2004 Tundra Lower Ball Joint Replacement

I did this last night/this morning in my drive way, and other than the joints being stuck in the LCA and the tie rod end, it was pretty straight forward.

1: Chock wheels, engage ebrake, jack front end of truck up

2: remove tires

3: remove cotter pin from tie rod bolt and remove nut.

4: I used a pitman arm puller to remove the tie rod from the ball joint. I watched multiple YouTube videos of people just hitting the ball joint with a sledge hammer and the tie rod just popped out, but this did not work at all.

5: remove 4 bolts from back of wheel to lower ball joint, and move wheel out of way

6: remove cotter pin and nut from bottom bolt on old ball joint. use pitman arm puller to pop ball joint out of LCA.

7: repeat steps in reverse order to install new ball joint. Torque bottom nut to 106 ft lbs and install new cotter pin. torque 4 bolts behind wheel to 53 ft lbs, and torque the rod nut to 67 ft lbs and install new cotter pin. Put tires back on and lower truck and you’re good to go.

 

Any recommendations on ball joints? I know OEM is king, but anyone got other solid options? Gotta do mine soon.

 

Just get OEM. Seriously. They aren't that expensive.

@speedtre didn't you buy the "kit" they sell that comes with new bolts?

 

Yes, but the kit is only for 04-06. (Edited for accuracy, thanks @BubbaW)

McGeorge Toyota usually has the best prices when you factor in shipping...but Cool Springs has fee shipping right now...so might be cheaper...

https://www.tundras.com/threads/cool-springs-ships-free.64278/#post-1677448

 

Do you know of a kit for 01? Also great find.

 

No...the only reason the 05-06 has a kit is because the lbjs were recalled on them, so the kit is actually a recall kit. If I remember correctly the two lbjs for your year cost less than the kit for 05-06. But make sure you get 8 new bolts and two new cotter pins...they aren't expensive.

 

Whatever you do, don’t get 1A-Auto. I had one fail on me a couple weeks ago. After that I got Napa Chassis. $158 out the door with my corporate discount.

 

I like Moog ! I’ve never had an issue as far as stock replacement parts , been a mechanic for over 20 yrs . I’m sure there is better parts for lifted trucks , but for stock that’s all I use . Besides factory oem .

 

Ouch Glad to see your okay

 

yea, ive seen this all to much to not buy quality ball joints. glad your ok!

 

Are the Mooges that much cheaper than oem? I’d much rather pay the 20$ extra per, not to have to deal with a lbj failure that could be deadly

 

Well there are generally plenty of warning signs before a failure . A complete failure with no warnings is generally from abuse or off-roading and that stuff is just part of the deal . Haven’t priced ball joints for a tundra so I don’t know the price difference.

 

I paid 178 for both my oem ball joints.


Ordered the recall “kit”

 

I did do some moderate off roading, but had no signs of lower ball joint failure before it happened. Luckily I was only going 15 mph

 

In case 2004 owners like myself run across this thread, the recall was for certain 2004 through early 2007 Model Year Sequoia and 2004 through late 2006 Model Year Tundra vehicles.

 

Here are the lower joints for the 2000-2002 tundras.

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota....0dW5kcmEmeT0yMDAxJnQ9c3I1JmU9NC03bC12OC1nYXM=


https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota....0dW5kcmEmeT0yMDAxJnQ9c3I1JmU9NC03bC12OC1nYXM=

 

Appreciate it bud. Anyone got a link for deal on bolts and pin?

 

You need to hit the Ball Joint knuckle a lot harder and the tie rod will pop out. Your replacing it anyways, so what if it gets banged up. You also must of got lucky on the 4 small bolts, or live down south......that ain't happening in the North East unless you heat the metal surrounding the bolt to red hot. So they finally do a recall, not saying the previous years were crap as well. So unless Toyota made better ball joint for the early ones, why buy another set of Toyota Ball joints. Beck Arnley $40 a piece.

 

The recall was 13 years ago in 2007

 

Right there skippy...........it took until 2007 for them to have a recall.

 

Just like anything , it has to happen to the right person before they do anything .

 

It appears when you buy the ball joints they come with a new castle nut and cotter pin. The 4 bolts that come up from the bottom of the joint should be these:

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-bolt-w-washer-9011910933/?c=YT10b3lvdGE=

Please provide your VIN# to whatever online dealer you use and they should point you in the right direction if the link above is incorrect.

 

I’m actually a little confused on the 8 bolts (4 per joint). Here is the other link I found:

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-bolt-flange-9008010066

Like I said, double check with the merchant or maybe someone here knows which of the part numbers are correct. Thanks.

 

Sweet thanks, appreciate the detail!

 

Thanks @speedtre for the link to the cool springs free shipping code. Here is a screen shot I generated with the parts @MrAristo was asking about.

 

How much is it recommended to do control arms when doing LBJs? Also I hear UBJs tend to last much longer, anyone got input on that and if/when to change?

 

Nice job man. But specifically talking about uppers here, I know the lowers tend to be a weaker point on our trucks.

 

My 2 cents on the uppers. If you're pulling it all apart anyway to do the lowers you might as well do the uppers if you don't know when they were replaced.

 

Can someone help me verify the part number for the "kit"?

I found: 04005-04134

It is indeed much cheaper than ordering the parts individually but it doesn't seem to include the 8 bolts or the lock nuts for the LBJ. This would be for my 2005 DC

 

That is the wrong part number...that is for this service campaign...

http://media.fixed-ops.com/Toy_Campaigns/50Jdeal.pdf



You need part number 04006-62134 for this recall (see attachment).

I originally ordered new castle nuts and cotter pins when I ordered the ki but I was contacted by McGeorge Toyota with the following:

"Hi,
We noticed that you ordered part number 04006-62134 for the ball joint kit, but also ordered castle nuts and cotter pins. The kit above actually already comes with the castle nuts and cotter pins included, so it's not necessary to purchase them separately. Would you like us to remove and refund the extra castle nuts and cotter pins from the order and proceed with the rest?

--
Thank You

Toyota online parts
Be sure bookmark our new url
toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com"

Order your kit from Cool Springs while they are doing there free shipping and it will be the cheapest you will find and you can confirm with @Roman (their parts guy here on the forum) that your kit has those nuts and cotter pins as well, but mine did.