I am interested in this development as well, since it seems an incremental improvement in the strength of the system. However, the simple fact is that 4Runners have puny front ends and are cursed with a steering system fit for a minivan.

I may be sounding like Debbie Downer, but I really am excited about this. Its cheap, its easy, and if it saves one truck on this forum from being totalled it will be worth it. If its just a sugar pill, then at least it will provide a little peace of mind.

One of our guides sheared off his mounting bolts for the LBJ while on our High Water Mark trip. He has an 04 Taco. It happens, and will continue to be a weak point until you put a real axle under there.

Hoping to replace my LBJs this weekend. I'm tempted to order the Tacoma LBJ's & TRE's and maybe a set of 4runner LBJ's incase the Tacoma's don't work. I can always return the unused 4runner set if the Tacoma ones work.
Josh

They will work. The question is - are your TRE's worn out? If the are, then this will be the perfect upgrade.

If they are not, then it might be futile.

I thought the TRE's are needed if going the Tacoma route? TREs are less expensive than LBJs.
Josh

They are needed and that is the big improvement. Using the Taco TRE which are much more stronger then the 4runner's TRE.

If your Stock TRE's flop around, then they are worn out and should be replaced.

I know a fair amount of engineers and unfortunately for us they actually are taught to add failures into the equation due to 'job security' is what they call it. So I just check mine routinely and will end up just going to SAS eventually when the need arises..

If the Taco TRE's are beefier and you're replacing the LBJ's wouldn't it be beneficial to replace the LBJ's and TRE's with Taco parts?

There would be lawsuits if companies engineered failure cycles into critical safety items. Other items are, like water pumps, price point engineered. Consumers don't want to spend $1,500 on a life time water-pump, hell getting them to pony up $150 for a 100k mile OEM one is hard enough when they can get a part's store 3rd party unit for $35 that's only good for 2 years.

I do believe there is an effort to price cut and keep sales high in the consumer electronics industry. It has been a race to the bottom with no real effort to improve product longevity.

So I didn't get around to this last weekend; too many other things came up.
I did manage to put the 4runner up on jack stands and check for any ball joint slop doing the old 6 and 12 o'clock grab and shake. No appairent slop in LBJ's.

Now at a cross roads, with 156k miles and a 3" lift wondering if I should replace just for piece of mind or if it's silly since I don't have any signs of wear? I'm guessing it will take some time to delvelop some slop in the LBJ and I'd have some warning before failure.

Thoughts?
Josh

Yeah, ACTUAL auto industry engineer here... This is total garbage. Engineers don't engineer failure into parts (unless that is part of their function, like consumable devices), and we are not taught to do that. Engineers design the best design that can be achieved at the price point they are given. Ultimately, it is the business managers that decide how long something is going to last, but it isn't through specific design features, it's through pricing out the best materials and processes.

There are consumable products that have a life cycle, like filters, spark plugs, etc. But these cycles are unavoidable. If someone could come up with a spark plug that lasted the life of the vehicle, they would, they'd sell it for a couple x the cost of a regular one, and they would make a TON of money on it. Then, when "every car in America" has them (which they never will), the company will continue making money because believe it or not, people do buy new cars even though their old ones aren't broken.

What companies do these "engineers" you know work for. I would really like to know.

Water pumps are not designed to fail either. Believe me, if they could make one that never needed to be changed, they would. The people making money off the replacement parts are the dealers, because they get service charges out of them. From the manufacturer's standpoint, it is much easier and cheaper to just stop producing a part, stop maintaining inventory, stop shipping replacement parts, etc. I know this because my company has to keep old products and tooling around despite no longer making money off them, just for replacement purposes. We lose money on these things. We made all the money when the part was in full production. No one makes money off of 5k $5 parts being sold per year

You are right about the lawsuits though. And probably somewhat about consumer electronics type industries. But still, even these companies are concerned about their reputations for reliability. Reputation does equate to sales. I can promise you that NOBODY designs in failure of a safety critical part like a ball joint. Look at the pics of guys who've lost LBJ's while driving. No engineering firm wants that liability on their hands.

So back to the Tacoma LBJ and TRE, are they a bolt on fit? Pics? I am looking to do this soon and would like to hear some success from previous installs.

Did it. It worked. 1000 miles on them with 200 miles of off road use. No complaints.
josh

Did you notice how much beefier the Taco TRE's are? They should help running bigger tires.

Josh, did you get OEM or did you buy elsewhere? Do you happen to have part #'s? I have to change mine out real soon. Thanks.

I bought the Napa premium (I think that's what they called them). I'll check the part numbers when I get home tonight on the reciept.

Yep, the TREs did appear more sturdy.
Josh