Ball Joints

[josh.bunch]

Toyotapartsales.com has 10% off for cyber Monday today only. Thru Midnight.

CODE: cyber2011

I just ordered upper and lower ball joints from them and I am local so I dont have to pay shipping!

 

[Kung]

Question - OTREs and LBJs are ordered; are any other parts needed (any boots or anything)?

 

[LittleCaesar]

I would replace the bolts that hold the LBJ to the knuckle, that is if you bought OEM parts. Eight total. #90080-10066, at least that was the # for my 99, and I think it is the same for your 2000.

 

[Kung]

I did...and argh! NOW someone posts about it, soon as I order the stuff. LOL

But eh, bolts are easy to get. Do they need to be 'Toyota OEM' or can I go aftermarket with these?

 

[madbomber08]

New knuckle bolts came with both Tacoma LBJs when I bought mine from ShopTRD.com.

 

[jsmithjr732]

I bought OEM 4runner LBJs last week from the dealer and they did not come with the new bolts.

 

[josh.bunch]

If you are talking about castle nuts they should come with OME ball joints. I actually ordered the castle nuts with my LBJ and the dealership wrote me back to say they removed them from my order bc they are included with the LBJ. Props to Toyota of Dallas for their honesty.

 

[madbomber08]

No, I received all the new hardware with each balljoint as well. This is really starting to make me wonder if these are actual OEM balljoints. Come to think of it, they never had any markings on them when I received them. However, they were beefy enough and the quality seemed all there so I figured them to be OEM.

Did your guys's OEM balljoints have any imprints on them that confirmed originality?

 

[Kung]

Well, I ordered mine from the same link josh.bunch did, I believe. SO, evidently it should come with them, and that's good.

madbomber08 - obviously I can't answer that yet as I don't have 'em :biggrin2: but soon as they arrive I'll look at them, take pictures, etc.

 

[jsmithjr732]

Mine were definitely OEM as I picked them up at the dealer. Came with the castle nut and retainer pin only. Did not have the 4 bolts to connect with the knuckle.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I want to say they are M6 or M8x1.25, but cannot say for sure.

Use the search engine, someone has posted the size before.

 

[madbomber08]

Just saw Gerdo's post and remembered to get these shots up for comparison.

4runner

Taco

 

[Kung]

Yeah, while not a huge difference in size, there IS a difference.

Got my parts yesterday (and no bolts, BTW - I'll double-check). I'm having them installed the 9th.

 

[Kung]

Ok, good news and bad.

Good - I was mistake - I DO have bolts with the LBJs.

Bad - evidently either I screwed up when ordering the part, or I misread information, or something. I read and re-read and re-re-read, and ordered the OTRE from this link, as specified on page 4 by madbomber08.

Well, I've obviously got LBJs, as compared to the picture. HOWEVER, the part I have along with the LBJs is NOT what's shown above. Instead of being about 6" to 8" long (about the same as the LBJ), with a 'male' threaded end, it is instead short as heck (maybe 2" to 3" with a female threaded end). It looks instead like:

SO.....

1. Do I have the right part?
2. If not, what DO I have, and can it be used elsewhere (or is it worth replacing whatever it is)?
3. Knowing that I have a 2000 SR5 Highlander 4x4 V6, what part number (from ToyotaPartSales.com) do I ACTUALLY want to order?

Boy do I feel like an idiot. *facepalm*

 

[madbomber08]

Kung,

I have a 1997 and as you can see my OTREs looked nothing like the one you have pictured, and I highly doubt the ones on your 2000 look like that either. I actually ended up purchasing my parts from ShopTRD.com because I got screwed for shipping on the toyotapartssales website.

Here's a VIN I pulled from an Ebay Tacoma (1998), and the part numbers match the part numbers I listed on the ToyotaPartsSales post. The thing that's confusing me is that I paid close to half of what they have listed here. I paid around the high-$30 range.

ToyoDIY.com

If somehow you have the longer inner tie rods under your 4runner you may have the right part. I don't know if you've looked under your 4runner but if what you have in the picture doesn't look anything like your stock one you most likely have the wrong part. I'd call them back and ***** them out for sending you the wrong part.

 

[Kung]

Kung,

I have a 1997 and as you can see my OTREs looked nothing like the one you have pictured, and I highly doubt the ones on your 2000 look like that either. I actually ended up purchasing my parts from ShopTRD.com because I got screwed for shipping on the toyotapartssales website.

What's interesting is that it lists something like 1996 through 2004 for the applicable year. (BTW - I wasn't blaming you - just referencing the link you posted. However, I've compared the nomenclature in that link to what's described all over the 'Net, and either I'm a big idiot, or it's mislabeled or something.)

Here's a VIN I pulled from an Ebay Tacoma (1998), and the part numbers match the part numbers I listed on the ToyotaPartsSales post. The thing that's confusing me is that I paid close to half of what they have listed here. I paid around the high-$30 range.

