LBJ just failed!!!

[Dezert4Runner]

Wow. IS THE WHEEL OK??? Thats really the only part that took damage and it looks fine too

The rim got a nice gouge from rotating when the tow truck driver stuck his jack under the LCA to have me drive about 10 ft forward enough to get to the rear of the truck to lift it up & dolly it. THAT WAS WAY SKETCHIER THAN BEING IN THE TRUCK WHEN IT GAVE! It doesn't look like it will be an issue though.

Any warning or symptoms at all ?
spooky failure

Funny thing is that today the steering felt wierd, very tight and the steering wheel would slightly shimmy when going over bumps. I'm pretty in tune with my truck and noticed it so I had took a look under it when getting gas (right before heading to Target on my lunch break from work). Didn't see anything, so carried on with my errands.

I replaced my steering rack bushings and front sway bar bushings about 6 weeks ago thinking it would get rid of this wierd squeaking/ creaking when turning that I've had going on for at least 3 months (not consistent in occurrence). Now I know what the problem was...

If those were the original lbjs with that many miles, than I guess its not that unreasonable that they failed. But still it blows my mind that these things fail like that. Glad youre ok man. I cant believe that people havent been killed from this and Toyota hasnt been sued . . . or maybe they have. Is your truck lifted? I can see the bilstein in there but cant tell if you have stock or Tundra coils.

I think they're Bilstein HD's. They're TRD Tacoma coils/ shocks off a 2000 Tacoma. They actually gave me 1" of lift though.

Were they the originals?

I've seen at least two threads where newish Moog LBJs totally failed.

The Toyota ones are supposed to be golden for at least 100k.

I bought this last year with 216k from the 3rd owner, and not much was documented as far as service on it. I assume they're originals.



I had the tow truck driver drop it off at my Dad's garage because I only have a 1 car garage, so I won't inspect it further until this weekend or possibly next week sometime.

 

[Baja Runner]

Lemme know if you need any help replacing it! I'm here in Cardiff.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Glad it happened there my man. Could've been a lot worse. It is a pretty easy fix. I did the Taco LBJ/OTRE's on mine just because I liked the idea that they're probably stronger. If you do both the LBJ's & the OTRE's you don't even have to separate them to take them off. Just undo the 4 ball joint bolts and spin the OTRE out. You can do both sides in under an hour.

 

[kball]

It's amazing how many of these happen at less than 5mph when turning. Something about going slower adds stress I guess...

What's with Pikemans pic? The balljoint looks good to me. Seems the 4 bolts came out or broke off??

 

[Nashvegas34]

Dude that just freaks me right the eff out. Glad you are ok. I drive 35 miles to work and another 35 back every day, all at about 75mph on the interstate. Right now I'm covering my eyes and yelling LA LA LA LA LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, LA LA LA LA LA!

 

[LDForget]

wow, got super lucky. When you go to change the ball joint, buy a tie rod because that'll likely be ****ed when you go to change it.

 

[Pikeman]

It's amazing how many of these happen at less than 5mph when turning. Something about going slower adds stress I guess...

What's with Pikemans pic? The balljoint looks good to me. Seems the 4 bolts came out or broke off??

Kball- that is exactly what happened. All 4 bolts sheared off. Looks like two broke first and then after a while like that the other two couldn't handle the stress. The reason I say that is the crack had a little aging or discoloration on two of them. I had a thread on here. New twist on LBJ failure or something similar. I wheel my truck regularly and at the time a lot more than now do to work schedule.

 

[Curtiswlkr]

lucky! I wish mine happened in a parking lot!!

 

[PNWRunner]

The luckiest 4R ever.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

Update

Checked out the damage yesterday and everything else is fine!!! OTRE is ok, and the rims is scraped up, but still fine! :boink:



I took a few more pics of the LBJ and the rim, since everyone likes pics.

Anyone know what exactly I need as far as a puller for my OTRE? Not familiar with what exactly I need the tool to consist of. I know I can rent one from the local parts stores, but I saw in Fightman's build thread that they usually don't come with an adapter kit? I don't mind spending $20 on a puller, but any more than that I'll probably have to rent one.

 

[fightman80]

The outer tie rod can be removed by whacking really hard on the old lower ball joint knuckle. If that doesn't work, re-thread the castle nut on (but backwards), and give it a few good whacks with a ball pin hammer. Worked for me, on both sides!

 

[LDForget]

The outer tie rod can be removed by whacking really hard on the old lower ball joint knuckle. If that doesn't work, re-thread the castle nut on (but backwards), and give it a few good whacks with a ball pin hammer. Worked for me, on both sides!

Except for the side that i fused the castle nut with the tie rod end, lol.

my advise is to honestly change the outter tie rod. Once you get it out of the knuckle it'll be shot. but, this is what the tool looks like if you want to press it out.

or

or

or

i think you get the idea.

 

[cordrayj1]

the last puller is the best. it wont slide off. use whatever one barely fits on there so it doesnt move around while you are trying to break it loose. and impact will helptoo..

 

[sn0wrunner]

Proud to say mine didn't go out when I was on pavement. Usually I'm traveling fast on pavement anyways...:biggrin2:

 

[IdahoAngler]

You guys are freaking me out. I have 185k on my original LBJs. Lifted about a year ago. I've specifically asked my shop to look at the LBJs and they assure me they look good/no issues.

Now I'm thinking I should just replace them anyway. What replacement LBJs do most recommend?

 

[cordrayj1]

You guys are freaking me out. I have 185k on my original LBJs. Lifted about a year ago. I've specifically asked my shop to look at the LBJs and they assure me they look good/no issues.

Now I'm thinking I should just replace them anyway. What replacement LBJs do most recommend?

i did mine at around 219k. def made a difference. big time. solid ride. i used the OEM 4runners, not tacoma lbjs

 

[Dezert4Runner]

Except for the side that i fused the castle nut with the tie rod end, lol.

my advise is to honestly change the outter tie rod. Once you get it out of the knuckle it'll be shot. but, this is what the tool looks like if you want to press it out.

i think you get the idea.

I actually rented this one from the O'reilly's near me because I saw that tool in this thread http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/103217-lower-ball-joint-removal-installation.html and he claims it won't ruin the OTRE like a pickle fork or other tools would.


I bought LBJ's for both sides from Napa. We don't have the rust issues that other states have, so since there was no play in my TRE's; I'll just replace the LBJ's. The $200 I spent on LBJ's wasn't in the budget as it is.

I'm starting on this after work tonight, so hopefully I'll be driving my T4R to work tomorrow

 

[bikerjosh]

The Pepboys near me let's you rent tools for free; well you pay for the tool, then when you bring it back in three days they refund your money. You don't even need to buy the parts there.
josh

 

[Dezert4Runner]

The Pepboys near me let's you rent tools for free; well you pay for the tool, then when you bring it back in three days they refund your money. You don't even need to buy the parts there.
josh

Yup, that's what I did. $12.xx and it's refunded when you return the tool. Pep Boys, AutoZone, O'reilly's, etc all do it.

 

[quicksilvr]

You guys are freaking me out. I have 185k on my original LBJs. Lifted about a year ago. I've specifically asked my shop to look at the LBJs and they assure me they look good/no issues.

Now I'm thinking I should just replace them anyway. What replacement LBJs do most recommend?

Yes, do them. I'd get OEM Toyota or NAPA Premium. The NAPA premium's are a Japanese made "555" brand....probably the same company that makes the OEM Toyota's for all we know.

On my last rig, I got the NAPA's for about $75/each. However, when I do it again, I'll get the OEM's since they are only $83/each online.