Broken Lower Ball Joint
01-09-17, 02:35 AM
#16
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I got it towed yesterday (waited 6 hours) and looked at everything while it was lifted up. Nothing else broke, which is good. Just a little bend in the heat shield. For the ball joints I'm gonna go with Beck/Arnley and the tie rods Moog. I know people are always gonna say "You need to buy true Lexus/Toyota parts" which I agree with some of the time but, I only drive about 10K miles a year. So if I install them and I inspect every 6 months I'll be fine. I will admit that this LBJ failure is probably my fault by not changing the tie rods yet, knowing they were shot and something bad could happen. But, work has been slow lately, no extra cash.
Damn construction. Hope the new year changes that.
Damn construction. Hope the new year changes that.
01-09-17, 02:03 PM
#18
exact same incident happened to my 02 Tacoma, but mine failed after hitting an expansion gap on the fwy doing 60mph! the wheel/tire/knuckle simply wedged itself on the corner of the wheel well as I skidded to the emergency lane. thank God I did not hit anything and could still steer and brake (ABS kicked on since the broken side stopped spinning while the rest were). smoke and sparks flew!
I experienced the same symptoms leading up to the failure, mainly the wheel not returning back to straight after a turn! albeit I was on the original bjs at over 150k so my negligence caused this. upon inspection of the failure, the bj separated from the socket and was completely dry, and the ball was dimply and marred since debris made its way in. it was a simple fix, used all moog parts and decided to change the uppers and rods while I was at it. at least for moog, not all parts were from japan. the uppers were, lowers were from the us, and rods were from mexico. I like that they all have zerk fittings unlike OEM. of course the LS would differ.
I experienced the same symptoms leading up to the failure, mainly the wheel not returning back to straight after a turn! albeit I was on the original bjs at over 150k so my negligence caused this. upon inspection of the failure, the bj separated from the socket and was completely dry, and the ball was dimply and marred since debris made its way in. it was a simple fix, used all moog parts and decided to change the uppers and rods while I was at it. at least for moog, not all parts were from japan. the uppers were, lowers were from the us, and rods were from mexico. I like that they all have zerk fittings unlike OEM. of course the LS would differ.
01-19-17, 12:41 PM
#19
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Update; Actual work time was 1 Hr 10 Min. for both lower BJs and both outer tie rods.Tie rods were about 2 min each b/c they dont have to come off the ball joint if you're changing both. The thing that took me the longest (b/c I was laying on my back) was a broken cotter pin I couldn't get out. (about 20 min.) After that, no problems. Probably the easiest BJs I've ever done. Or at least in the top 3. I used a pickle fork on the BJ b/c they were going in the garbage anyway.
Just a note; if you're gonna reuse the BJs or tie rods do not use a pickle fork, use the tie rod puller.
Rides nice now. Back to 1 finger steering again and the steering wheel returns back to center on it's own again. Still need to get the tires balanced b/c it has a very miner shimmy at about 50 to 55. And an alignment b/c it pulls to the left a tiny bit and the steering wheel is off a tad. (to the left)
Only other problem I had was, I started driving and had a loud, terrible scraping noise. (same as brakes metal to metal) I knew it wasn't brakes b/c nothing changed the noise like turning or braking. Turned out being the heat shield digging into the inside of the rim. It must have bent when the BJ snapped and the knuckle was just flopping. I'll try to post the pics up later tonight or tomorrow of the broken BJ.
Just a note; if you're gonna reuse the BJs or tie rods do not use a pickle fork, use the tie rod puller.
Rides nice now. Back to 1 finger steering again and the steering wheel returns back to center on it's own again. Still need to get the tires balanced b/c it has a very miner shimmy at about 50 to 55. And an alignment b/c it pulls to the left a tiny bit and the steering wheel is off a tad. (to the left)
Only other problem I had was, I started driving and had a loud, terrible scraping noise. (same as brakes metal to metal) I knew it wasn't brakes b/c nothing changed the noise like turning or braking. Turned out being the heat shield digging into the inside of the rim. It must have bent when the BJ snapped and the knuckle was just flopping. I'll try to post the pics up later tonight or tomorrow of the broken BJ.
01-20-17, 10:26 PM
#20
Update; Actual work time was 1 Hr 10 Min. for both lower BJs and both outer tie rods.Tie rods were about 2 min each b/c they dont have to come off the ball joint if you're changing both. The thing that took me the longest (b/c I was laying on my back) was a broken cotter pin I couldn't get out. (about 20 min.) After that, no problems. Probably the easiest BJs I've ever done. Or at least in the top 3. I used a pickle fork on the BJ b/c they were going in the garbage anyway.
Just a note; if you're gonna reuse the BJs or tie rods do not use a pickle fork, use the tie rod puller.
Rides nice now. Back to 1 finger steering again and the steering wheel returns back to center on it's own again. Still need to get the tires balanced b/c it has a very miner shimmy at about 50 to 55. And an alignment b/c it pulls to the left a tiny bit and the steering wheel is off a tad. (to the left)
Only other problem I had was, I started driving and had a loud, terrible scraping noise. (same as brakes metal to metal) I knew it wasn't brakes b/c nothing changed the noise like turning or braking. Turned out being the heat shield digging into the inside of the rim. It must have bent when the BJ snapped and the knuckle was just flopping. I'll try to post the pics up later tonight or tomorrow of the broken BJ.
Just a note; if you're gonna reuse the BJs or tie rods do not use a pickle fork, use the tie rod puller.
Rides nice now. Back to 1 finger steering again and the steering wheel returns back to center on it's own again. Still need to get the tires balanced b/c it has a very miner shimmy at about 50 to 55. And an alignment b/c it pulls to the left a tiny bit and the steering wheel is off a tad. (to the left)
Only other problem I had was, I started driving and had a loud, terrible scraping noise. (same as brakes metal to metal) I knew it wasn't brakes b/c nothing changed the noise like turning or braking. Turned out being the heat shield digging into the inside of the rim. It must have bent when the BJ snapped and the knuckle was just flopping. I'll try to post the pics up later tonight or tomorrow of the broken BJ.
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