Ball Joint Failure - My Turn

[ttora4runner]

For the past couple of days my 4runner has had a weird feel while driving and felt like there was tension on the steering wheel (wanted to pull right). I had looked underneath at everything and nothing seemed to be out of line.

Well, this morning I ran to store to pick something up before work and rememberd that I had forgot my check book at home and decided to run home and get it. At one spot in the road near an intersection there is a storm drainage ditch/dip in the road. I slowed down to about 10-15 mph, any faster than that and you'll scrap/bottom out. Right after I pass this the drivers side front end dives and I hear this scrapping/grindding sound. I drive a little more to get my self out of the intersection and get out to see what happens.

When I get out and look I just bust out laughing :rofl:(I just couldn't help myself in this stituation and the person walking out to their car probable thought I had lost my mind) as the driver's side front wheel is not partially under my 4runner. Luckily, the slider prevented it from going any further under. So I made a few calls and after an hour and half the tow truck finally comes and gets me.

While waiting for the truck a few stop and ask if I'm okay and a few I just shot the breeze with for a little bit. Heck, someone even took a photo themselves.

So now my 4runner is at the Toyota dealership (they replaced the lower control arms a few months back) and I'm in a rental Chevy Avero. I'm also talking with my insurance too see if they will cover anything. I doubt it but I'm hopefully.

Thankfully, this took place on a side road and not on the highway or out on the trail somewhere.

So anyways here are the photo's:

What's that white line on the road and why is the vehicle slanting to one side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/tbox/Damagae/IMG_0214.jpg

Well, that can't be good
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/tbox/Damagae/IMG_0217.jpg

Well, there's your problem
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/tbox/Damagae/IMG_0210.jpg



Anyone care to guess what the estimated repair bill is??

[fenrisx]

Glad you weren't out on the highway! These ball joint threads have got me scared! I wish I had the $ to do mine.


$1800?

[Seanz0rz]

well lets see:

new LCA - 200-400
new axle - 200
new lower bj - 100
new upper bj - 50
new inner tre - 100
new lower tre - 80
new soft brake line - 50
new abs sensor line - 50

id estimate 1200 for parts, 800 or more for labor. 2000.

if you are lucky, the LCA wont have to be replaced, and the inner tie rod is ok.

you mentioned (and i can see) that the LCA was recently replaced. why? a careful analysis of the mode of failure is due, as this may very well be their fault and they are liable. carefully document everything, and you may want to go to the dealer and take more detailed pictures of the broken parts. this is highly suspect to me.

[CJM]

Id make them pay for everything if they replaced the arm, fight tooth and nail imho. Somethign they did caused it all to fail. Wonder, was it the kinda BJ that has the nut and uses a cotter pint o keep it from backing out..betcha they didnt put the cotter pin in..

Funny tho, you didnt notice it feeling funny for awhile? I knew mine was kaput right away when I made some turns and the truck wanted to pull slightly, made some noises and felt funny on the road. Picked the front up and checked and listened to it clank lol.

Coulda been worse, I had a similar failure on a dodge fullsize work van I drove for a job. the BJ was the wrong one and literally was pulling out of the UCA. I drove it all day and told my boss aroudn 2pmw hen he finally picked up the phone I was heading in. Turns out a "2500 HD" model uses a 1 ton BJ. STUPID DODGE!!!!!! made it back and refused to drive it till they fixed it. thank god I got my regular work truck back a week later.

[Marc P]

I am getting mine done next week.....should have kept my SFA!!

[ttora4runner]

Sean you hit the nail on the head with that quess. :thumbup:

Right now the Toyota dealer doesn't want to accept responsiblity for it.

[strykersd]

if you are lucky, the LCA wont have to be replaced, and the inner tie rod is ok.
parts. this is highly suspect to me.


Considering that the control arm has been dragging it's probably removed some metal from the arm. Meaning that a ball joint won't sit correctly. I'd imagine that they'll have to replace it.

