Anyone hear of Proforged parts?

Monitoring this thread... Would looove to replace my LBJ's with my lift but OEM sets are so damn expensive. Really don't wanna ride much longer on this 20 year old pair...
 
OEM are $200 a pair.

They are much cheaper than any lift worth having.

They are about the same price as a pair of springs, or pair of shocks, or 1 tire, or a timing belt kit, or 1/4 the price of a bumper, or.......
 
How are you determining that they need to be swapped out? (Genuine question, not being smarta$$). If you are catching issues in such a short time you are being more diligent than most- myself included.

Pretty easy to check these LBJs for play with a crowbar.
 
The max allowed up/down movement in the lower ball joint is .5 mm (.020 in) with 66 lb/ft of torque applied according to the service manual. Good luck seeing that without a dial indicator.
 
How are you determining that they need to be swapped out? (Genuine question, not being smarta$$). If you are catching issues in such a short time you are being more diligent than most- myself included.

My rigs used a lot off-road. On some fairly hard trails. Like any good wheeler I check my shit after every run. To do that for the LBJ's I just jack up the front end. Then use a 36" pry bar to check for play in the LBJ's. The hole .5mm idea is a joke. I only replace them when I can see visible movement. 1/8" or greater.

I had to field weld a Pro-Forged LBJ to the spindle last year. 3 of the LBJ bolts sheared and I was unable to remove 1 of them. Instead of running 3 of 4 I decided welding the LBJ to the spindle would be way more likely to get me off trail. Not only did I get me off trail it also got me home. Then onto the Rubicon. Then through Fordyce. I had spare spindles and LBJ's in my rig for both trails so it was more of a test to see how good those welds where.

They where good enough to finish both trails. The cup and ball of that LBJ never failed and only had about 3/16" of play when I swapped in my new spindles and LBJs. Sure, check your LBJ's often. But they don't fail as often as folks on this site would like you to believe. Keep in mind how many 3rd gens where sold. Compare that to the amount of documented cases of LBJ failures in both OEM and aftermarket. I don't think you have a better chance of being struck by lightning but it's not that far off. lol
 
I recently replaced my original UBJs and LBJs at 225k. OEM all the way. Given the choice, I like to do the best I can for the rig. Not a place to save $100 unless you are a hardcore wheeler like the gentleman carrying a welder and spares onboard.
 
Sure, check your LBJ's often. But they don't
fail as often as folks on this site would like you to believe.
:amen::amen: So many people buy a 4R with >200k on OEM LBJ's, have no problems driving it, read about the 02 recall and suddenly start worrying. Yeah, it's a bad idea to go years and years without replacing them. But they don't need to be swapped out like oil changes either.
Obviously hardcore wheelers should be far more diligent in their maintenance, but the people that do 6 hours of light trail blazing every other month should really worry less.
 
They where good enough to finish both trails. The cup and ball of that LBJ never failed and only had about 3/16" of play when I swapped in my new spindles and LBJs. Sure, check your LBJ's often. But they don't fail as often as folks on this site would like you to believe. Keep in mind how many 3rd gens where sold. Compare that to the amount of documented cases of LBJ failures in both OEM and aftermarket. I don't think you have a better chance of being struck by lightning but it's not that far off. lol

Finally someone owning up to the LBJ "issue". We see LBJ issues more often on these because more people give a rats ass when a Toyota breaks. Couple this with people not being able to properly read any LBJ recalls related to that particular IFS and the whole thing gets blown out of proportion. The proforged warranty is pretty bold. I feel like it's one of the few aftermarkets that could be trusted on these. On a wheeling application I'd say you found a winner.
 

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