duburban

i've been given a 1990 4runner to drive while i'm here in hawaii. i'm trying to figure out what this noise is in the front end. if i take slow moving hard turns, there is a loud popping sound. i was told that it had a bad ball joint but i'd like to be 100%. i've looked around the sight a little but haven't found any good write ups.

a.) how do i diagnose this?
b.) how hard is a ball joint on these things? what kind of special tools do i need?

thanks!

apalmer1

Yes bad ball joints are a good one for making those nice loud popping sounds. If you have a bad ball joint also the vehicle may wander around the road a bit especially if your doing a slight turn.

To test your ball joint:

-jack up one side of the vehicle only (the side your checking) use the lower A-arm as your lifting point, and only go up 2 or 3 inches.

-use a pry bar, 2x4 or anything else of that type and put it underneath the tire, and push up on it with considerably force.

-if the wheel moves directly up and down even slightly without the suspension moving(coilovers, or in your case shocks because you have torsion bars) then the balljoint is bad.



Additionaly you might visually inspect the ball joint. not much you can do in this case but if you look at it and notice that the grease boot that goes around it is cracked or split then it is for sure toast.

EDIT
Ive never done a balljoint on an older 4runner, but the nice thing is that if you do have to replace it you can go ahead and hammer the old one off using a pickle fork. pickle forks are typically a pain because they often split the grease boot if you use them to get the old balljoint off, but if yours is already toast thats not an issue. Pickle forks have a range of different sizes and are usually about $10-$13. hopefully somebody who has done several of these will chime in but worst case scenario if a pickle fork is not an option (which is the case with some older press-fit ball joints) you can remove it using a C-press which costs about $60.

CC_yota

Could also the steering stops

Team420

If its a ball joint, they are fairly easy to replace, I am able to do all 4 in my truck in under 2hrs, tools you wil need... pickle fork, 10 mm socket, 12mm socket, hammer, jack... you dont even have to take the hubs apart, disconect the shocks from bottom a frame, then pop the upper bj, when you are ready to put it back in use a jack to raise the hub assembly,, then do the bottom.

dirtoyboy

I would check the condition of the ball joints before replacing...it very well could be the infamous steering stop noise

zlathim

x3-- I would check this out first. Dab some grease on the steering stops and see if the noise goes away or is less noticable.