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Hello, first ever post here. This seems like a very knowledgeable group so I hope you can help. We drove over some railroad tracks today going about 15 and this happened...
It’s a 2001 4-runner and it has always been so good to me! We were having some issues with the traction control beeping when we were not sliding but that may be another symptom. Is there an underlying problem?Do we just replace the upper ball joint and reseal the CV boots and call it good? Thanks for your help.
Last edited by Frussell; Nov 29, 2017 at 07:53 AM.
Looks like failed ball joint/s. Replace those, on both sides (if one goes, the other might not be far behind). Also, the steering tie-rod looks bent a little.
It's the way they are under tension instead of under compression so as they wear the slop isn't noticed until catastrophic failure. Most 3rd Gen owners have switched to a 60k mile replacement timeline rather than waiting for play to show.
As has been said above, it looks like you're in for UBJ and LBJs on both sides, a tie-rod (you might as well replace both sides so they have equal wear), and probably an ABS sensor since that one looks like the knuckle is being held up by the ABS wire. Less than $500 in parts and a solid afternoon wrenching in the driveway and you'll have a brand new front end good for several years and tens of thousands of miles.
I agree with everyone so far, but nobody mentioned the CV, if you have the tool for the boot clamp you can try re-greasing and re-sealing, but I'm a big fan of replacement on them. And don't forget to align it when you're done with the ball joints and tie rod!
It's the way they are under tension instead of under compression so as they wear the slop isn't noticed until catastrophic failure. Most 3rd Gen owners have switched to a 60k mile replacement timeline rather than waiting for play to show.
As has been said above, it looks like you're in for UBJ and LBJs on both sides, a tie-rod (you might as well replace both sides so they have equal wear), and probably an ABS sensor since that one looks like the knuckle is being held up by the ABS wire. Less than $500 in parts and a solid afternoon wrenching in the driveway and you'll have a brand new front end good for several years and tens of thousands of miles.
^ This.
I replace my lower ball joints around every 100k miles with Toyota parts for this very reason. It's an alarmingly poor design on Toyota's part - as evidenced by the countless examples found in Google pics when searching for "4Runner ball joint failure", etc.
Ive also replaced my uppers a few times, but they're a PITA to do compared to the lowers.
Search LBJ failures... It's the way they are under tension instead of under compression ...
Originally Posted by aowRS
^ This... It's an alarmingly poor design on Toyota's part - as evidenced by the countless examples ...
Yes, these^^^
This is a potentially deadly issue. There are posts regarding this but unfortunately people who are shopping for third-gens may not research enough.
Originally Posted by millball
Hard to believe there was no noise or steering irregularities before failure.
We did not see any irregularity on my daughter's BF's 3rd-gen's ball-joint, either. No vertical play, No side-ways play, then this happened, fortunately at low speed.
Nov 29, 2017 | 07:50 AM
Diagnostic help- what happened??
