I know Toyota parts are more expensive. I’ve always had luck with http://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/ and getting as reasonable a price as you’re going to get for dealer parts.

Based on the way the ball joint fails in our front suspensions, and the associated significant damage cost upon failure, I (and many others) don’t run aftermarket LBJs. I also swap them out on about a 75k mile service interval instead of waiting for play to develop.

Similar to the approach most of us take on eliminating pink milkshake, sometimes you have to improve the thinking over Toyota.

+ 1 for McGeorge.

It would have been great if Toyota did a corrective recall by revising the design.

Just did my first prophylactic change of the ball joints. Upper and lower replaced with NAPA heavy duty Moog.

Upper is not critical. Lower is SUPER-critical and could kill or cause major damage. Why not OEM for lower and after-market for upper or simply inspect the upper?

OEM ball joints broke before the truck reached 100k miles. Second ones broke only 11,000 miles after they were inspected and given a nod.
My trusted mechanic who seems to enjoy building offroad jeeps recommended the heavy duty moog.
Why not replace upper and lower while money and time permits?

Times and quality change, but the conventional wisdom has been to avoid Moog. Moog is/was known for high quality parts, but when it came to lower BJs, Moog were one of the brands failing. OEM have, so far, been the best quality BJs.

Maybe that's not true or the Moog quality went up and OEM quality went down. Or maybe there was a fluke with your lowers, or they weren't installed correctly. I don't know.

My original lower BJs were swapped at 190,000 miles, and checked out ok at that time by a mechanic, but I changed them anyway. My current ones have lasted 100,000 miles, and I plan to change them again before long. I used OEM. So OEM has held up great for me.

My 1997 4Runner has just over 366,000 miles and I know the passenger lower ball joint was replace 2 years ago, before I bought it off my son, but the left one has not been done since he bought it at 270,000 miles. How do I check the LBJs myself?

Just replace them. Sometimes they check out ok and fail. It's really just best to replace on a regular basis. 100,000 miles is a good enough rule...

Jack frame up so tire is about an inch off ground.
Inspect BJs.
Put crowbar under tire and pry it up repeatedly while someone observes EACH ball-joint for play.
Hold wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock positions. Push at 12, pull at 6, and vice-versa.
Observe EACH BJ.

Correct. Many have failed without noticeable warning. Possibly because owners were not aware of the design flaw I explain above^^^ until it happened.
Yes, routinely REPLACE LBJ and routinely INSPECT UBJ. I explain why above.
100k miles seems prudent. We shud create a poll on about mileage at failure.

That's a good idea.

I replaced mine at 189,000, because that's when I bought the truck. They checked out fine. But they aren't too expensive and it's not a bad job, so I did it anyway. Now the uppers...they're original...

Unfortunately checking for 0.5mm of play in the LBJ like the FSM instructs is nearly impossible without a dial indicator. So the general rule is to replace with OEM every 150,000-200,000mi and if lifted over 2" every 100,000-150,000miles. Do not use aftermarket LBJ's or you may have to change them every 20,000-50,000miles or experience premature failure costing you thousands since inspection is nearly impossible without a dial indicator to measure play.

Or... pull that 3.4 and put i a first-gen without the BJ hazard. :)

Great post as usual Malcom99. You ever wonder why Toyota engineers allowed that design? So critical; even life or death.
What was the flow chart of decision making that let this go so long? They had to know early on. The second design flaw-the radiator- costs money not
injuries, accidents and death. BTW, I won't sell my 99 Limited (especially love the multi-mode here in snow country), but
another poster called it about the 3.4: "the power of a 4 and the mileage of an 8."

^ I think there was no turning back after the amount of money invested in crash testing, retooling and releasing of the 4r, Hilux Surf, Taco and Tundra,. and they had no scapegoat like Dana Corp to foot the bill or blame(Which took a lot of Taco's off the road on Dana Corps dime), and the 4R had record sales through its 3rd gen year, so thats a lot of vehicles that need to be redesigned, and the redesign doesn't look easy or cheap. Like most recalls they will drag there feet like all automakers until the death rate is measurable and identifiable as a safety issue, just look at Ford and the firestone tire, hint, it was never the firestone tires that where the problem.

I like the 5vz-fe, its all bottom end power, great for offroading, if you want more power add the supercharger then it puts out respectable power.

It dawned on me slowly over the last decade...Toyota was always known for efficiency, fuel economy. I'm sure that stems from the 70s oil embargoes when these trucks really hit the US scene. But those days are long past. My 86 4x4 could get 24mpg, diving back & forth on flat ground at 65mph. My 3.4? Best it's ever done is 20mpg. Not sure about the newest Tundra, but everyone I know with a Tundra gets crappy mileage also. If towing or carrying a slide-in camper, their mileage immediately drops to 9mpg. I mean seriously. My truck has the look of small efficient truck, but it's a lie. Many V8s are more efficient.

I don't do much complaining because of the reliability and longevity of these engines. I'm no engineer so I won't claim to understand why an efficient V6, 8 or even 4 is within Toyotas reach, or is something Toyota is interested in. My friend has a 2015 Silverado V8. He gets somewhere around 22mpg highway, and gets 20mpg carrying his slide in camper.

As to the power...I'm very happy with my 3.4. Zero complaints. And I pull a 3,000 lb camper trailer in the summer. I've had a 20R, 22R/E, 3.0 and now 3.4, and in my opinion, the 3.4 is bada**. I've had 4 cylinders. This engine is nothing like them. But I won't defend the gas mileage. It's terrible.

I’ve never felt my 3.4 lacked power or torque. The throttle felt like it needed too much pedal when my son bought it, but we adjusted the cable and it’s been fine ever since. With 366,000+ miles, I get 12-18 mph depending on where and how it!s driven. But it’s a hunting/fishing/fun truck, so I’m not worried about it. I don’t do rock crawling, but I do like trail riding.

Good to hear! I'm about to turn over the 300,000 mile mark. I've been feeling more and more that retiring this truck to "mountain truck" status is going to be appropriate soon. I mean sure, I could drive it into the ground over the next 5 years by continuing to put 15-20,000 miles a year on it...but I could have it easily another decade if cut that back to 3-5,000 miles a year of just fun stuff.