Well I've been a member for a while and have been able to get all my questions answered by reading other post until now. I have a 97' 4runner with 156k miles and have just noticed both front axles are throwing grease. They do not grind or make popping noises but they seem to be original so I think a boot kit is out of the question. Also the drivers side lower ball joint is leaking grease as well as the passenger side upper so if I replace them I will do all four. I can not find any play in the joints other than they are loosing grease and will fail sometime. My question is should I replace the parts now because I have the money now or wait until the wheels fall off and risk not having the money then? I am planning on taking a road trip in a few weeks (about 2000 miles) so would that justify doing the repairs now? Any thoughts?

 

I'd do it now. What happens if you're on your roadtrip and you run into a problem with them? It will surely cost you more $$ and vacation time.

 

I would totally do it all right now. Ditto from FJHammerhead. That sucks out loud when your vacation is interrupted due to vehicle repairs. As for the play in the joints...They don't need to have play in the joints to fail, the lack of lubrication causes them to fail. So since you have a busted boot from the lower and upper joints you should replace all four because you're supposed to replace them at the same time (i.e. both upper or both lowers). As for your axles, it's WAY less of a pain in the A$$ if you just replace the entire axle with the boots, etc all assembled ready to install. Look @ NAPA, Autozone, etc. Another note - if you're already that far into it you may also want to look into your steering rack bushings and tie rod ends. Hell, replace your stabilizer bar bushings too. I bet once you get it all put back together, aligned, and on the road you'll feel like you're driving a sports car.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the insight. I was trying not to be too particular about my rig. I have a buddy that says I need to relax and just fix it when they really break and stop looking for excuses to work on my truck. Well I guess I am going to order my parts and find out just how much fun the upper ball joints really are. Any more opinions or 2 cents?