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

[Dezerts10]

Also, fwiw moog ball joints are a pretty standard recommendation on various Chevy stuff I have worked on over the years. But Chevy style ball joints are not nearly as weird as the lbj in these vehicles. But I do agree it just seems like Toyota’s like oem stuff. I guess I didn’t really think about it persay.

I was told oem axles, bought napa, oem tie rod ends have napa, oem lbj bought napa.

Guess I better start getting friendly with my local Toyota parts guy here soon.


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[ToyotaBrah]

You guys have done your due diligence in educating him about the importance of using OEM LBJs.

It's pretty clear that he and his brother are standing by their decision of going with the Moog's.

Just let it be. You can't win them all.

 

[irocz281990]

All feedback is definitely appreciated. On a side note, I liked that the moog LBJ & UBJ had a spot for a Zerk fitting, old OEM's did not, are new OEM ball joints sealed units like the old ones? (which is not necessarily bad, I think its just a mental thing being able to add more grease if you wanted to).

 

[kolelt]

All feedback is definitely appreciated. On a side note, I liked that the moog LBJ & UBJ had a spot for a Zerk fitting, old OEM's did not, are new OEM ball joints sealed units like the old ones? (which is not necessarily bad, I think its just a mental thing being able to add more grease if you wanted to).

Bro!!!!!! Get OEM ! Forget about the zerks. OEM OEM OEM. What else do you want us to say? A zerk actually weakens the part. Because there's a spot now that is drilled and tapped. Not on all parts though, some.

 

[octanejunkie]

Bro!!!!!! Get OEM ! Forget about the zerks. OEM OEM OEM. What else do you want us to say? A zerk actually weakens the part. Because there's a spot now that is drilled and tapped. Not on all parts though, some.

Let the guy be at this point. He made an informed decision and that's the end of it for now. If the Moog parts fail he can circle back to OEM and maybe even tell us.

I for one am interested to see how he fares with non-OEM parts. I just wish he'd do all ball joints and tie rod ends at once considering they are all the same age and experience, so yo speak. Best of luck and please keep us posted.

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[skepticninja85]

New member here, after being on here for a month and seeing what I should do and how to prioritize the maintenance on my new to me 97 2wd 4runner. THIS topic makes me terrified to drive it currently(240K miles) until i do this and install a new a radiator to prevent the milkshake. Starting to research topics and parts lists currently. This forum has been a great resource for sure

Tony

 

[Rock_Rat]

New member here, after being on here for a month and seeing what I should do and how to prioritize the maintenance on my new to me 97 2wd 4runner. THIS topic makes me terrified to drive it currently(240K miles) until i do this and install a new a radiator to prevent the milkshake. Starting to research topics and parts lists currently. This forum has been a great resource for sure

Tony

Now here's a SMART man! ^^^^^^ This is exactly what I did when I found out about it. I immediately parked my rig until I replaced the LBJ's and the Radiator! The safety of my family depended on it.

 

[octanejunkie]

Now here's a SMART man! ^^^^^^ This is exactly what I did when I found out about it. I immediately parked my rig until I replaced the LBJ's and the Radiator! The safety of my family depended on it.

Same

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[phattyduck]

Now here's a SMART man! ^^^^^^ This is exactly what I did when I found out about it. I immediately parked my rig until I replaced the LBJ's and the Radiator! The safety of my family depended on it.

If you live in a salt-free zone and take care of your coolant changes, the pink milkshake isn't an issue... (I did my radiator around 270k miles and 18 years old and it was fine - including in interior inspection of the cooler joint). But I knew 100% of the history of the truck, as it has always been in my family. Unknown history = replace the radiator with a quality new one.

If you are going to do the LBJ's though, it is only worth doing OEM. They may cost 3x as much, but they last 10x as long. Mine lasted 270k and were just starting to loosen up when they were replaced.

-Charlie

 

[Rock_Rat]

If you live in a salt-free zone and take care of your coolant changes, the pink milkshake isn't an issue... (I did my radiator around 270k miles and 18 years old and it was fine - including in interior inspection of the cooler joint). But I knew 100% of the history of the truck, as it has always been in my family. Unknown history = replace the radiator with a quality new one.

If you are going to do the LBJ's though, it is only worth doing OEM. They may cost 3x as much, but they last 10x as long. Mine lasted 270k and were just starting to loosen up when they were replaced.

-Charlie

Hey Charlie, I'm the original owner of mine. Bought new back in October 2000. Came from Japan with 12 miles. I only changed the LBJ's and the radiator as a "precautionary measure" after reading about the failures, and that was with more than 300K miles on them! To be honest with you, I'm sure I could have gone many, more miles, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take without having a working crystal ball in my possession. Radiator and LBJ's "looked" good.