[20005spd]

wow thats nuts! i only remember seeing Ricks 4runner do this on here...am i correct with saying it was Ricks old runner? who else did this happen too?! ive had the stock bjs on my truck and i have 163k miles and wheeled hard never had a problem :headscratch: ive checked mine countless times for play and never found any. glad your ok if you were on the highway this could be horrible

[corax]

Here's the million dollar question - was the lower ball joint stud still in the knuckle?

[Seanz0rz]

Sean you hit the nail on the head with that quess. :thumbup:

Right now the Toyota dealer doesn't want to accept responsiblity for it.


of course not! i would say, do NOT give in. and keep telling them that it was lucky you were on an empty side street and not on a busy interstate where you could have killed yourself and other people. threaten to bring it to the newspaper/local news if you have to.






if you are lucky, the LCA wont have to be replaced, and the inner tie rod is ok.
parts. this is highly suspect to me.


Considering that the control arm has been dragging it's probably removed some metal from the arm. Meaning that a ball joint won't sit correctly. I'd imagine that they'll have to replace it.


the design of the LCA is such that where it was dragging might not be on a point that will impact the mounting of the BJ.

you can see it in this picture:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/IMG_0019.jpg

if the stud was still in the taper of the LCA, it likely rode the bolt down the street. if the stud backed out, it may or may not have damaged the bearing surfaces for the BJ nut. if it was out of my pocket, id try not to replace it, it is an expensive part. if they dealer is doing it on their dime (which it looks like they should, seeing as they were the last to touch it) then it should be replaced.

[ttora4runner]

Ya, the bolt was still in it that's what I dragged down the street. The ball of the lower bj was completely exposed.

In the one photo if you look at the cv there is a wear mark in the middle of it. Steve Schaffer mentioned that that was probable do the lower bolt of the shock being installed incorrectly.

[Seanz0rz]

mind if i ask why the UCA was replaced? seems to me if that was in need of replacement, the balljoint was needed as well, especially if the recall had never been done (does that cover 2000?)

[ttora4runner]

The UCA weren't replaced. The LCA wer replaced because the bushing were shot and they were going to charge me the same price either way so they got replaced.

Another thing that has been going though my mind is when they gave me my 4runner back after inspecting the LCA while I tried to decided what I was going to do. They never put it back together right/didn't do an alignment so I had a serious toe in condition which destoryed my front tires more or less. Could this toe-in problem be behind this a bit.

[Seanz0rz]

my bad, i meant LCA. its been a long couple of weeks...

[20005spd]

if the ball joint had a ton of play in it then yes that will throw your alignment off.

[Seanz0rz]

it is very possible to destroy that balljoint when it is removed from the LCA, depending on how it is removed. pickle forks often cause alot of problems.

[troyboy162]

upper and lower ball joints 80ish
outer tierod maybe? 40ish
brake line maybe? 20ish
cv used 40-50

make sure your steering rack didnt take a beating but it looks like a slow speed and low damage. even your brake line looks ok.

what exactly was replaced? a toyota new LCA complete with LBJ as an assembly? or as sean is saying they reused your dirty old salty lower ball joint?

[YotaFun]

Ugh I don't know where my post went but let me try this again.

As per Toyota repair manual instructions, the lower ball joint does NOT get replaced.
There is a SST tool to get the ball joint out of the lower control arm.

Also the 2000 year was not included in the ball joint TSB.

Just so you know...

[troyboy162]

man if the old ball joint was reused then you gonna be out of luck trying to get them to pay for it. they have the easy out of an old part in lifted configuration and thats pretty much the truth of it. they wouldnt have had to pickle fork it. they would have just unbolted it and bolted to the new arm.

opps guess i need to go look under the truck lol

[YotaFun]

Yeah, I will be doing mine sometime this summer along with the upper uniball joints.

If you had a way to prove that they used a pickle fork to remove the joint your good but I know we use the SST on the last set we did.

