Lower Ball Joints

[hour]

Did both of mine last weekend on my 99, 240k miles. No clue how many were on the lbjs, so preventative. The passenger side was basically without any grease and felt awful moving it around after I yanked it.

Anyway, camelback, $80ish per side. Shipping was delayed as they were waiting on parts or something. Took a little over a week to get them. Did everything with hand tools, rented the larger of two pitman arm pullers (both the larger two from Autozone or O'reilly work as I had to use them both because autozone one was damaged).

Only tool I needed to buy was a 24mm socket for the lbj nut. I used the pitman puller on both the tie rod end and lbj. First side took hours because of having a messed up puller (autozone), but after that it was cake. The second side took me about an hour and I installed new sway bar links at that time. Clock started from sliding the floor jack in to position to wheel back on and lugs torqued. Had never done it before, looked at a couple guides just to get torque values. If you get your jack stands in, and have a basic socket set + autozone/oreilly/aap close by, and can score a 24mm socket... you can do it!

It's disappointing that shops charge so much for this when they have the best tools available and quickest ways of doing everything. Sigh. Good luck, if you were in CO I'd do it for free.

 

[peebee]

Did both of mine last weekend on my 99, 240k miles. No clue how many were on the lbjs, so preventative. The passenger side was basically without any grease and felt awful moving it around after I yanked it.

Anyway, camelback, $80ish per side. Shipping was delayed as they were waiting on parts or something. Took a little over a week to get them. Did everything with hand tools, rented the larger of two pitman arm pullers (both the larger two from Autozone or O'reilly work as I had to use them both because autozone one was damaged).

Only tool I needed to buy was a 24mm socket for the lbj nut. I used the pitman puller on both the tie rod end and lbj. First side took hours because of having a messed up puller (autozone), but after that it was cake. The second side took me about an hour and I installed new sway bar links at that time. Clock started from sliding the floor jack in to position to wheel back on and lugs torqued. Had never done it before, looked at a couple guides just to get torque values. If you get your jack stands in, and have a basic socket set + autozone/oreilly/aap close by, and can score a 24mm socket... you can do it!

It's disappointing that shops charge so much for this when they have the best tools available and quickest ways of doing everything. Sigh. Good luck, if you were in CO I'd do it for free.

Thanks hour, this is good info. Is it recommended to replace the sway bar too?

I'm not sure how much can be seen in that picture but while I was under the truck looking it over I tried to look for any other broken or bent parts and couldn't see any. Since the truck wasn't moving when it busted it literally fell straight down and most the weight landed on the wheel well and tire.

Strangely enough I just put those tires on it about 50 miles ago. The shop recommended an alignment if needed, but when they checked they said it was perfectly straight. I've never had a problem with the steering, it drives straight and the wheel feels good. There's no play, it goes where you point it, etc. BUT over the last 2-3 weeks I've noticed the steering getting very stiff. Almost like the power steering was getting weak. No clicking, popping, or uneven steering. Just stiff. As I've been slowly diagnosing the issue I knew ball joints could be a cause but my understanding is it usually causes uneven steering or noise. Then guess what? BAM. I'm just thankful I wasn't hauling ass down the highway.

Sorry, this turned out a little long. I figure I might as well document my symptoms in case others are in a similar situation.

Oh, the tire place also said the wear on the old tires was great. Wore evenly on all four. This is literally the first problem I've ever had with this truck (other than a self induced power steering pump seal that I stupidly caused myself).

 

[hour]

Thanks hour, this is good info. Is it recommended to replace the sway bar too?

I'm not sure how much can be seen in that picture but while I was under the truck looking it over I tried to look for any other broken or bent parts and couldn't see any. Since the truck wasn't moving when it busted it literally fell straight down and most the weight landed on the wheel well and tire.

Strangely enough I just put those tires on it about 50 miles ago. The shop recommended an alignment if needed, but when they checked they said it was perfectly straight. I've never had a problem with the steering, it drives straight and the wheel feels good. There's no play, it goes where you point it, etc. BUT over the last 2-3 weeks I've noticed the steering getting very stiff. Almost like the power steering was getting weak. No clicking, popping, or uneven steering. Just stiff. As I've been slowly diagnosing the issue I knew ball joints could be a cause but my understanding is it usually causes uneven steering or noise. Then guess what? BAM. I'm just thankful I wasn't hauling ass down the highway.

Sorry, this turned out a little long. I figure I might as well document my symptoms in case others are in a similar situation.

Oh, the tire place also said the wear on the old tires was great. Wore evenly on all four. This is literally the first problem I've ever had with this truck (other than a self induced power steering pump seal that I stupidly caused myself).

I just got my alignment done yesterday (because of having just done lbjs, and lift a few weeks earlier). My steering is way tighter now... beats me. Oh yea, NO - no need for sway stuff. Especially if you're just trying to get back on the road. I just so happened to notice my sway link bushings were dry rotted while doing the lift so I knocked it out same day.

But you could look at your outer tie rod end boot and see if it got mangled. If it's spewing grease everywhere or torn or whatever, you may want to do that too just so you only have to get one alignment. Both of mine were oozing when I separated the lower ball joints but I didn't have the $ nor time to replace them, so I just did the lbjs and got a lifetime alignment. I'll deal with em later. Given your time crunch I'd probably just do lbj. I highly doubt you have any additional damages since it fell off when stationary. Most people end up having much higher repair bills due to failure while rolling.

