You should replace your ball joints...

[brian2sun]

Yeah, the tie rod puller is a must like Pikeman and Jason said. It's almost impossible to change the LBJs without ruining the outer tie rod if you don't use a tie rod puller/ball joint separator. You can buy them for $20 or $30 or rent one from one of the parts stores. A pickle fork works good to get the LBJ off like Jason said. It will likely ruin it, but it's the old LBJ so who cares. When Jason and I did mine, it took us about 15-20 minutes per side. Really easy, but the upper ball joints are a lot worse and take more time because they need to be pressed in/out.

 

[Avarice]

Getting the LBJ off the LCA is a piece of cake. Getting it off the tie rod was much more difficult. However, if you're so inclined, your outer tie rods are probably do for replacement if your LBJ's are loose. I know mine certainly were(plus they are only $70). Then you don't even have to bother separating the TRE from the LBJ, you just take both off as one unit.

SOAK EVERYTHING IN PB BLASTER OR AEROKROIL

Sorry for caps but if you are gonna take your TRE off, the jam nut can take longer to loosen than everything else combined.

 

[J-money$$$]

Getting the LBJ off the LCA is a piece of cake. Getting it off the tie rod was much more difficult. However, if you're so inclined, your outer tie rods are probably do for replacement if your LBJ's are loose. I know mine certainly were(plus they are only $70). Then you don't even have to bother separating the TRE from the LBJ, you just take both off as one unit.

SOAK EVERYTHING IN PB BLASTER OR AEROKROIL

Sorry for caps but if you are gonna take your TRE off, the jam nut can take longer to loosen than everything else combined.

Thats why you will want to get the tre puller. It will take about a minute with the right tools, but then again my 4runner is southern california rust free truck

 

[Avarice]

Thats why you will want to get the tre puller. It will take about a minute with the right tools, but then again my 4runner is southern california rust free truck

You said it yourself, rust free truck. You're in the minority there. Even with the right tools which I always make sure I have, getting old parts off can take way longer than it should. My sway bar end links were a PITA to get off, and those things are as simple to figure out as can be.

 

[01t4rnr]

cant really feel or see any noticable play in tires when its off the ground but i do get some wandering and vibration at hwy speeds. my lowers are chapped and cracked so im definitely replacing them but any idea if it might help drivability any? just did poly rack bushings and helped the dartiness some on rutted roads but still have some sort of play or looseness in the steering wheel and slight vibration

 

[Avarice]

When I did the LBJ's and TRE's it just felt tighter and a bit more planted and controlled. I never had any issues with wandering so I can't say that helped any. Steering effort increased a little bit, but so did the feel. I had a bit of play in the wheel before and that's gone now.

 

[econhonda]

When I did the LBJ's and TRE's it just felt tighter and a bit more planted and controlled. I never had any issues with wandering so I can't say that helped any. Steering effort increased a little bit, but so did the feel. I had a bit of play in the wheel before and that's gone now.

So, I'm planning on replacing my LBJ's and Tie rod ends, but I'm not sure which ones to do. I know, I'm a rookie. Outer tie rod ends or inner? I didn't even know there were two... I just want to make sure I order all the correct parts.

Left LBJ
Right LBJ
Tie Rod Ends

That's all, right?

Oh yeah, and loctite....

 

[Avarice]

So, I'm planning on replacing my LBJ's and Tie rod ends, but I'm not sure which ones to do. I know, I'm a rookie. Outer tie rod ends or inner? I didn't even know there were two... I just want to make sure I order all the correct parts.

Left LBJ
Right LBJ
Tie Rod Ends

That's all, right?

Oh yeah, and loctite....

I'd just do the tie rod ends. From what I read the inners should last much longer, they only tend to go bad in collisions etc.

Do yourself a favor and either get under your truck or turn the wheel so you can get at both TRE's and spray those jam nuts with PB Blaster or Aerokroil right now. Don't wait until the day you do it.

Couple write ups/info for you -

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/suspension/76423-lower-ball-joint-replacement-tips.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/452271-post1.html

Also, you definitely will need to get an alignment. Mine drove decently straight after I did mine because I made sure to take measurements as to how far my TRE's were screwed in(it'll make sense when you look at it) but it still wasn't good enough to be going down the highway for much of a distance.