[ttora4runner]

Went back though all my auto repair receipts and found one from May 29, 2010 in which the left lower ball joint was replaced - with one from Checkers/O'Reilly auto parts (Moog). So I wonder now if it was a piece of crap ball joint or if it was due to some other act that would've caused it to fail. If it was truely the part that failed.

Are those parts covered under warranty at all?

[Obi..]

*Need I remind anyone about the balljoint recall? :D I don't have access to the print out or tech sheet anymore, someone needs to do it by vin lookup or find the exact "Service Bulletin" if it was not deemed "Recall". The reason is the "Service Bulletin" I saw dated it back to 1997, unlike the general issued recall discussed here: http://ezinearticles.com/?Toyota-Truck-Recall:-Tacoma,-4Runner,-Tundra,-and-Sequoia&id=47735

Here, let me find my lawyer cap for a second, **GLAD YOU'RE OK!**

Combine that with your arms being replaced minus a "proper" repair of all new joints and it seems to me a call into Toyota Corporate in Irvine is in order. If you are a squeaky enough wheel they'll allow the repair to be done at another Toyota or Lexus dealership of your choice (the way I went when Piercey refused liability over my headgaskets) and either have that dealer comp you, give you a refund, or make the dealer who did the arms credit the other dealership. Ask corporate to show you the repair slip showing the mechanic's name and where he/she showed the inspection of the ball joints was performed and they were tested and deemed "safe and/or adequate" and then point out "adequate" does not necessarily convey "safe" to the NHTSA http://www.nhtsa.gov/ .

It got me a full refund for the head job, gaskets, misc parts, labor and a rental car credit.

[YotaFun]

NorCal I have the Toyota Information System website up.
The Campaign for the ball joints included the following
01-02 4Runners
01-04 Tacoma 4WD and Prerunners
02-04 Tundra's and Sequoias

[ttora4runner]

Someone just noted on another forum that the bump stops on the LCA are missing and from looking the photo and a few others it looks like they were never reinstalled with the new lca due to the lack of wear marks.

How would this affect it?

[Seanz0rz]

i knew the arms looked weird, but i couldnt put my finger on why.

missing bump stops would cause massive uptravel exceeding the specified range of the balljoints and shocks. you might have just found the reason for your failure...

[Obi..]

^That!! Nail 'em to the wall!!

[Obi..]

NorCal I have the Toyota Information System website up.
The Campaign for the ball joints included the following..


There was another one, I'll see if I can find the info when we return stateside to all the glowing fallout.

I know I am not wrong, or at least hope I am not, in the meantime try searching non-US-spec stuff. It may have sourced from a vehicle that was used here but was not US approved when someone stopped in for a repair while traveling the states with their vehicle. For the life of me I cannot remember how it went, but it was the newer front end like your guys rigs, not like mine and it wasn't the international Hilux with my style front end. I'll ask C'Dan and Beno about this when I can.

[KZN185W]

The bump stops can be seen on the last picture. they're near the shocks.

but not on the accident pic showing the LCA up close.

[Scuba]

Ya, the bolt was still in it that's what I dragged down the street. The ball of the lower bj was completely exposed.


So the 4 lower ball joint bolts were sheared, or backed out, or something along those lines. Over torque those bolt and they begin to get fatigued due to heat cycling from the stress. Undertorque them, or fail to use locktite, and the bolts fall out, leaving maybe one or two in there, which then shear.

If they were the last to touch them. This is 100% NO QUESTIONS ASKED their fault. Sue them if they won't fix it.

[Seanz0rz]

NorCal I have the Toyota Information System website up.
The Campaign for the ball joints included the following..


There was another one, I'll see if I can find the info when we return stateside to all the glowing fallout.

