First Gen Lower Ball Joint(LBJ) Failures

I have gold starfish. I'm invincible.

 

Use OEM, stay off the naughty list.

 

J120 platform is different (4th Gen 4runner, gx470, Prado.) and 100 series Landcruiser is also different to my knowledge, though I did see a post about one recently on mud that had a wheel bearing failure or something (?) that resulted in a complete separation of the wheel/hub from the truck. But yes, 3rd Gen 4runner, 1st Gen Tacoma, prado's and surfs of the same generation have the same issue.

Edit: also the big tree obviously has the same design.

 

I owned a 2000 Tundra Limit since 12/1999. 175,000 miles on it. Only for a few years of this time was it a daily driver. I never heard of the LBJ problem till a few month ago. I was always so busy raising kids, working, and life in general. Never did anything but oil changes, tire rotations, and the like. Now that I know, I am going to change them soon. LOL

 

I remember before the Internet age, all we had was a dog-eared Chilton manual. I had lots of BMW motorcycles, airheads we call them, and changed many RMS without blocking the crank, so did the dealers at the time. Now it's the end of the world according to the Internet if you remove the flywheel without blocking the crank first. Ignorance is bliss I guess, I still take a lot of this with a grain of salt, but I should note I have seen LBJ fail, so it can happen, but I wonder how many high mileage trucks are running around on the originals vs failures. Just my curious and somewhat skeptical brain whizzing around.

 

I had plenty of nookie in my premarital days, often w/o protection. Somehow I made it by without catching anything. I knew the risks, and I got lucky. I have a handful of friends and acquaintances who can’t say the same.

At the end of the day, everything is a game of odds. You have clear proof bad stuff can happen. You can either mitigate risk to avoid tragedy by doing things that lessen your odds, or raw dog it and hope for the best, I guess? Dollar for some level of protection was a small price to pay, in hindsight. Glad I don’t have anything I regret as a result of my willful ignorance.

Ball joints are a wear item, per common sense, but also per Toyota. Wear items usually need to be changed every 100k/10yr to be conservative and safe. Change it with fresh hardware and it’s one less disaster to catch.

 

I have no comment on the RMS, having no experience with it, but, anyone who does not recognize the importance of maintaining lbj on these trucks is living on borrowed time.

 

Ha, you and me both, I still thank the universe to this day I made it through with no I'll effects.

 

x2, and some of them were done drunken sailor/any port in a storm... so fkn lucky.

 

Get your point about 'the internet' But, the flip side of the 'before the internet age, it wasn't an issue' theory is that before the internet age, how would one know how prevalent an issue was? There is a difference between internet posts about "my wife's hairdressers boyfriend had it happen" and actual first account stories, with pictures.
Regarding the LBJ replacement question, the parts are usually a hair over $300 including the 8 bolts, with free shipping. That's before the 25 percent off sales that roll around.
So less than $250 if ordered at the right time. And given that correct tools are available to rent for free, it's cheap insurance. 4 bolts and 2 nuts each side. Just need a pleasant and dry Saturday morning and it's taken care of. Gives you time to inspect the suspension and bushings also..

 

Saw one of our brethren on the side of I-675 today, at the on-ramp, LBJ fail. He’s lucky it happened getting on the ramp, not doing 75-85 down the interstate! Sucks either way. Prob a potato quality pic, maybe I can update when I get home.



Looks like it's not much better quality on desktop...

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ehhh you can still see how the wheel wanted to sit in his lap.

 

Yeah, when I drove by the wheel was parallel to the bumper, and the center cap on the wheel was kissing the lower 4" of the fender flare.

Not a good look. But definitely threw their front LBJ. Wanted to stop and throw some words at 'em but was rushing to grab the kids and only had about 3-5 mins of wiggle room.

 

Should have offered him $500 cash for the truck.

 

poor guy

 

Liar. I saw the movie. I know who really made it.

 

you forgot to include my comment lol

 

Meanwhile, dude takes it to a shop and they install any-damn-brand they want, shit happens again in 1-2 years.

 

actually though the way he writes "joined the club today" but then replied to me "it wasn't on purpose." Is bewildering to me.

willful ignorance is just negligence.

 

Ouch

 

Author claims the crash wasn't caused by LBJ failure. Also claims the truck is "fine".

 

I saw that. There also seems to be a lot of LBJ popping up too.

 

Who needs a working driver’s side door and mirror anyway? Weld the door shut and enter Dukes of Hazard style. Also, close your eyes and floor it when changing lanes.

 

Dibs on that bumper

 

@Sirfive where is that gif? Vultures!

 

It's Mogley, Jungle Book

 

first gen meme catalog.