Might be a decent idea to do the Upper Ball Joints as well in order to avoid having to get another alignment down the road when you do those but I didn't bother since mine seemed fine(and I've heard you don't need an alignment if you do the uppers).

 

[RC57]

SOAK EVERYTHING IN PB BLASTER OR AEROKROIL

Sorry for caps but if you are gonna take your TRE off, the jam nut can take longer to loosen than everything else combined.

What then? My '99 hasn't seen much salt, but when I took it to the dealer they couldn't get one of the TRE jam nuts loose. They kept my truck for an hour soaking with PB Blaster but still no dice. I soaked it for another few days in PB Blaster, it's still frozen. Any suggestions? Alignment is pretty good so I'm not in a hurry to replace both inner and outer tie rods anytime soon.

-RC

 

[rjaudi]

What then? My '99 hasn't seen much salt, but when I took it to the dealer they couldn't get one of the TRE jam nuts loose. They kept my truck for an hour soaking with PB Blaster but still no dice. I soaked it for another few days in PB Blaster, it's still frozen. Any suggestions? Alignment is pretty good so I'm not in a hurry to replace both inner and outer tie rods anytime soon.

-RC

My 4runner was from salty area. I try to get it off with pb blaster. When that fails I use a dremel with a cut off disk. Takes me a couple minutes and its off.

 

[Avarice]

What then? My '99 hasn't seen much salt, but when I took it to the dealer they couldn't get one of the TRE jam nuts loose. They kept my truck for an hour soaking with PB Blaster but still no dice. I soaked it for another few days in PB Blaster, it's still frozen. Any suggestions? Alignment is pretty good so I'm not in a hurry to replace both inner and outer tie rods anytime soon.

-RC

Mine was stuck for a few days on my 99. I kept soaking it for a couple days and was about to take it to the mechanic. Tried one last time and took two really long wrenches to it, as long as I could fit in the space I had. Got my brother to come wrench on the jam nut one way with me under the truck wrenching on the other nut the opposite direction. After a few minutes with a lot of effort(and cursing) the bugger finally came loose.

My friend who is a mechanic told me that if that technique doesn't work for him he takes a torch to it and heats it up and tries again. If that doesn't work, they use torches and pipes to fit over the wrenches for more leverage. After that, he's said that on only a couple of occasions they've had to cut em off with a grinder.

 

[RC57]

My 4runner was from salty area. I try to get it off with pb blaster. When that fails I use a dremel with a cut off disk. Takes me a couple minutes and its off.

Where did you get a replacement nut?

 

[animal]

With LBJ and Inner TRE's get OEM replacement parts. Don't shave off quality parts. it'll cost you a little more, but, Your life is worth it.

 

[rjaudi]

Where did you get a replacement nut?

From the dealer, typically when I go to do a job I replace all hardware that will be used. You should have seen my bolt collection from the sonoran steel lift project. There should be a new castle nut with the ball joint. The bolts from the ball joint to the control arm are 1.17 each.

 

[01t4rnr]

With LBJ and Inner TRE's get OEM replacement parts. Don't shave off quality parts. it'll cost you a little more, but, Your life is worth it.

If you are going to buy something other than OEM, ive heard from quite a few people the NAPA parts are great. Bought mine this morning .

 

[TRADICLES]

Wow

OUCH!

Well, thank you for the advice! I don't think anyone will pass up ball joints after a photo like that! I did mine yesterday (even though I saw this thread after)

Wow bummer.Those calipers are cool,also looks like EBC GREENSTUFF pads.Looks great.Good luck

 

[98_4runnerSR5]

Anyone know what it costs to get these done somewhere? I don't have time to take on the task myself and am concerned about replacing these now cause I've got some clunking in the front end over bumps (161,000) after lifting. My dealer just quotes me $1,075!!!!! for uppers and lowers. That's outrageous... I rarely go to them but figured if I want Toyota parts why not check! Someone point me in the right direction.

 

[brian2sun]

It should be 1 hour or less labor for both sides.

 

[rjaudi]

It should be 1 hour or less labor for both sides.

He got quoted for the uppers also. I could see that being a large portion of the cost. My best was a quote of 700 for the inner and outer tie rods on 1 side. I would imagine you could buy the parts online and take them to a shop.

 

[98_4runnerSR5]

Yeah, Firestone quoted me $900 after taxes ... not having any luck finding anything cheaper. What a downer.... I don't have that money to spend on ball joints!