 

[irocz281990]

Thanks! and will most definitely keep you guys posted, only issue is ABS light is now on, wondering if wire was pulled when wheel went under the truck, I'll have to inspect later on. Other than that shes back on the road, 2 LBJ, 1 UBJ, 1 CV axle later

 

[octanejunkie]

Thanks! and will most definitely keep you guys posted, only issue is ABS light is now on, wondering if wire was pulled when wheel went under the truck, I'll have to inspect later on. Other than that shes back on the road, 2 LBJ, 1 UBJ, 1 CV axle later

Inspect/replace the ABS sensor and hose on the spindle that was forcibly disconnected from the vehicle, it's the most delicate part on there and may have gotten tweaked or the hose torn

 

[octanejunkie]

Hey Charlie, I'm the original owner of mine. Bought new back in October 2000. Came from Japan with 12 miles. I only changed the LBJ's and the radiator as a "precautionary measure" after reading about the failures, and that was with more than 300K miles on them! To be honest with you, I'm sure I could have gone many, more miles, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take without having a working crystal ball in my possession. Radiator and LBJ's "looked" good.

My radiator was brown with hairline cracks, but my LBJs were "solid" no play, yet. I replaced them as a precautionary measure at 240K too after seeing what can happen.

Just like hand sanitizer, paranoia is the main ingredient in precautionary lower ball joint swap stories.

 

[irocz281990]

Inspect/replace the ABS sensor and hose on the spindle that was forcibly disconnected from the vehicle, it's the most delicate part on there and may have gotten tweaked or the hose torn

Hose was changed also, it was in pretty bad shape. I will look into getting a new sensor, thx for the advice.

 

[skepticninja85]

My radiator was brown with hairline cracks, but my LBJs were "solid" no play, yet. I replaced them as a precautionary measure at 240K too after seeing what can happen.

Just like hand sanitizer, paranoia is the main ingredient in precautionary lower ball joint swap stories.

Radiator is original and even though the major tune up was done at 200k, the radiator also has browning and cracks on the top plastic portion. Will replace with original radiator once funds permit. I wish i had a garage to work on this truck though as it gets a little chilly in the bay after 5pm during the week. Hopefully i can make time during the weekend to get this done during the day

 

[MSDOS401]

Final Update (tentatively)

Ok, sorry it took a few days but I had a lot to catch up on. My brother and I have finished the repair. All totaled in parts, tools and incidentals (read lots of Pizza) it came out to be about and about 3 days of hard work and $800 including the alignment I had done at 10-4 Auto in Whittier. I guess we all know what I bought myself for christmas.

I just now have to deal with that pesky ABS sensor issue.

In regards to using MOOG aftermarket Ball joints. They seem at least initially to be working well, but that could easily change as miles are put on them and they age. Any changes I'll keep guy updates and endure your "I told your so's" if things go bad.

Thanks again for all your help, and have a merry christmas and a happy new year.

 

[thegipper]

I hate to beat a dead horse here but using Moog LJB's was a terrible idea......

Good luck

 

[thegipper]

Hey Charlie, I'm the original owner of mine. Bought new back in October 2000. Came from Japan with 12 miles. I only changed the LBJ's and the radiator as a "precautionary measure" after reading about the failures, and that was with more than 300K miles on them! To be honest with you, I'm sure I could have gone many, more miles, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take without having a working crystal ball in my possession. Radiator and LBJ's "looked" good.

My radiator failed at about 200k miles, got a pink milk shake and within 10k miles, the transmission shit the bed (after literally dozens and dozens of fluid changes).

The day I got my rig from my brother (it was originally his), I replaced the LBJ's (OEM of course). They were the original ones too (200k miles) I also debated with people on here about how the original LBJ's show ZERO signs of near failure but I took the advise of the people on here. In the end, my wife and kids use my 4runner and it's just not worth it.

Even the "wife and kids" thing shouldn't be a deciding factor, if your LBJ fails it could be someone elses wife/kids/dad whatever that gets hurt or killed because you didn't listen to well documented advise.

Never cheap out on components that literally could mean life or death...

 

[NWFL4Runner]

I've not used a MOOG UBJ so I don't know what they look like/how they install but... is there something going on with your UBJ?

 

[96RedRunner]

I've not used a MOOG UBJ so I don't know what they look like/how they install but... is there something going on with your UBJ?

I noticed that also! I've never seen a OEM UBJ with grease zerk. The boot is
oversized compared to OE, could use grease to stretch it a bit.
Or it's not Torque'd