If you're considering doing it yourself but are still waiting on jack stands (and still have to source the part), hit bolts with pb blaster just to make it easier. I usually screw up everything I do when it comes to vehicle work... I get it right eventually, but a job that takes people 2 hrs will take me 5. This was the opposite, the first side took forever because I didn't realize the pitman puller I rented was bent at the ends and unable to grab the lbj enough to separate tie rod, but had that not been the case I would have had both sides done in about 2 hrs

 

[peebee]

I'm the same way when it comes to doing things myself. I usually take twice as long but I'm all about it the right way once.

Thanks for the info and tips.

 

[gmv4k]

Don't forget to order 4 lbj bolts for each side.

 

[peebee]

So, just to let you guys know how it went. In short, I think I got bent over and shafted, but maybe I'm just a little too pessimistic. I ended up having to pay right around $580 for both lowers. Here is how the shop broke it down.

Parts: $150 x2
Labor: $170
Alignment: $60
Tax: $40-50

When he first told me that the lower ball joints were $150 each I challenged him on it stating that I could get OEM for $85 a piece. He was a little lost for words because OEM rarely costs less than aftermarket, but did state that from time to time it happens, but it's not the norm. I asked about the quality of the LBJ and he stated that, because of experience, he doesn't use the cheap ones but uses the "professional" line which is about twice the cost of the basic cheap ones. Still, it's hard to pay almost twice OEM even for a "professional" aftermarket part.

With all this said, I felt SOL, because I had already paid $55 to tow the truck to his location and if I was going to go somewhere else I'd have to pay another $55 tow fee. To make things worse, I asked where he gets his parts from (because I wanted to check prices to verify his claim) and he just said it was a wholeseller out of Tulsa that does not sell to the general public. I didn't press for more information just because I didn't want to be a dick. I just bit my tongue and bent over. It really sucks because I'm a perfectionist by nature and like to safe costs where I can. This alone determines me to do my own work on my truck.

So now that I've ranted and got that out of my system, I understand I could be over-reacting. But, I would still like to somehow figure out exactly which part he put on my truck. Does someone know if I can pull a manufacture serial number off the LBJ? If so, is this something easily found by getting underneath and looking or will I have to actually remove it first?

 

[the great him]

So, just to let you guys know how it went. In short, I think I got bent over and shafted, but maybe I'm just a little too pessimistic. I ended up having to pay right around $580 for both lowers. Here is how the shop broke it down.

Parts: $150 x2
Labor: $170
Alignment: $60
Tax: $40-50

When he first told me that the lower ball joints were $150 each I challenged him on it stating that I could get OEM for $85 a piece. He was a little lost for words because OEM rarely costs less than aftermarket, but did state that from time to time it happens, but it's not the norm. I asked about the quality of the LBJ and he stated that, because of experience, he doesn't use the cheap ones but uses the "professional" line which is about twice the cost of the basic cheap ones. Still, it's hard to pay almost twice OEM even for a "professional" aftermarket part.

With all this said, I felt SOL, because I had already paid $55 to tow the truck to his location and if I was going to go somewhere else I'd have to pay another $55 tow fee. To make things worse, I asked where he gets his parts from (because I wanted to check prices to verify his claim) and he just said it was a wholeseller out of Tulsa that does not sell to the general public. I didn't press for more information just because I didn't want to be a dick. I just bit my tongue and bent over. It really sucks because I'm a perfectionist by nature and like to safe costs where I can. This alone determines me to do my own work on my truck.

So now that I've ranted and got that out of my system, I understand I could be over-reacting. But, I would still like to somehow figure out exactly which part he put on my truck. Does someone know if I can pull a manufacture serial number off the LBJ? If so, is this something easily found by getting underneath and looking or will I have to actually remove it first?

yeah you go shafted... idk why you didnt just go to the dealer for the price...

the alignment is pointless, no need for that to have been done, labor would have been about the same as the dealer, the parts are more than you would pay walking into a dealer, i think they are like $138 or so over the counter at the dealer -i can get them for like $82/84 with my father inlaws discount(he works for toyota) but the tax is a little steep, thats like 10%, so i think he hosed you there big time.

hope he at least used some lube and or gave you a reach-around...

 

[peebee]

yeah you go shafted... idk why you didnt just go to the dealer for the price...

the alignment is pointless, no need for that to have been done, labor would have been about the same as the dealer, the parts are more than you would pay walking into a dealer, i think they are like $138 or so over the counter at the dealer -i can get them for like $82/84 with my father inlaws discount(he works for toyota) but the tax is a little steep, thats like 10%, so i think he hosed you there big time.

hope he at least used some lube and or gave you a reach-around...

I agree, but it's not like I didn't check prices with the local dealership though. They quoted me $158 per LBJ. Plus like I said, it would have been another $55 tow just to get it there. And I've also had really bad experiences with this local dealership so they don't exactly come across to me as highly skilled individuals.

Any idea on my last question about how I can figure out exactly what part this local shop installed? I question the honesty of an aftermarket LBJ being $150ish and am wondering if I need to confront the guy over it. But before I do that I want to make sure my facts are straight.

 

[the great him]

no there is no way of knowing unless he has the original box/packaging they came in.... id just keep an eye on them, keep all receipts and any documentation of the work and or parts so when they fail again you can have some ammo to back you up if you chose to go after him if say, this causes an accident or injury... he doesnt sound to smart, either that or he is trying to screw you, so just watch your back.

 

[peebee]

Alright, thanks for the feedback.