Lower Ball Joints, Any Good Aftermarkets?

[Majkmichael]

Hello I have a 2002 Sport. It has a 2.5" lift and I'm planning on replacing the LBJ's when I do the LCA's. I know Toyota OEM is recommended but before I order OEM for big bucks, I want to know some other people's experiences with aftermarket.

 

[UnderFire]

I've used Napa and Proforged on my personal vehicles. There is a caveat though. I do not put a lot of miles on my vehicles and am more letigious than some when it comes to suspension components. I am also willing to accept the small chance of the potential consequences of cheaping out on them if something does happen. If I'm working on my family's or anyone else's Tacoma or 4Runner, they get OEM lower ball joints no exceptions. There are other places to save money doing a front end rebuild.

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[jross20]

OEM lower ball joints are not that expensive. Like $230 I think? No reason at all not to go oem here. The LBJ is extremely critical on these trucks

 

[hamsandwiches]

I did OEMs so I can sleep better

 

[brillo_76]

Being the design flaws in the front end. Always best to use OEM.

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[nobb]

There's a unanimous decision around here that OEM is the only way to go. They use a polished ball in a teflon retainer sealed design.

I've examined the Sankei/Moog/Napa/Raybestos units and those are a sintered (powdered metal) bearing in a metal seat with a greasable boot. This design has more friction, but the metal on metal design in theory IS stronger than the polished ball + elastomer seat design IF it is regularly maintained with a high quality EP grease. This is the design used on heavy duty applications. That being said, there have been several reported failures of these parts, but it's uncertain if there was abuse or lack of maintenance involved.

Proforged makes ball joints that are most similar to the OEM in that it's a sealed design, so I assume it's also got a polished ball + teflon seat. Would be curious if anyone has used these since it's the closest to OEM in design and the brand is typically known to be high quality.

 

[TheSaturnV]

My OEM LBJs lasted 19 years and still felt pretty solid when I just recently ditched them. Cheap insurance, and I'll save money elsewhere than the front end.

 

[nobb]

My OEM LBJs lasted 19 years and still felt pretty solid when I just recently ditched them. Cheap insurance, and I'll save money elsewhere than the front end.

My OEM's lasted 15 years and were still tight. But then after a small 2" lift, the new OEM joints I put in started to get noticeably less tight after only 5 years and a few mild offroading trails.

So although OEM might be the best, I'm not yet entirely convinced that the aftermarket parts are all junk. Having a lift might seriously compromise the lifespan of these.

 

[jgue467]

...am more letigious than some when it comes to suspension components. ...

The lawsuit will most likely be limited to replacement cost of the part. Why risk the front bottom dropping out at highway speeds.....go OEM as everyone suggests....

 

[gamefreakgc]

McGeorge has them for $95 each if you used the code 10SHIP for 10% off. That's about $200 shipped, pretty good for OEM parts.

Lower Ball Joint - Toyota (43340-39465) | Toyota Parts

There are no good aftermarket replacements. MOOG LBJ's have been documented to fail after 10K miles, while OEM have lasted over 300K on a stock height vehicle. Really no comparison.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I bought my 97 a few years ago with CarQuest lower balljoints. They are greaseable and doing fine.


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[T4R2014]

I do not put a lot of miles on my vehicles and am more letigious than some when it comes to suspension components.

Litigious? I have a feeling these aftermarket part suppliers have some fine print to cover their asses. I'd be surprised if you would get anywhere.

 

[mesooohoppy]

Litigious? I have a feeling these aftermarket part suppliers have some fine print to cover their asses. I'd be surprised if you would get anywhere.

of course they do. this isnt their first rodeo.


OP, its been mentioned a bunch of times. you can easily find this info via a search.

when you buy your OEM LBJs, buy new bolts with them as well. you need 8 total. the part number for the bolts will be on the same LBJ exploded diagram.

 

[thegipper]

My OEM LBJs lasted 19 years and still felt pretty solid when I just recently ditched them. Cheap insurance, and I'll save money elsewhere than the front end.

This^

 

[UnderFire]

The lawsuit will most likely be limited to replacement cost of the part. Why risk the front bottom dropping out at highway speeds.....go OEM as everyone suggests....

Haha used the wrong word, can't think of what I was trying to say now, more or less on top of things, I check everything at least every couple thousand miles. There is a big push towards OEM and for good reason as most people will just let them go till they blow apart, but it's not really as big a problem as people think as far as I'm concerned and can typically be traced back to negligence.

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[WeakSauz]

When I bought my 2000 in 2018, it had the original LBJs still at 218k miles. They had no play at all.

Needless to say-- OEM it is. Can't get better than that.

 

[JohnMc]

With the catastrophic failure mode these have on the 3rd gen (fixed in the 4th gen) - and having seen a number of failures from aftermarket LBJ's, I really wouldn't do anything other than OEM. ANd pay very close attention to the torque specs on both the large nut as well as the 4 smaller bolts. Too tight is every bit as bad as too loose. I've seen some failures where it's possible they were simply overtightened on installation - where the bolts break, or the nut breaks off with part of the shaft. However, where the ball separates from the socket - that's all on the part failing.

 

[nissanh]

From my experience:
OEM lasts 200K+ miles (on my 97 4x4)
Aftermarket regardless of the brand lasts MAX 20K miles (my neighbors tacoma with 555 brand).

NEVER aftermarket.

 

[fourfive]

With the catastrophic failure mode these have on the 3rd gen (fixed in the 4th gen) - and having seen a number of failures from aftermarket LBJ's, I really wouldn't do anything other than OEM. And pay very close attention to the torque specs on both the large nut as well as the 4 smaller bolts. Too tight is every bit as bad as too loose. I've seen some failures where it's possible they were simply overtightened on installation - where the bolts break, or the nut breaks off with part of the shaft. However, where the ball separates from the socket - that's all on the part failing.

Glad you brought that up. I've wondered if that was the reason for the torque value discrepancy between the 2002 FSM (37ft/lbs) & the previous years (59ft/lbs) for those 4 smaller LBJ bolts. It's likely that it was just a typo but could be possible that it was Toyota's way of suggesting 59ft/lbs was too high which may have contributed to the failure & decreased it to 37ft/lbs? There was another thread a while back that got me thinking about that.