I know I am not wrong, or at least hope I am not, in the meantime try searching non-US-spec stuff. It may have sourced from a vehicle that was used here but was not US approved when someone stopped in for a repair while traveling the states with their vehicle. For the life of me I cannot remember how it went, but it was the newer front end like your guys rigs, not like mine and it wasn't the international Hilux with my style front end. I'll ask C'Dan and Beno about this when I can.


the only recall was as avy mentioned above. toyota did extend this to earlier 4runners on a case by case basis to ease customer concerns, but nothing prior to 01 was within that recall.

there is a tsb concerning the checking of the ball joints, that covers all vehicles with IFS, PG027-02.

btw, those bump stops dont just rattle them selves loose. they were most certainly not replaced during the last service, so i think you got them on that. now its just making them admit to it...

scuba, the upper attachment of the lower ball joint is still bolted to the knuckle. the actual ball joint itself failed, where the ball pulls out of the socket (much like dislocating your hip or shoulder... and nearly as painful) no bolts backed out or sheered, it was a failure of the component itself, not the attachment mechanisms.

[Scuba]

scuba, the upper attachment of the lower ball joint is still bolted to the knuckle. the actual ball joint itself failed, where the ball pulls out of the socket (much like dislocating your hip or shoulder... and nearly as painful) no bolts backed out or sheered, it was a failure of the component itself, not the attachment mechanisms.


Your right, didn't read close enough.

Though, there are no bumpstops on that LCA.. Thats another good reason to shove down the dealers throat. :roll:


And my neighbors think I'M the crazy one for doing all of my own maintenance on my truck.

[troyboy162]

And my neighbors think I'M the crazy one for doing all of my own maintenance on my truck.


i hate this truth 'cause i never have time to do my own work, but its true. a-arm bolts falling off, locker not working, loose alignment cam bolts....just about every time someone else touches it...

[Obi..]

i hate this truth 'cause i never have time to do my own work, but its true. a-arm bolts falling off, locker not working, loose alignment cam bolts....just about every time someone else touches it...


Look into what the industry refers to as a "CSI", Customer Service Index. It's used to push your mechanics to do rush jobs or cut corners. I see so many kids, and yes, I use "kids" to describe these people who are so afraid to take the time and do things right that it then becomes habit to them, right down to what you forgot to mention, something as simple as a properly torqued drain plug or belt tensioner.

Oh the things I've seen, and you all wonder why it's so hard for me to find a job right now, it's because I am being very careful of where I go and what I do and I am most certainly not going to be wrenching when put under those insane time-pressure guidelines. Service Advisor maybe, but wrenching will be on my own stuff when it needs it or at a shop who has techs I trust.

[troyboy162]

every industry has a push to get things done and employees young people. not every industry has such a historical bad track record.

your still jobless? arnt you out of savings yet to be selective in your job search? you arent selling your kids to Angelina Jolie are you?

[YotaFun]

I will have to agree, Toyota is even cutting times on more and more jobs its insane.
Not the greatest example but one to use, the Tacoma frame swap pays about 60 hours and you get all new suspension components for it. With the Tundra they cut the time by a 1/3 and parts replacement list got cut in half.

Heck even a simple 5k service got cut down too.

There are ways to go about doing your job quickly but still efficiently and correctly.
Like I have the top of my box cleared and when I get to work I set out majority of the tools I figure I will use in a day, obviously basic tools to do an oil change and rotate tires, and brake job stuff, which most tech would think I am insane for, but I have a different mentality when it comes to my job over others I think.

[CJM]

Everyones cutting corners, real shame in many ways. Even worse is you cant trust someone to do a job right its just sad. I didnt want to bother doing wheel bearings awhile ago and had noticed some play but I knew my steering box was bad as was one of the ball joints was on its way. I paid a shop of a friend to do them and noticed later I had an odd squeak but I thought it was brakes despite finding nothing. I then replaced the balljoints at my usual shop just cause I have no time (they always do good work and I know them personally, actually Avy knows the shop hes been there a few times). Anyways replaced steering box as well b/c they couldnt align it over at sts (said box was bad) still its all done and I noticed wheel movement. Freaking 5k I drove with a loose wheel bearing! It only made noise when you stopped slowly-otherwise I couldnt hear anything. I tightened it up and all is well I think. Who knows the damage it caused, I wasnt about to remove it all and inspect the spindle as it wasnt super loose but still...

