On my way to an interview in my daily driver,......ball joint failure

[MSDOS401]

While traveling to a internship interview in seemingly quiet and peaceful West LA neighborhood, driving blissfully without a care in the world. An evil speed bump comes up, thinking nothing of it as I've conquered all who have came before. I drive over it as if it weren't there, going up was awesome, coming down was the problem..... so can all the kings horses put humpty dumpty back together again?

As I am not too mechanically inclined, I think I've either suffered upper or lower ball joint failure.

I've read the official ball joint thread, but would like more information such as part numbers to the upper ball joints and in addition to any other pointers or information for first timers like my brother and myself while in fixing this mess.

Basically what I would like if possible, a best case damage assessment, maybe confirm or tell me what went wrong, is my CV axle reasonable, why is my diff fluid milky... and of course why did this have to happen on an interview day


http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/149467-official-lower-ball-joint-write-up-thread.html

Car specs:
1996 toyota 4runner 3.4L Limited with 276K on the odomiter, stock height and stock tires size.


Thanks for all and any information.

 

[tystaco]

why is my diff fluid milky...

That is grease from the CV axle that broke off in the diff. Your diff is likely fine, but you need to remove the part of the CV that is still in it, simple job for that part.

As for the rest, for sure need a new upper and lower ball joint...Wouldn't blow my mind if tie rod ends are needing a replacement now too.

This one looks much more straight forward than others that have happened at speed. I'd be looking to repair it myself from your pics, but there could easily be a can of worms we aren't seeing.

 

[MattJakobs]

Yes, that's a lower ball joint failure.

The job itself isn't too hard at all. If you have a little bit of mechanical inclination, you and another should be able to tackle this job no problem.

Nothing so much as "went wrong" as much as their old parts, probably original, and like most things, they wear. To get 276k miles is pretty good, but the other probably isn't far behind it.

Your diff fluid isn't milk, the CV separated during the failure and the tulip is still in the diff. You can rebuild the CV if you want to keep OEM parts, as I recommend on CVs. Toyota sells reboot kits that include inner and outer boots, clamps, and grease. There's a couple videos on YouTube of people rebuilding CV axles you can reference as well.

For new lower ball joints, I and many others will recommend going Toyota OEM. Parts store LBJs don't hold up for nearly as long. Keep in mind you'll also need to buy new (8) bolts as well.

Camelback Toyota is a great online source for cheap parts so definitely check there before buying parts at your local dealer.

 

[kolelt]

Op. How fast were you driving? Were these OEM lbj ? Do you know how many miles were in them ?

Looks like your LBJ failed. Thus UBJ failing along with the cv axle breaking. And maybe few other parts that we can't see

 

[JZiggy]

Consider yourself highly fortunate that this failure occurred at neighborhood street speeds. Bummer it was on interview day, but this would be a very different story if it had happened on the highway.

Look how dry the lower balljoint ball is. That guy had been running without lube for a while... it's not surprising that it gave up.

This all looks highly repairable. I would also add that you should replace the flex brake line (looks like it got stretched pretty hard).

 

[MSDOS401]

How do you get the "Tulip" out of diff?

 

[Mark_BC]

You got off easy this time

 

[firemanj92]

How do you get the "Tulip" out of diff?

Stick a small prybar between it and the transfer case and slightly pry. It shouldn't take much pressure. I had to rotate the "tulip" until I found the sweet spot then it popped out. Just did it this last weekend-took 45 mins start to finish. Another way is to use a hammer and cord-tie the cord round "tulip" and hammer at other end and give it a swing away from vehicle-like a slide hammer but I never had luck this way with any of my vehicles. -J

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

LBJ replacement is a piece of cake. Now the UBJ, that's a little more complicated. If your not mechanically inclined, trying to figure out how to use a ball joint removal kit might be a little tough to figure out.

Also, with the force it took to break that UBJ, you may want to take a good look at your spindle for any damage.

 

[MSDOS401]

I don't have a lot of money, So I am going to have to try to use a ball joint removal kit. Any tips are appreciated.

 

[Topgun15v]

One other thing to keep in mind is to replace the other side as well. I always recommend doing both at the same time and just did mine last month. Good luck, glad your safe, and as others pointed out God was looking after you that day as it happened in a neighborhood and not on the hwy.

 

[MSDOS401]

One other thing to keep in mind is to replace the other side as well. I always recommend doing both at the same time and just did mine last month. Good luck, glad your safe, and as others pointed out God was looking after you that day as it happened in a neighborhood and not on the hwy.

From what i've read and seen a few photos of worse damage God was indeed looking out for me, but I am still depressed that this happened.

 

[jgue467]

I don't have a lot of money, So I am going to have to try to use a ball joint removal kit. Any tips are appreciated.

Why not start by watching some videos? https://youtu.be/bfLvtEnX9qk

I don't think you need a ball joint removal kit, it's 4 bolts mostly. A good air hammer tool will help, that's all I needed when I did mine. Luck. :cowboy:

 

[NWFL4Runner]

Edit: what [MENTION=75316]jgue467[/MENTION] said ^^^^^ watch those vids.

I don't have a lot of money, So I am going to have to try to use a ball joint removal kit. Any tips are appreciated.

Hell the hardest part of getting to the UBJ has been done what with the spindle already out and all. LBJ is even easier with the spindle off, although popping it out of the LCA will take a minute.

Most every tool you will need can be rented, just follow the guides on this site, but in general the UBJ requires a C-press to get the UBJ in and out. Also need the BJ adapters, and I think the Autozone kit works best. On the LBJ, is it going to spin freely in the LCA? Get a friend or someone to hold it and then rent a pitman arm to pop it out. Bolt it to the spindle and drop it back in. Loosen the UCA to help a bit with the install, and you probably want to cycle both the UCA and LCA to make sure nothing got bent.

Replace the other LBJ as [MENTION=164276]Topgun15v[/MENTION] mentioned.

 

[octanejunkie]

Bummer man, good thing it wasn't on the freeway at speed.

If you get all the parts, and can wait till the weekend, I can help you out

 

[csp]

Camelback Toyota is a great online source for cheap parts so definitely check there before buying parts at your local dealer.

Had the same failure on the wife's Sequoia recently and found https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/ to have better prices than Camelback.

 

[octanejunkie]

Had the same failure on the wife's Sequoia recently and found https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/ to have better prices than Camelback.

These were cheaper the other day
https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Toyo...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NNC7V3XW8R500VJXA42N

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Toyo...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NNC7V3XW8R500VJXA42N

 

[csp]

They aren't cheaper any longer though.

 

[octanejunkie]

They aren't cheaper any longer though.

Camelback has em for $103.43 each, with free shipping over $150, and ships out of AZ, so 2 days to LA. Not sure about the other guy.

That also all depends on if they have stock on hand or if they have to order me in first. Amazon has them 2 days away for the same price as camelback

EDIT: Amazon has Left LBJ 43340-39465 for $101.58 and Right LBJ 43330-39585 for $95.35, both with FREE 1 Day Shipping, so cheaper than camelback (not sure about tax tho)

 

[csp]

Did you notice that the link I posted is not camelback?