Ball joint broke on the highway....help....

@Aerindel I'm not sure where in MT you are but I order parts from Larry H Miller in SLC and the shipping is quick to me (Idaho) and prices are good on most things.
If you need, I have a spare aftermarket CV that I'll send you for cost of shipping.

 

Movotech

 

I assume these have a bad rep?

 

Looking at my pictures, it looks like the upper ball joint socket is expanded and deformed from the ball pulling out. I think I will need to take the whole spindle home to cut off part of the socket, as its now oversized and I don't think will hammer out as is.

Right now, I need to pack up all my tools, because I'm was in the middle of an engine transplant on my surbaru, so my stuff is all over the place. FML, and get down to where my truck is, three miles away.

I guess nobody is going to steal it.....

Actually, would be nice if they did.....as that would mean they fixed it for me.

 

Certainly not great. OEM or bust.

 

What really surprises me about all this, is that it didn't break on my road, which most people would consider an offroad trail.

And instead broke off going straight, mildly accelerating in 2wd on the highway.

 

I guess although I don't feel lucky, I should consider myself lucky. Sheesh.

 

No better time to go long travel.

Or SAS!

 

You've been a member here a long time. I'm surprised you were not aware lower ball joints are a known weak point.

OEM LBJ'S are the only safe option!!

We have an entire thread dedicated to it.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/first-gen-lower-ball-joint-lbj-failures.141860/

And people have made stickers.

 

Anything that's not OEM has a bad rep. But Mevotech and Moog are especially total fucking garbage.

It's a massive problem, aftermarket part quality with that specific part. Aftermarket are notorious for abrupt failure with no warning, and massive damage. OEM with 4 fresh new OEM bolts every 100k miles for that specific part, it's a wear part, you need to replace proactively. You're not going to be able to detect play in the joint, and I don't think most mechanics know this.

Only OEM LBJs. Always. Fresh bolts at each change. Always torque to spec. Mark the castle nut and bolt head position with a paint marker and verify nothing moved while doing each oil change, to be safe with little effort on your part.

 

Understatement

 

I knew it was an issue. I didn't know what were on mine, and I thought I would be able to detect them getting worn before it was too late. I knew they where relatively new joints and I've had joints on other trucks that where so bad you could see in the how the tires wore, but they never failed.

But yes, I knew better. Just one of those things that was in the back of my mind to do 'someday'. Everytime I had the truck up I would check for play. Now I know that wasn't good enough.

No excuses....I have only myself to blame I know.

I ordered some OEM joints off ebay last night. They where on sale for $200. Should be here in four days. I'm going to the parts store now to see what local availability is. If I can get something, even junk, I will get them just to get the truck the three miles home and then do it right later.

 

Bad choice. fleaBay and scAmazon are rife with counterfeits, or non-OEM repackaged with a bogus sticker. Make sure you verify your seller. If they're not a dealership, specifically, you can't trust they're genuine OEM.

Hate to be the one to tell you this, but ... you CANNOT buy parts from those sources anymore, organized crime has done such a great job at passing off cheap knockoffs through them these days, or with scAmazon getting trucks of grey market or knockoff product into warehouses, that you really can't trust them - they make no effort to validate authenticity (and with fleaBay, they really can't vet sellers or authenticity!), it's not in their best interest to scrutinize it, they get paid either way, and take no liability if you get ripped off.

That said, if you start your order at https://autoparts.toyota.com there is a very real chance you may be able to pick them up at a substantial discount at your nearest dealer. A lot of dealerships nationally support the National Parts system, and I always get at least 20% off the MSRP when I start my order through the national site, even if I'm setting it up for pickup at the nearest participating dealer. I have one dealer that's consistently 15-20% off, another that's sometimes up to 25% off, and a third that is usually in the 10-15% off range. I always check each dealer from the national site using the "shop this dealer" button, then tap BACK in my browser and click the next, until I find the cheapest one.

 

This is where I stand right now. Nothing wanted to come off easy in the parking lot so I took the whole hub off and took it home where I have a 20 ton press.

LJB Nut got turned into sparks on the highway so it may be interesting getting it off. CV shaft cut out, the bearing rack shattered internally on the outer end.