You pay someone to do a job and they dont do it right. Hell I thought I was incapable of installing a rear axle seal so I said frig it paid toyota to do it to the tune of 150 bucks-it still leaked and I got my cash back. They couldnt tell me why either.

I say the ball joint failed b/c someone failed to do their job properly. Its a stupid simple job too, but one never knows.

As with everyone else, I try and do all my own work-at least I know if I did it right or wrong!

[Obi..]

*Grants/Scholarships*

Job interviews are going well in fact, three in the next week need to be scheduled once our flight lands. I am being somewhat subjectively picky. No more lame jobs. Time to make my education and experience really pay and stop wasting time with a "job", I want a career path. Being stupid and doing like I did the last two days arguing a point over in 'Mud doesn't help things. I need a real job with real pay, or else I'll go right back to my grant and scholarship $ and continue onto higher levels of education.

We're talking possibly Honda or ADT, heck there's shop jobs and a tow/recovery job if I decide to fall-back.
I've little as far as worries about my marketability, I just want someone to step up to the plate so I can hit it home, not play around with wafflers who won't pay for what I have.
[/OT..sorry to have caused that.]

[ttora4runner]

My credit card now has a $1000 hole burned in it but at least my insurance covered a little over half of the cost and I have my 4runner back minus the bump stops which are on order on their dime; the dealer admitted that they were left off and should be there.

Any who, how is this for failure of the ball joint?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/tbox/101_0190.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/tbox/101_0194.jpg

[Crinale]

Damn.. maybe i should retrofit uniballs now before its too late *shudder*

[Seanz0rz]

so they admitted they left off parts, why did they not pay up?

[Obi..]

Pull the rubber seal and let's see how bad the crown's fractured.

[ttora4runner]

so they admitted they left off parts, why did they not pay up?


Not having the bumpstops may have contributed to the failure but because it can't be proven that it was the cause they wouldn't do anything.

[Lee]

I'm sorry that's horseshit :chair:

[Obi..]

*Bullshit man, that is a mojor safety/handling/control item that in and of itself is a major violation of liability and responsibilities. If you want me to give you one of two referral sources for a gratis secondary investigation of all of this, one of which is a national level consumer authority, let me know, or simply see what's available to you as far as representation from your insurance.

The fact that they are helping with the expense shows this is a factor for them and they will assuredly be going after the dealership on their own accord. Keep this in mind and do not sign off your rights declaring your claim to be satisfied and closed with them.

*That is why I still have not settled with my stuff, personal, business, and corporate responsibility are things that are very subversive these days.

Don't sit there and be their "female dog" in all this, things well could have been worse and this is evidence of a bigger issue within the dealership. Get representation to subpoena their call-back records or even go as far as to contact TMSA as we've suggested.

Here's your first line of defense: (800)331-4331 this is Toyota's Customer Service Line which you can use to climb he internal ladder. All repairs by Toyota within 12 months are guaranteed regardless, excluding abuse, and beyond that this issue is also within the scope of the 3/5yr accountability and liability considerations they will disclose to you in a call to them. If you are still fighting it, above and beyond that, again, remember, you can go to any other dealership within the Toyota umbrella and resolve this within the scope of lack of trust with the primary dealership, and even can do as I did get things fixed and file a complaint, claim, or suit within 90 days to 2 years IIRC.

