First Gen Lower Ball Joint(LBJ) Failures

Poor design. Buying aftermarket only invites premature failure due to use of plastic internal parts unlike OEM.

 

Oem fails, yet oem is the way to go……..

 

That’s crazy. Appreciate the replies. My neighbor has an ‘01, I’ll have to ask if his have ever been replaced.

 

Think about it. All of the weight of the front end is place on those LBJs trying to push them out of their socket. Most other design have them facing upward so the weight is compressing the LBJ mounted to the spindle.

 

Have you ever owned a vehicle with LBJs under tension, or always LBJs under compression? Coming from the GM world myself, I always dealt with the latter, and can't recall ever owning anything like the Taco/Tundra with LBJ under load. I didn't take the claims seriously. But after a few years of seeing up to a dozen people per month with their wheels tucked up into their fender well, and massive carnage, I started to get it.

It's both.

First .... This is a wear part, Toyota states that point very clearly in the LBJ recall bulletins, but there's no real "maintenance" for OEM joints. People tend to (ignorantly) treat it as though it's something that should last forever. I say "ignorantly" because I can't think of any car out of the few dozen I've owned in my lifetime that had magical everlasting ball joints. It seems if folks aren't ignorant to limited lifespan, they have an expectation the LBJ will give ample warning prior. Given the design of the OEM joint and how it sits in relation to other things, it's 50/50 on whether you'll see play in the joint, and I think that's off-putting to even your average mechanic who doesn't deal with this design often, if ever.

Best practice: Treat it like the wear part it is, change out based on the part lifespan. And I'm not saying "part lifespan" as if every part is equal in quality/longevity, because they're not, that would be another poor judgment to make. For OEM, that means changing every 100k-125k miles, knowing we typically don't start to see OEM joints failing until 150k-175k miles on stock suspension. Aftermarket parts are all over the place, we've seen them fails as quickly as 5k miles, and others at 40k miles, but rarely lasting more than 25-50k miles. Consensus is: AVOID. Go with the part whose quality doesn't falter, and use fresh bolts, then proactively change like your timing belt and radiator: Every 100-125k miles.

Second... It's a design, I wouldn't call it "flawed" necessarily. Other manufacturers use load-carrying lower ball joints, but I think it'd be preferable to opt for tension-loading design over the compression-loading design Toyota went with. I think if someone sold a load-carry conversion kit similar to what you can buy for the Jeep JK/WJ, which allows you to convert the upper 'follower' joint into a load-carrying joint, effectively splitting the load between the upper and lower, people would buy it. I mean, I know Solo and TC both make unibal conversions, but I'd love to see someone put out a reasonable ($600-1,000) conversion that's OEM-grade, with inexpensive replaceable parts, to convert the front suspension to compression-loaded. But it ain't happening, because these trucks aren't popular enough, and the to-market cost would need to be more like $2k-3k.

 

Good explanation, thanks. I have always dealt with the typical compression style… Honda, GM, Dodge, 4Runner.

They’ve always given plenty of clicking notice when they were ready to be replaced.

I had to do a double take on my ‘21 Tundra it indeed has the tension style of the 1st Generation. Good to know, I’ll put an asterisk on my checklist for that item.

 

2.5 gens do not have the same design as the FGT does. And creaking or screeching noises along with difficulty returning to center and increase steering effort are telltale signs from my experience for ball joints universally

 

Guy claimed they were replaced with OEM parts by a shop "not that long ago." I'm not sure if that included new hardware or not.

 

Another good reason to do it yourself, then you know what brand of parts were REALLY installed.

 

At least he somewhat owned up to his mistake.

 

Previous owner used Moog. Had to bring tools, parts, and mechanic up the mountain. Replaced driver side, drove 45 mins down, then drove 1.5 hour home when the second LBJ popped out. OEM ONLY LOL

 

Thanks for being willing to post this. And sorry for the bullshit you had to go through. It looks like maybe you got off mild compared to others - how bad was the collateral damage?

 

replaced both LBJ with Toyota parts. After alignment, it looks like rack n pinion will also be replaced. This was my first time off roading and I got the full experience lol

 

Here's some BOLT sheering actionCHANGE YOUR GODDAMN LBJ BOLTS YOU CHEAP TWATS

 

Holy crap man

 

I have a 2006 DC 4WD with about 70k miles. I have a few questions of those in the know/experience and I humbly request your support:

1) Multiple mechanics are trying to convince me NOT to use Toyota OEM LCAs, but rather use Moog. I've seen enough here to be extremely wary, but the shops just think I'm an ignorant old man. Planning to buy Toyota OEM LCAs and ask them to install them anyway. (I can't do such stuff myself any longer and don't have all the tools/garage anyway.) Besides all of the previous posts and comments, any other ammo to help me?

