LBJ - Yes, another thread... lol

mrfrogdude

mrfrogdude

New member
Well I've had the dreaded LBJ failure happen to me last year. Castle nut came off and tore apart the front end. Just today I was noticing some clunking and the other side was barely holding on!

What causes the cotter pin to shear off and the castle nut to walk off? Previous work was done by a mechanic and he fixed the first issue for free. Today I swapped out my LBJ for a new one and installed myself. Entire front end is MOOG.

I'm contemplating buying OEM LBJ's and keeping these current Moog as backups...?

Mark
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LBJ is one of those OEM only parts. MOOG is junk, anything else you get at the parts store is junk. It's expensive to go OEM, but at least it'll hold up.
 
SupaSupra said:
LBJ is one of those OEM only parts. MOOG is junk, anything else you get at the parts store is junk. It's expensive to go OEM, but at least it'll hold up.
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So what is the life expectancy of OEM LBJ's on a lifted 4Runner? Running the OME and tundra coils on mine with Billsteins.

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Its a known issue in 3rd gen 4runners even though i don't have a lift but I change mine every 100k with oems out of abundance of caution even though my last set I took off was in great shape. The cotter pins are soft metal and can get corroded and sheer off that's why its important to torque the castle nut to 105ft lbs. and the 4 lbj bolts to 37ftlbs.
 
The first failure with Moog was only after 5k miles, the second was around 18k on the opposite side.

What causes the castle nut to shear the cotter pin and work it's way off the bolt on the lbj? That is what happened both times...[emoji848]

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Is the castle nut of the stretch variety and needs to be replaced while doing the LBJ? I also wonder why MOOG parts don't last on the 4runner?
 
mrfrogdude said:
So what is the life expectancy of OEM LBJ's on a lifted 4Runner? Running the OME and tundra coils on mine with Billsteins.

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I've got like 50k miles on mine with 5100s and Toytec 3" lift springs on the second perch with 35s. They still are in great shape.
 
My barely educated opinion: 100K change interval should be safe, unless you drive a very large amount of washboard roads and other 'rough' 4WD stuff.
 
I don't know about the "100K is safe" suggestion, but I would recommend you do the crowbar pry test every year or two. My LBJ's were loose after only 70,000 km and 5 yrs (but on a lifted vehicle). In comparison the previous factory LBJ's (on a stock height vehicle) felt tighter than these these despite being 15 yrs old and having 300,000kms.
 
Thanks guys, that helps. My mechanic was blaming the lift I have and was telling me I needed a "proper" lift like Fabtech or something. At least the OEM should give me some reliability compared to the Moog lbj.

I'll get OEM ordered and put in ASAP. This rig is simply my hunt vehicle, very little around town driving. I'll check them frequently.

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mrfrogdude said:
Thanks guys, that helps. My mechanic was blaming the lift I have and was telling me I needed a "proper" lift like Fabtech or something. At least the OEM should give me some reliability compared to the Moog lbj.

I'll get OEM ordered and put in ASAP. This rig is simply my hunt vehicle, very little around town driving. I'll check them frequently.

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Click to expand...

No such thing as a proper lift. Lifting it with whatever will change the operating angle of the joint and lessen the lifespan.

The moog ball joint dilemma is also a known issue in the jeep world. Some swear by them and some hate em cuz they broke or clunked rather quickly. Just like Toyotas, nothing compares to a Spicer OEM balljoint on jeeps.

One little tidbit of info and nothing related here: aftermarket jeep BJ's like Moog and them are knurled around the body. They say this is for a tighter fit but what they don't warn you is that once you go with a knurled BJ, and it fails, then you cannot go back to OEM unless you modify it by punching dimples around the body. It is why we stress the importance of sticking with OEM BJ's. They are designed to fit and last.
 
Mudeprived said:
No such thing as a proper lift. Lifting it with whatever will change the operating angle of the joint and lessen the lifespan.

The moog ball joint dilemma is also a known issue in the jeep world. Some swear by them and some hate em cuz they broke or clunked rather quickly. Just like Toyotas, nothing compares to a Spicer OEM balljoint on jeeps.

One little tidbit of info and nothing related here: aftermarket jeep BJ's like Moog and them are knurled around the body. They say this is for a tighter fit but what they don't warn you is that once you go with a knurled BJ, and it fails, then you cannot go back to OEM unless you modify it by punching dimples around the body. It is why we stress the importance of sticking with OEM BJ's. They are designed to fit and last.
Click to expand...
Right on, makes sense. So since my lower control arms are Moog, can I put OEM lbj's in without replacing the Moog control arms as well?

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