Re-boot your OEM LBJ :)

[kolelt]

So, I am pretty sure that Toyota does not sell a reboot kit for our "lower ball joints". But there is a reboot kit for Land Cruiser. And if you really wanted to. You could probably get that kit from Toyota. Although I am not 100% positive. I've searched for 3rd gen specific reboot and I found nothing. Anyone is more then welcomed to correct me if I am wrong. So when I was doing work to my front end. I destroyed my barley used OEM LBJ boot and the grease. The grease was "white". I did not want to just throw the LBJ out. So I simply just ordered a Land Cruiser reboot kit. Came with boot, the snap ring and white grease. And it is exactly the same size as ours. So with a fresh boot and grease this will be my spare LBJ. In case I break it on a trail. But if anyone is interested in just rebooting their LBJ with fresh boot and grease, then this will work.

This is the boot:
LOWER ARM BALL JOINT BOOT - For Toyota Land CRUISER PRADO 120 2002 OEM 43345-690 | eBay

And here are some photos:

This is the original boot. NOK


The Land Cruiser boot on the 3rd gen LBJ. Like a glove. Old boot on the table.


New boot up close. And it feels nice quality. Although the box said, "Made in China." Still the rubber felt identical to the OEM.



Left = Land Cruiser boot. ( little deformed from being in the box, but the round part is same size as our OEM. )
Right = 3rd gen boot.



So yeah, I figured I'll share this. Why spend $100 when the kit is $10 with same grease.

 

[Hepar]

So yeah, I figured I'll share this. Why spend $100 when the kit is $10 with same grease.

Good info, but I know for me, given the importance of the LBJ's, I'm willing to spend a little extra for the piece of mind of having a new one in there.

 

[habanero]

Nice thinking.

Will keep an eye, see if the Chinese part falls apart like a lot of other rubber bits. Not saying it's bad or good, just curious about longevity.

 

[kolelt]

Nice thinking.

Will keep an eye, see if the Chinese part falls apart like a lot of other rubber bits. Not saying it's bad or good, just curious about longevity.

I don't know about longevity because I ended up buying a new LBJ and keeping the re boot one as a spare. Because it had less then 5,000 miles on it.

 

[ralfk]

pretty old thread but it popped up in my search results when I was looking for a re-boot kit for LBJs and couldn't find anything. Wanted to add some additional info/feedback for anyone looking to do this.

Background: the OEM LBJs are not meant to be serviced and if compromised, should be replaced. However, mine had less than 2000 miles and I unfortunately nicked the boot during the tundra brake upgrade. The grease that came out was white and clean. I did not drive the truck since this happened so my LBJ was basically new and I did not want to just toss it. I bought the same boot as the OP and replaced just the boot.

The good: the quality of the boot was pretty decent (perhaps even better than the OEM). The rubber was thicker and flexible. Came with grease but I ended up using my own since I did not know what type it was.

The bad: although the diameters of the boot seem to be the same, the profiles are not. the replacement boot that is intended to be used for land cruisers is much taller. I had to pump considerably more grease to get it to bulge. When installed the boot makes pretty significant contact with the lower control arm and i fear that the rubbing will lead to premature boot failure.

In short: i don't recommend using this style boot -- it's way too large for our LBJs. I'm going to see if I can find a cheap aftermarket LBJ or used OEM and pull just the boot from them to insure proper fit. At the time of posting, an OEM LBJ is $100...