ToyoDIY.com

Ok...have done a bit of nosing around, and I'm still not entirely sure what the heck I did different. The *ONLY* difference (and this may be a HUGE difference, as I just now caught this) is that while ALL other words in what you posted, and what I ordered, are exactly the same, the part # on what I have lists it for a MANUAL rack and pinion, not a POWER rack and pinion.

So...I'm still trying to figure out what the correct part # should be for me. At this point, given my mental state (have gotten 6 hours of sleep in the last 2 days), I'll be glad to provide whatever details are necessary, to ensure I get the correct TACOMA outer tie rod end stuff. LOL

Again - my apologies if I sounded like I was blaming you, madbomber. I'm pretty sure it's Toyotapartsales' confusing web interface.

 

[madbomber08]

What's interesting is that it lists something like 1996 through 2004 for the applicable year. (BTW - I wasn't blaming you - just referencing the link you posted. However, I've compared the nomenclature in that link to what's described all over the 'Net, and either I'm a big idiot, or it's mislabeled or something.)



Ok...have done a bit of nosing around, and I'm still not entirely sure what the heck I did different. The *ONLY* difference (and this may be a HUGE difference, as I just now caught this) is that while ALL other words in what you posted, and what I ordered, are exactly the same, the part # on what I have lists it for a MANUAL rack and pinion, not a POWER rack and pinion.

So...I'm still trying to figure out what the correct part # should be for me. At this point, given my mental state (have gotten 6 hours of sleep in the last 2 days), I'll be glad to provide whatever details are necessary, to ensure I get the correct TACOMA outer tie rod end stuff. LOL

Again - my apologies if I sounded like I was blaming you, madbomber. I'm pretty sure it's Toyotapartsales' confusing web interface.

Oh yeah no need to apologize I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing as well. After reading my post, I do kind of sound irritated but it wasn't that at all; I was just in a rush.

And I do agree about the confusing web interface that Toyota uses to find their parts. I really had to dig to find exactly what I was looking for and eventually got fed up and called the 1800 number to have one of the reps help me. I wanted to make damn sure what they were sending me were the OEM Tacoma parts. And if you read earlier in the posts on this page I, and you, recieved new knuckle bolts with our OEM LBJs while some others did not. I still am scratching my head over that one. Maybe luck?

Anyway, if you need anymore help with it I am willing. I really don't know what else I can do for you as you have probably researched it so much by now that you just want to get the new parts on and be done with it. I would call ToyotaPartsSales 1800 number (if they have one) and just see if they know what the problem is.

 

[Kung]

Anyway, if you need anymore help with it I am willing. I really don't know what else I can do for you as you have probably researched it so much by now that you just want to get the new parts on and be done with it. I would call ToyotaPartsSales 1800 number (if they have one) and just see if they know what the problem is.

I may just do that - I didn't catch until now that you had indeed called them. But yeah, I just want the correct parts. (And part #'s, obviously.)

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong on this) that the same model year Tacoma OTREs is what I want for my 4Runners - e.g., I'd want 2000 Tacoma OTREs for my 2000 4Runner. Does that sound right?

'Course, I could just call them and say "Hey look - this is the ball joint part # I have; it's for a Tacoma ball joint that I'll be replacing my 4Runner ball joints with. I need the correct part # for the OTREs that will mount up to THIS ball joint." I'll let you (you guys) know how it turns out. If anyone else has any advice feel free to drop it on me. LOL

 

[bak3rme]

isnt the internet a great place to find information? looking foward to doing this

 

[madbomber08]

I may just do that - I didn't catch until now that you had indeed called them. But yeah, I just want the correct parts. (And part #'s, obviously.)

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong on this) that the same model year Tacoma OTREs is what I want for my 4Runners - e.g., I'd want 2000 Tacoma OTREs for my 2000 4Runner. Does that sound right?

'Course, I could just call them and say "Hey look - this is the ball joint part # I have; it's for a Tacoma ball joint that I'll be replacing my 4Runner ball joints with. I need the correct part # for the OTREs that will mount up to THIS ball joint." I'll let you (you guys) know how it turns out. If anyone else has any advice feel free to drop it on me. LOL

It really doesn't matter what year Tacoma ball joints you ordered as long as they're in between the years 1996 thru 2000 (don't quote me but I believe those are the correct years.) All the front end parts on a tacoma were interchangable between these years so yes, 2000 Tacoma parts will work. I think I ordered the year 2000 or 1999 ball joints for my 1997 just because it felt "better" then if I would have ordered older 1997 components.

And as far as calling them about it, I would do exactly as you stated. Just go to ebay, pull a VIN number off of one of the Tacomas, and when the guy on the other line asks you for your VIN number, give him the Tacoma VIN. (He doesn't have to know it's not your vehicle.) From there, he navigated me to the part numbers I already had listed which provided me closure on getting the right parts. After that I said thanks, hung up, and hit the order button.