.tundras.com/threads/lbj-question.154344/#post-3839796

Suggest you consider adding to the post you are referring to and the warning quoted below that the SSC 50J link I posted is only applicable to 2002 – early 2004 Tundra's. Late 04 - 06 were covered under the SSC 70B Safety recall and not for late 04 - 06 Tundra's

...note concerning "error" you mention....If there is an error, user needs to make sure to double check they selected the proper 8 digit prefix the site asks for and last 9 digits of their VIN, otherwise, there should be no error.