LBJ paranoia

[afg10000]

Always seeing "change your LBJ,s" and posts for LBJ failures. Got the part numbers and never ordered them. All of my mechanic friends and Yota junky friends tell me I'm crazy for wanting to replace parts that aren't broken. They say I need to lay off my obsession and garnering all this paranoia from the forums. I have no indication that there's anything wrong with them. Good buddy in CO has been giving me crap for months about wanting to replace them. Got 125k on them.
Now the story. I was supposed to meet my buddy at his shop today to get my sliders welded up. Talked with him this morning and he didn't seem very happy. He's got a '98 Taco with a 3" lift. Pulled into the parking lot of his shop and ball joint failed (I assume lower one first). Bam! Ripped out the UBJ, ripped the CV axle out of the diff, busted tie-rod, rotor, etc. God knows what else will need replacing. Thankfully, he was in a parking lot going 5 mph. He's got 225k on his truck (original ball joints). Will post pics of the deluge when he sends them to me.
Is my paranoia justified now?
How come everyone's always saying replace the lowers and not the same level of paranoia with the uppers?
Spooky stuff to think about when I'm taking a 2k road trip (including mountain and sand wheeling) with my old lady in 4 weeks.
Getting my truck thoroughly gone through my a reputable mechanic on Friday. I'm gonna see what they say regarding the condition of my ball joints. Previous owners just used the truck as a grocery getter and took very good care of it. But...

 

[MONTYMTB]

I hear what you're saying, but my original LBJs have 350k on them - having them replaced as I type this. With my mileage, I'm just considering it as maintenance.

EDIT: I don't wheel and don't have a lift - used as a daily driver.

 

[shootmymime]

im getting scared as well on my 96, ive got right around 280K miles on it and original ball joints. its never been wheeled but in the winter we use it as a hunting rig.

to check play and condition of them, i jack up the front of the vehicle so the tire is just off the ground, then place a large screw driver under the ride and pull up on it, noticing how much play there is in them.

i will be replacing mine in the 96 in a few months.

i would say dont worry about it just yet. 125K miles isnt that much, just like montymtb said

With my mileage, I'm just considering it as maintenance.

think about it again when your at 200K miles.

 

[5RUNNERZ]

I think you might be just a little paranoid but it is a reality! You buddy's also had double the miles! Have your truck had the recall from toyota done? Because they will replace them if they haven't yet and if they have then yours only has half the miles you think on them!.

 

[tre9er]

OP, taking good care of your truck isn't paranoia, IMO, but I'm also not saying to replace everything willy-nilly. Greetings from just down the road in Lincoln, BTW.

 

[JWaldz]

Inertia tends to keep the ball joints in working order. Most failures you see are in parking lots or at low speeds when your vehicle is apply brakes. There have been a few cases of higher speed failures, but it's not common. Regardless, they tend to leave a disastrous mess behind so it's always better to ease the mind with new parts then have it happen when you least expect it. Especially when it's the family or soon to be family vehicle.

 

[afg10000]

Yeah, I checked with Toyota a few months back on any recalls. All I had was the old rear coils (already done). I'm with ya'll on the mileage vs. maintenance. I would have never known about ball joint failure until I started researching and building on this truck. Never would have thunk about it. If the guys on Friday say they're perfectly fine and safe, That'll be the 4th professional to tell me that. At that point I might leave them be. Thanks for the advice -

 

[PitbullRescuer]

I've replaced them on most of the 4Runners I've owned. The two that I did not was only because I sold them before I got to them. And I know one if them has been done since. It's cheap insurance. I'd never forgive myself if I neglected it and something happened to my wife or son.

 

[GhostRing]

Ignorance is bliss and all that, but I am sure glad I came across all the info regarding the
non-failsafe config of the 3rd Gens. The last of my suspension parts came in today
(TRD coils) and nothing is getting installed until the OEM LBJs I also ordered today show up

196K and all-new operating angles doesn't sound too great...
I have a feeling I will have enough fun with CV boots and such -
that having the wheel fall off is something I'd rather not deal with!

 

[BigSlim]

I have no idea how old my LBJ's were when I got the 4R a couple of months ago. But what made me decide to replace them was the fact the dust cover boots were so brittle I could actually break off pieces. The steering always felt fine. So I replaced them along with the inner and outer tie rod ends, just because I was going to be under there and now I have peace of mind about it. The good part of changing the LBJ's is that they are actually quite easy to do with typical tools and one or two borrowed tools from a local auto parts store. LBJ remover instead of a pickle fork if you plan on reusing your tie rod ends. I removed the rotor and backing plate on the first change and found out I did not need to remove all that stuff. On the other side my time was cut in half by just removing the parts I was replacing. Go ahead and change them and you will feel better knowing they are new. You will need a tire alignment afterwards.

 

[LittleCaesar]

My right LBJ boot was leaking at 96xxx miles. It did have some play in it but I thought at that mileage, I had many more miles under my belt.

Within a year I had to replace the right CV and the bearing. Not to say the right LBJ had anything to do with it but...

Replace the lowers. OEM. Very easy to do. It would have saved me $$$ in the long run.

 

[4Runner4TW]

I just replaced mine before doing a 4700 mile road trip. I did not want to be on the highway or a gas station in the middle of nowhere with a broken truck. Was expensive (little under $200) but I feel completely safe now and it wasn't all that hard to do. Only problem I ran into was my passenger OTRE stripped so I had to go all the way across town to get a new one from Napa. My advice is to get the tie rod ends as well and if you don't do them just bring them back. would have saved me over 3 hours of running around.

Anyway! I would just replace them. Then you don't have to think about it.

 

[BrianSD_42]

In my opinion it has nothing to do with how much you wheel your truck although sure bigger tires and lift may add stress to the front IFS components.

The LBJs are made of rubber.

Rubber breaks down and weakens over time even when garaged in the shade not being used at all.

10 years is a lot to expect out of a rubber ball joint or any rubber joint like device.

150k miles is a good replacement point in my opinion albeit not very scientific.

10 years however is more an important threshold because again rubber breaks down over time and the results are obvious just google failed LBJ. It is likely either the original with over 10 years or a Moog joint replacement.

 

[afg10000]

greetings back, tre9er. I'm probably gonna wait, like Mime said, I don't have that many miles or abuse on them. I'm gonna wait until my inspection on Friday and see what they say. I don't have any play in them so far. I know they're not difficult to swap (about $170 OEM). I do know I'll need new tie rod ends like 4runner4TW said. They're in fine working order but if I try and remove them they will break. They've become one with the castle nut. Once again a can of worms (might as well do the inner tie rods, UBJ's, etc.) I don't know. Round the forum it's a common fear. Everyone else says they're fine. Then my buddy's stuff fails (I know he's got a lot more miles). I do agree that there's a point of diminishing returns on preventative maintenance. Also good info from ARKRWLR. When I see Runners flipped on the interstate it's clearly due to idiocy. BTW what's with all the llama's and a duck? It seems weird to me but yet makes some sort of sense-

 

[afg10000]

In my opinion it has nothing to do with how much you wheel your truck although sure bigger tires and lift may add stress to the front IFS components.

The LBJs are made of rubber.

Rubber breaks down and weakens over time even when garaged in the shade not being used at all.

10 years is a lot to expect out of a rubber ball joint or any rubber joint like device.

150k miles is a good replacement point in my opinion albeit not very scientific.

10 years however is more an important threshold because again rubber breaks down over time and the results are obvious just google failed LBJ. It is likely either the original with over 10 years or a Moog joint replacement.

I will not put moog replacement parts anywhere near my truck-