Lesson learned, use Toyota ball joints ONLY. a few years ago I replaced all the suspension joints with a "kit" I got off ebay (being the broke guy I am it was that or nothing and it needed replacing).

Well here we are just a few years and a few thousand street miles later with this:






Lucky for me I was just leaving a stoplight when it happened or it could have been much worse.

I had noticed some odd squeaking coming from that area the last few weeks that came and went. So I can't say I am totally shocked that this happened. I wrote off the squeaking initially as just the change in weather since it was very inconsistent. Then pointed towards the suspension when I looked at it briefly last week.

I had planned to really get under there and figure it out today or tomorrow actually since the weather was supposed to be nice, day late and a dollar short it seems lol.

As it is I need a new upper/lower ball joint, brake line, CV axle, tie rod end, tire and possibly a few other little things.

Pretty good considering what could have happened. I got away without any body damage or anything more then parts replacement. Still about $400-$500 worth of stuff though so it will most likely be sitting for awhile before I am able to get it drivable again.

Once I got it back home I got it jacked up and "put the ball joint back" and then put it down on some boards so it looks whole and to make sure nothing gets messed up while it sits.

I am just glad it happened at 5mph vs 65mph.

 

Not good there. but at least nobody got injured and no body damage to the truck.

 

Wow could have been a lot worse but should show to go OEM on the BJs lol. Live and learn and it's not totaled so I guess it's a wash!

 

Good to see you made it out with the minimum texas!.which brand were you using from the aftermarket?

Edit-just saw the first part of your post. Guess we live and learn. I have always been skeptical of eBay stuff since I got a junk HID kit off there a couple years ago.

 

Yeah, I was lucky and everything that was damaged is replaceable so I am counting my blessings there.

I had good luck with ebay ball joints on other cars in the past which is why I chanced it on this truck. Guess they just can't make good ball joints for the 4runner.

Not sure what the brand was, maybe moog but seems like it was something else.

 

Crap. I'm two months into what I guess would be the same ebay kit. Upper and lower BJ's, inner and outer tie rods....all for the low low price of $85? Guess we get what we pay for. OEM ball joints to be ordered today. Thanks for showing me the future TA!

 

TA, sorry that it happened. Lucky you got out of it without chassis/body damage or worse.

 

This is one of my biggest fears driving my Tacoma....


I should change my ball joints.

 

I put Senki 555 BJs on last year and they are super rusted,not the same as OEM. I could have bought Toyota parts from Toyota of Dallas for the same price. Live and learn.

 

Damn dude, glad to see your ok. Must of freaked you out. How many miles you got on your truck? I've got 120K on my recall lowers and 150K on my original uppers. I do get some sqweeks on my front end as well. Six months ago I did jack the front end up to check for play on the uppers and didn't see any, hopefully I checked the right way.

 

Yeah, I was worried about it too which is why I changed them in the first place. The stockers had noticeable play and I was about to get an alignment so figured might as well do everything.

Might have been better leaving the stockers who knows.

Too bad the OEM joints are so darn pricy.

Interestingly it seems like most of the failures I have seen around here are almost always the drivers side joint.

 

Now that you mention it, i've always seen the drivers side fail too.

 

That recall is not still going by chance? lol

It was kinda odd that is for sure. I actually thought I hit the mother of all pot holes when it first happend but it never "came out of it".

After a few feet I hear this hissing from a flat tire (window was open) and notice that it felt like I was driving on sand. A few feet more and I knew what had happened.

It was surprisingly uneventful, could still drive and steer to some extent, so waited for traffic to clear and pulled off the road.

Now had it happened at 65mph I am sure things would have been very different.

 

$150 for new OEM LBJs is not that bad.

It is amazing how most failures occur under 15mph. Good thing that you were OK.

If you have a decent yard nearby (www.car-part.com), I'd say you could walk out with everything necessary to get back on the road for under $200 and be good to go if the wallet is still tight.

 

Well it is bad when you consider that for less then that I got all the suspension joints for the whole truck. But then they off-brand didn't exactly work out so comes down to hindsight being 20/20.

I considered the junkyard rought but around here 3rd gens are exceedingly rare and usually picked clean. Plus while I am cheap I still make sure I do things right, so gonna go with new parts if I can manage it. Also gonna replace the passenger side joint as well to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

Holy cow! Glad everything/everyone is okay. If mine ever fail, I pray that they do right after a stoplight like yours did... Or while pulling into the garage

 

I'll add this to the thread for later when one of us ignores the signs and meets TA's fate.
New Toyota part numbers for the LBJ's:
Right - 43340-39465 (about $80)
Left - 43330-39585 (about $87).
*Double if you go through a dealership.

 

I just replaced my upper and lower ball joints on both sides with MOOG. Was that a mistake? It's too late to change now, I just wonder how cautious I should be? Has anyone had problems with MOOG specifically? Just under 200 for all 4 so they weren't exactly cheap.

 

Yep I did..... I created a thread on it awhile back. Look under my profile and you can read all about it

 

What he said, I think mine might have been moog. I know at least one of the joints was, just can't remember which.