I actually have a spare CV. Long story but about 2020 I had a vibration I was trying to track down and a oil seal leak. I pulled the CV to replace the oil seal, and replaced it with an aftermarket, as at the time I thought maybe bad CV. Figured out it was actually front driveshaft U-joints. I saved that CV though, which as far as I know, is actually perfectly good. It's been sitting in a box for five years so I think I will just put it back in.

Brake line removed and crimped closed. Going to town to see if there is any local parts just to get me home, its about an hour trip.

Unfortunately, my wife is using my normal backup car for work while I fix hers, and so I am down to the secondary backup car, which is not in great shape but should get me there and back I hope.

 

$227.26 OTD Shipped to your house! C'mon man. Dealer is not that much more expensive.

This is the exact kit you'll need for the 00.




Did you even get bolts?

 

Serra Toyota have got a few hours left on their $50 off orders of $250 or more. Don't forget to get new bolts.

 

Another 15% off in a few days for july 4th sale.

is that brake fluid or penetrating oil above the brakeline soft hose?

if theres a local junkyard nearby it might be worth a shot to find out if they have tundra or 3rd gen 4runner parts that might get you home.

 

Okay sorry, I'm all over the place.

Sent a cancel request to ebay.

When I called dealer he said $150 each.

Online, $95...so I placed an order, but I didn't realize they where left and right specific so I might have got two of one side....

Man, I'm having a hard time.....

Called dealer, but their sales lady has gone home early so I can't do anything.

I'm gonna run out of money if I get screwing up like this....kill me.

 

Current Flash sale is $50 off all orders, free ship, and Serra has no tax for anyone outside Alabama, which comes out to 25% off. And saves @Aerindel whatever tax his local dealer would charge. It's worth it, but he only has 10hrs left to place the order.

But honestly, at $95 if local pickup, making the order online from a dealer, you can't beat that.

 

Take a deep breath. It's been a stressful 24 hours but you'll get this sorted out.

 

Thank you. Yes. I need to.

Its $152 each local pickup. By local 120 miles round trip. I ordered the wrong parts, tried calling them back, but the order lady went home early....Going to try to sort it out tomorrow with them.

 

Is that sticker actually for sale somewhere!? I must have it... Haha

 

The majority of the ball joint failures posted on this site are slow speed, just driving along. Almost never doing anything crazy. Sometimes in a parking spot, not even moving. They just go. That's why we replace them at ~100,000 miles, no matter what, with OEM, no matter what, with new bolts, no matter what.

I guess you already know, the uppers are a pain. Luckily they're often a once-in-a-lifetime replacement part, unlike the lowers. I just did both mine last year. Not sure I'm in a position to help but depending on where in MT you are, it's a possibility.

 

Indeed. Looks like they stopped selling them though.

 

Do we need a thread of texas best gen crew stickers? Can we make money off these fools?

 

I'm a little north of Missoula.

I think I can get this. Tonight I got the broken uppers and lowers out of the control arms and the spindle. Only broken thing left to remove is the CV stub, but I can't find my 35mm? socket for it.

I'm assuming I should try to get OEM uppers as well? or does it matter?


I'm going to TRY and drive up to Kalispell tomorrow to the stealership and get lowers at least.

Again, I'm sorry I've kind been all over the place on this. Not having the truck in the driveway but parked miles away at the firehall has added a stress and time component to this....and although it seemed fine at the time, maybe the stress of what was a near bad wreck is catching up to me.

Seriously though, you guys are the best.

 

UBJ aren’t much more for OEM versus aftermarket. May as well do OEM. Chalk it up to “lesson learned”. You won’t be doing it again any time soon!

 

I’m running high caster jba uppers and not hating it, but i also pulled my swaybar.

 

Do we know what brand this is?, this is the only markings I can find on the failed ball joint.

I now have all broken parts off the truck and spindle. Getting the CV nut off, without a CV shaft, was a challenge, but I finally got it.

 

Sorry if already answered, I've sweated so much today my body forgot to urinate and I drink a ton of fluids.

How many miles on those LBJ's?

Yes, take a breath and thank the Lord you aren't crashed, on your top, or dealing with somebody (maybe you) injured or dead.

Get it home or to a shop and get her fixed. Sorry about your other car's engine going out.

If it makes you feel any better.....I'll most likely have poison ivy reaction all over both legs and arms in about 4 days.