I am needing to replace the ball joints (upper/lower). I am doing the old toyota parts lookup and cross reference on rockauto. I am wondering what brand ya'll prefer for ball joints. Cheers.
You need to use OEM ball joints, no exceptions. Do not buy them off of Rock auto or any parts store. I'll save you the hassle of searching on here but basically, all aftermarket ball joints are prone to failure.
There are several online Toyota parts dealers you can choose from if you don't want to buy them from your local dealership which is generally more expensive.
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Adding on to the above sentiments - OEM only for the lower. And I'd add on to buy 4 new bolts as well, and pay attention to the torque specs when installing them. Too tight is just as bad as not tight enough, on both the 4 smaller bolts holding it to the spindle, as well as the one large nut that holds it to the lower control arm.
It's one of the few problem areas on a 3rd gen. more for the catastrophic failure mode if it fails than any sort of weakness or underspeccing on the ball joint itself.
Far less drama involved with the upper ball joints. But they are a real PITA to press out of the upper control arm.
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The lowers are known to fail and are a no-brainer to replace. The uppers aren't a known problem so unless your uppers have play, I wouldn't replace them. If the boots are torn, Toyota sells a reboot kit. in the video description in our Upper Balljoint Replacement video, we provide a link to the reboot kit.
These videos will help you out.
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Also, mtbtim did an excellent write up and pointed out there are two different torque values on the lower ball joint bolts as there are two different types of bolts used.
Bolt with a flange on it or, a bolt with a washer.
Find out which one you got and torque accordingly.
You need to use OEM ball joints, no exceptions. Do not buy them off of Rock auto or any parts store. I'll save you the hassle of searching on here but basically, all aftermarket ball joints are prone to failure. Examine also Help Me Write My Research Paper for Affordable Price for some help
There are several online Toyota parts dealers you can choose from if you don't want to buy them from your local dealership which is generally more expensive.
not all aftermarket balls are that bad
but I agree that this is the lottery that you actually really can’t afford to lose
I know everyone is still on the whole OEM or die bandwagon with the lower ball joints but my recent experience is that you are better off buying a set from oreily or napa and using their lifetime warranty to replace every year or two depending on how you use the truck. Ive gone though 3 set of OEMs in the last year and a half. They all had over 1/8" of slop within 15k miles. The oem quality is not what it used to be, so if you're going to be replacing them anyway why not have some that you can replaced generally same day anywhere nationwide for free. The napas I have had on mine have been holding up better than any of the 3 sets of OEMs so far
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I know everyone is still on the whole OEM or die bandwagon with the lower ball joints but my recent experience is that you are better off buying a set from oreily or napa and using their lifetime warranty to replace every year or two depending on how you use the truck.
I concur.
I've had aftermarket (greaseable) LBJs on my truck for the past 10 years. I have changed them approx every 30k miles with the free warranty replacements. Other than torn dust boots, they haven't shown any significant signs of wear or free play.
I've had aftermarket (greaseable) LBJs on my truck for the past 10 years. I have changed them approx every 30k miles with the free warranty replacements. Other than torn dust boots, they haven't shown any significant signs of wear or free play.
What brand are you using and is your vehicle lifted? I'm pretty sure having a lift kills our LBJs, OE or not.
Absolutely use OEM - do NOT use aftermarket. We are talking about a part that might cause a fatality if it ends up failing causing a rollover or something. Most aftermarket parts can be used for something else, but ball joints for sure need to be OEM.
EDIT: As they said, only the lowers must be OEM. I guess there's no problem with aftermarket on the top ball joint.
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