*Mods, hopefully that is me saying what I need to say but can't because it'd violate forum guidelines.
**I hope to heck I didn't just burn an employment bridge posting this, but I'll stand for you as a consumer, we can discuss this later if you need to cover my ass or I need to cover yours. ;)

[20005spd]

so help me put together the big picture on here please. nobody answered my question and i couldnt find the thread about (rick's?) 4runner ripping a ball joint out too...how many other people has this happened too?

your BJ in that pic shows wear that would take some considerable time to happen. and i highly doubt missing bump stops would cause such even scoring on the ball itself. if the missing bump stops were the cause of BJ failure i would have to say you would see random wear marks, if any, as the truck bounces past the missing bump stop and hitting the ball of the BJ against its socket. do you wheel this truck alot/hard? the amount of time these trucks spends past the bump stops would be very little on the road.

how many miles are on this 4runner in question?
have you ever checked your steering and suspension yourself properly? or does the toyota dealer handle all of this stuff?


im very curious about all BJ issues on these 3rd gen 4runners since my 2000 has 163k miles, no bj play, and has been wheeled hard. just strikes me as odd to see a few others have this problem

in this thread it also says you had the L/F lower bj replaced before, and a moog part or something aftermarket was used. why was the bj replaced then? due to play? how many miles on it then? aftermarket steering and suspension components or basically anything in my 5 years working at a dealer dont hold up as long as factory.

[ttora4runner]

End of May last year lower ball joint on drivers side was replaced.
End of June beginning of July last year steering rack was replaced.
End of October last year both lca were replaced by the Toyota dealer.
Suspension components checked end of January 2011 during normal service cycle and were deemed okay.
March 2011 recently driver side lbj failed.

Light trail use after October.

[Marc P]

Not going to worry about mine for another 160k....my old ones were shot!!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/MarcP1971/0417011046.jpg

[YotaFun]

I need to get mine done, it looked like it was about to pop out the other day...

[CJM]

I had one awhile ago that as you made a right hand turn the left lower BJ actually was moving around in there (ball and socket) and you could literally feel it moving in there, kinda made the tire turn on its side (or it felt like it).

[ttora4runner]

To those whom this has happened to has your 4runner felt the same afterwards?


Every so often it feels like the whole front end gets a little sloppy/loose.

[Obi..]

^Check the steering rack bolts and see if 1. They're tight. 2. The bolt holes aren't all elongated/torn-up. Then check the rack itself to see if the arms have too much play in them like the teeth have started to wear out.

Same for the rag-joint on your steering shaft.

~I almost grabbed a pic yesterday, a parishioner's 4Runner from our Church looks like he lost his driver's side balljoint and wrecked..saw his Runner sitting in his driveway and tried to ask about it, but he wasn't home. This is right after I'd mentioned for him to get it inspected..all I could see is old parts. Accident or other thing, I don't know yet.. :(

[Seanz0rz]

make sure the eccentric bolts are tight on the lca.

[YotaFun]

Not going to worry about mine for another 160k....my old ones were shot!!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/MarcP1971/0417011046.jpg


I am surprised you didn't get the revised style BJ with the added dust shield.

[Marc P]

I got a really good deal on a set left over from the campaign Toyota had....almost free

[Seanz0rz]

I am surprised you didn't get the revised style BJ with the added dust shield.


pics?

[YotaFun]

Here ya go Sean
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/UY%20Stuff/BallJoint.jpg

[troyboy162]

hmmm! that looks very handy to have protect the boot!

[Obi..]

Here's that 4Runner I mentioned 8 posts up..although the front end looks fine the right rear quarter's completely gone. I'd hit him up for the transmission and engine if I wasn't still debating a full-size for the garage. You can totally tell it was the lower left joint that failed, check out the tire. :(

[Obi..]

hmmm! that looks very handy to have protect the boot!


Hmmm, will it retrofit to 2nd gen 4Runners?? You got me thinking now. :D

[YotaFun]

Well I thought I would share my story of my failure a little more in depth.
I knew I needed to do my lower ball joints I just didn't know how bad...

About a two months ago on the first warm day hear in the Northeast, I took the truck out for a drive and noticed every time I took a left turn I would hear a rotational grinding, I figured okay a wheel bearing is going bad, I don't drive the truck anymore unless absolutely necessary.

Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend, thing have been getting stressful around here that I just needed to get out so I decided I would go on a run the local TTora Chapter was doing.

I get the truck to work and put it up in the air to put my skid on and check out the wheel bearing, but when I spun the wheel there was no noise.

I took my flash light and looked closer on the inside and noticed something very odd and new something wasn't right.

I grabbed my needle nose pliers and pulled out this:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure003.jpg

What you see in the picture there is the top cap of the ball joint like you would see here:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure017.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure005.jpg

So I decided okay I need to put a new ball joint in cause that's not a good thing.
and it is a good thing I did.

When I got the joint out it looked like this:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure008.jpg

It was still in the socket but still exposed to the elements which is a huge no no.
I continued to fiddle with it a little more and then this started to happen:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure010.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure012.jpg

Thats def not good, it kept pushing up into the cv axle, and longer and it would have ground away completely at that and then I would have had a fun ride with the front of the truck going up and down from the joint popping in and out...

However the grease was still in there and the pocket does not look that bad:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure014.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/BallJointFailure016.jpg

So I chalk this failure up due to our wonderful rust belt...
I got a cheapy replacement for the trip but will be getting Toyota ones for both sides soon.

To save the boot though here is a picture of that boot cover, as far as the top, I guess POR-15 to help protect it more?
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/IMG_1114.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Nighthief/4Runner/Ball%20Joint%20Failure/IMG_1112.jpg

So it can fail in a different way....

[CJM]

Ouch! That looks like you saved it in the nick of time Avy! Id say POR15, or as I like to use that rustoleum rust converter paint and some satin black. very little rust has come back since i sprayed the entire T100 with it.

On another note, when my drivers side BJ failed it kept giving me weird feelings while I was turning-Im guessing it was moving up and down like yours was and if anything when I looked at it myself the wheel aint supposed to move up and down at all like I was getting 1 inch of play.

[Bob98SR5]

man reading all of this is freaking me out. my steering is verrrry sloppy. when im on the highway, my vehicle sways from side to side. i can feel it in the steering wheel. my passengers have noted the swaying feeling too. i have 187k. i know i need to do a complete front end job.

[4x4mike]

Bob, how old are your shocks? Miles on the tires? In the past year I noticed a lot of swaying and gave everything a good looking over. For me it seemed the swaying got worse with cargo. New Trekmaster shocks and now some BFG ATs have made the ride so much better. My Revo's had around 45K on them and were a little squirrely.

[Bob98SR5]

mike,

new trekmasters and 99 springs were installed about 3-4 months ago (thanks lance). this condition has been progressively getting worse for about a year now.

btw, i'm going to be up in the bay area at the end of july. i'm going to try to drive up so i can visit you, ken and scott on the weekend.

[paddlenbike]

btw, i'm going to be up in the bay area at the end of july. i'm going to try to drive up so i can visit you, ken and scott on the weekend.


:thumbup:

[4x4mike]

mike,

new trekmasters and 99 springs were installed about 3-4 months ago (thanks lance). this condition has been progressively getting worse for about a year now.

btw, i'm going to be up in the bay area at the end of july. i'm going to try to drive up so i can visit you, ken and scott on the weekend.


Hellz yeah. One you hone in on a date let us know.

[YotaFun]

Bob,
Lower ball joints are so easy to do, i mean you could even swap them out on the trail there that easy to do.
The uppers are the joints that are a pain in the rear to do, but I wod still get them done.
The nice thing about the Toyota ones is they give you everything for them...

Also check your tierods, I'm sure the out er ones have seen there share of weather.

Another thing that I have been readin that apperently has been working is changing the steering guide on the rack, there is a thread some where on TTORA about it for the Tacoma's

[Bob98SR5]

mike and ken,

i'll definitely be up there last wkend of july. i'm trying to take off thurs to sunday, but more likely than not, friday to sunday. so there ya go. ill be purcahsing my ticket by end of month