O1GS43O

a little over 2 years old and under 30k
luck it happen at 3 mph while pulling out of a driveway. im going to get moog

GS714

Not every case was recorded, I am wondering how many folks out ther are not fully aware of the situation. Anyway, glad you ok. How coincident that the LBJ always happened at low speed.
I think you should stick with OEM on the LBJ & the Caster arm. The rest can from other manufacturer. Was your car slammed?

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

lbj always fail at low speeds

tiger4life

iTrader: (16)

Exactly. I went oem for the ball joints and caster arms, aftermarket for the tie rod ends.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Yeah B&A suck *****.

The OEM ones also break constantly even on stock suspension cars.

Show me a broken MOOG, I have yet to see one.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

And this one came out of the housing, so the cast was the culprit in this case.



Typically the oem's just snap off like shown below..

GS714

That is equal to one diameter of a lug bolt Ø ( Approx). We have five of them on each wheels.
And each lug bolt can handle maybe four to five time the recommended ratings strength.
That is a lot of metal fatigue/stress and am surprise it could hold up to above 100K miles.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Not sure what your getting at with this comparison? Lugs and ball joints don't have any of the same directional forces being applied. And in this case the ball joint did not fail, which is what you are comparing to a lug, the cast pot metal housing cracked and let go of the ball.

There are also MILLIONS of cars on the road all over the world with 200k+ miles on them still riding original ball joints without failure.. They may be sloppy, loose, creaking, etc but are still intact and not shearing off or falling out of the housing.

With all that aside, back on topic the title of this thread is valid, especially for this application.

Arcadian

I bought B/A LBJs and I didn't experience a failure (thank God) but, I did notice a "creak" sound after 15,000 KM. I had the dealer check them and they were shot.

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

I just bought Moog outer tie rods and LBJ's. Price was right from RockAuto and my steering is a lot tighter. I had on my OEM's for about 20k miles or so. I just changed them for the piece of mind and also before I slammed back down here in a month or so.

I'd definitely go with Moog.

GS714

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...today-pix.html

Correct me if I am wrong, is the LBJ part of a pivoting point for the wheel to steer? Now imagine, driving thru a corner while under hard accelerration. Which component do think is being under a lot of side loading?

I didn't said the OEM won't fail. It's may last just bit longer.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

I don't need to imagine it, I know what a ball joint looks like and what it does, I've been replacing them since the early nineties and have broken a few ball joints on trucks.

The forces being applied on a ball joint and the forces on lug nuts are completely different, which is what you were trying to compare. As a lug nut is just holding a static load, where as a balljoint can be maxing out the range of motion banging the stud against the socket housing causing the housing to crack or the stud to shear.

Moogs are not invincible by any means, but they also aren't called problem solvers for nothing. For many applications they actually have a larger range of motion, tougher/replaceable boots, have the addition of zerk fittings, and are generally stronger then OEM. In many instances they are more expensive than an OEM replacement as well.

I would love to find out if that was actually moogs installed in the ops car in that thread you linked. That is an issue with having to rely on random shops to do work on your car. You really never know what is being done, and they will say yeah yeah yeah we'll use moog, but they still order whatever their local parts runner brings them for the best price.. The Moogs I've put in with my own hands have never broken, and I've put them on quite a few bagged trucks that had broken oem joints, and they stand up to the serious stress of hopping on scuba or nitrogen where the joints are constantly maxing the range of motion.

Unfortunately it just seems the geometry on these cars is putting alot of accelerated stress on the lbj.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

OP..thanks for the heads up.. I always see this brand on ebay and wondered if they were good or not... Moog or OEM is the way to go...

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

I don't know about BA lower ball joints, but I do have BA UCA's and so far mine have held up pretty well. It is important to note that BA does not create their own parts (that I know of), they are a distributor. For example, I ordered BA sway bar bushings and received OEM Toyota parts.

Having your car lowered is another huge factor with the LBJ's. I don't hear too many stories about people having their ball joints fail on stock height GS's. I only have my car lowered an inch. I expect my current ball joints to last around 100k. The previous pair lasted until 150,000 miles before I replaced them.

GS714

Lexusben, when did dropped your car. And at what mileage until the LBJs replaced at 150,000m. I am considering dropping but concerning about LBJ separation.