2) Going to add this https://www.shocksurplus.com/produc...2006-toyota-tundra-4wd?variant=31673548472369 and wonder if I need/want Toyota OEM UCAs or something specialized - even though I'm lifting only about 1.5". Use OEM UCAs or other? Is there another combo (coilover and rear shock) that is recommended? I don't do any offroading (or at least not intentionally), just want to get rid of original stuff that is now 19 years old.

3) While I'm at everything, do I need to do any kind of differential height adjustment for such a short leveling lift? Current axle covers show no problems, splits or leaks.

4) The only frame rust is at front leaf spring connection. Recommendations for remediation/repair?

5) I have 4Runner 17" alloys on the truck and had to add 1" wheel spacers to deal with the incorrect offset. I like the 4Runner wheels, but what hub centric spacer do I anticipate needing after the UCA, LCA and lift/strut changes and using the same wheels?

 

Multiple mechanics to avoid right there.

 

1) Moog IS NOT the company they were 10-15 years ago, a lot of their products are made as cheaply as possible today, and aren't made in-house, they're contracted out to the cheapest warehouse they can find. A lot of folks who don't know this change happened will push you toward their stuff. That said, I don't think the LCA are bad, but the LBJ you need to avoid. If the mechanic you're talking to isn't aware of the massive Moog recall on LBJ for our truck, then maybe they're not aware of the change in Moog's operations. What I will say is, you'll pay twice as much for OEM if you know where to buy, but they're going to last 3x-4x longer than ANY aftermarket part out there. Source: I used Moog exclusively for eons, and I won't buy their parts now after seeing what garbage they put out now.

2) You don't need specialized LCA to support 6112s. Make sure you know exactly what clip settings (they'll be different per side) to use BEFORE the suspension install day. You'll need to do that, or inform the shop. Bilstein's instructions tell you everything you need to know. In fact, there's not a lot you need to change as long as you don't go over 1½" - 1¾". Corrected clip settings chart for 6112 is below. You just need to decide whether you want 1.3" or 1.6".

3) Diff drops are bullshit on our trucks, and really don't do much to correct stance.

4) Depends how bad "rust" is. If it's surface rust, Take some 00 grit brass wool to buff the rust away, clean the area with paint prep (wax/grease remover) and wipe clean with a lint-free cloth, then hit with a few light coats of Rustoleum Satin Black rattle can. If it's deeper rust, you'll want to scale or grind, clean with paint prep and lint gree cloth, etch-prime, then topcoat with Rustoleum Satin Black in a rattle can. Use light coats on each, per the can directions. The paint cans tell you EXACTLY how to use them, you just need to read the instructions.

5) Why would you need a hubcentric spacer? Are you using 2023+ 4Runner wheels? Hubcentric spacers are for when you're trying to use a wheel that doesn't have the same OEM hub bore as your vehicle. Any pre-2023 (or pre-2022) Tacoma and 4Runner will have 106.1mm hub bore just like your Tundra.

​

 

Oh, and @Dufus be prepared, if you're in a rusty area (and even if not) your cam bolts may be fused into the sleeves. It's one of those things you may not know/find out 'til install day. You can't use aftermarket parts on the sleeves; nearly all aftermarket cams/adjusters use plastic sleeves that smash/crumble/squash/flare-out the ends in short order.

 

I was asking about UCA with a lift. Yeah, I was planning on the #7/#5 clip setting to get around 1.5" on a DC.

 

Ah, I misread. If you're under 2.5" lift, you really don't need aftermarket UCA. Just asking, did you read the "Suspension, wheel and tires ..." section of this thread? If not, you probably should.

• Extras... At 1.5" of lift or higher, you'll want extended swaybar links, Suspension Maxx sells, to avoid travel limitations. As you approach 2.5" of lift with 1GT trucks, you're closing in on thresholds of OEM travel and should consider extras to compensate. Examples: You'll want new upper control arms (UCA) to more easily hit alignment numbers. At 3" and beyond, you may need to snug up your OEM CV boots or get ORS extended boots or similar to avoid grease-sling or ripping, and probably add bumpstops, etc. There are a lot of considerations - think about it, or ask questions in the forum if you need a sanity check!

 

Thanks for the info and reference. There's so much on this forum it's hard to find what you want even with superhero search skills.

 

My most successful search technique is to use Google. Just put your search terms in Googles search and follow it with "Tudras.com". Watch the magic happen.

 

I currently am using 108mm lug centric spacers with the 4Runner wheels (don't know how old the wheels are.) Didn't know much about spacers and incorrect offsets when I tried using the wheels and had some rubbing. I had the dealer install these spacers and, as expected, there are noticeable vibes at about 60 mph. I'm told better hubcentric spacers should resolve it, but by the same people who told me to use Moog, so there's that....

 

... "site:tundras.com"

 

I’ve not typed it that way and google understands anyway

 

Bora / motorsport-tech.com or spidertrax