Overall it’s a bad design. They changed it thankfully on newer models. The problem is the ball joint is being pulled on instead of pushed so when your tire goes up it’s pulling down on the ball joint the direction the ball is pressed in, when the ball joint wears it can be pulled out of the socket causing failure and your tire flying off. The newer suspension pushes into the ball joint and they last twice as long and won’t fail like these
I just purchased a mint condition mid 2004 Sequoia and was looking at replacing all my ball joints as just precautionary measure after hearing the high failure rate on them. I've noticed when looking around mine didn't look the same as the 2003 model ball joints and mine were more expensive. This video explains why. Thank you!
SANKEI 555 made in Japan. They are the company who made the original Toyota ball joints. Toyota doesn’t make ball joints like any other auto manufacturer. They have a spec/recipe the aftermarket OEM suppliers follow. I prefer using only Japanese parts on my 4runner. No autoparts junk
Just because they are an OEM supplier doesn't automatically mean that they are meeting OEM specs with their own branded products though just as a warning. That certainly is the case with some things like Denso but not all of them.
@@rushthezeppelin my fear is the design of ball joint differs greatly from Toyotas design they may make Toyotas ball joints but that doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same
my 06 Tundra passenger lower ball joint just sheared off in a parking garage (during low speed tight right turn) 2 days ago. 230k miles I go offroading a few times a year, nothing to crazy, but rocky stuff that wears on the suspension.
my upper broke on my 02 tundra luckly it happen when i was coming to a stop and into a turn lane. the whole truck feel down broke my break likes and sensor cable. could had been bad drivving 70mph and that happened. I replaced all them after that
One of the best auto repair videos I’ve seen! Well filmed and very informative. Unfortunately, a little too late for me. My lower ball joint had a catastrophic failure and the wheel came off, fortunately at low speed. Get those ball joints checked!
@@oldowl4290I’ll guess the Midwest just judging from the offshore oil rig rust situation… I could never live in the rust belt. Worst part of the United States and absolutely decimates good cars. No thanks!
My 2000 tundra had the boot failure ,no lubes then snapped off when I was backing up slowly,my warning which I didn,t realize was the steering at slow speeds getting harder to turn the wheel...........
Same happen to me driver side lower ball joint snapped after making a left turn wheel pretty much went under the truck I was lucky as before the turn I was just on the highway going 65 they're pretty easy to replace went ahead and got them and a couple other components replaced
After 225,000 miles on my 3rd gen 4 Runner I replaced the upper and lower ball joints. There was hardly any play in any of them. Went with OEM. A bit more in price but it’s worth it to me. Same goes for when my steering rack needs to be replaced…… OEM.
If you flush the ATF and use Mobil 1 it will never need replacing. Unless the pump grenades and contaminates the system. Never seen that happen. These racks just never go bad. They leak because people are dumb and don’t ever replace the fluid.
I bought a tindra 00 a few months ago, the last owner gave it 0.0 maintenenace both low ball joints were only fitted with 2 of 4 bolts on base and main nut loose. Fortunately I detected this contidtion before a catastrophe happens, welding machine, WD-40 and M12X1.25 tapping tool were needed for this mission
Don't wait tell its to late I lost my tire driving down the road. I bought the truck used with 380,000 miles on it. I found out it was already on its 3rd set of ball joints the dealer replaced the last ones under the recall but it still didn't matter. So OEM for lower with freedom offroad upper control arms with 36mm uniballs I haven't had an issue with those yet. But now my wheel bearings are shot. The truck came with 33s when I bought it and I upgraded it to 35s so that might be my fault. Once I'm done with all 4 outer axle seals and all 4 wheel bearings. It will have all new suspension on it now. Rack and pinon, high articulating extended halfshafts,diff drop down kit,OEM lower control arms freedom offroad upper control arms for "4 lift and "5 coilovers from freedom offroad with a extra leaf pack and "2 block in the rear. My calipers were both seized and rotors were warped to. So I bought a big brake kit for a 2015 lexus GX460 with steel braided brake lines. Oh and my masterclyinder and brake booster blew out after putting the 35s on my truck after 6 months as well as the driverside rear wheel bearing blowing out and taking my outer axle seal with it. So it dumped all my diff fluid with it. So all new outer axle seals as well. Cross my fingers nothing else brakes. I do my own repairs but it still doesn't help my wallet out with $8,750 in repairs within months. But it's still cheaper then buying another tundra with the options mine has.
@@dillonkoch72 My 97 2wd 5 lug tacoma with nearly a half million miles has shot ball joints, rubber all cracked. Am about to change the front wheel bearings. Kinda just wanna sell it now that I got a solid axle 1 ton super duty, though it seems twice as big. maybe ill look at freedom offroad for the upper, kind of wanted to lift it 4" but it seems hard to find aftermarket suspension parts for the 5 lug in the 1 or 2 places i looked
@@mycaddigo the only part of the ball joint that has a Cotter Key is the Ball Joint Stud itself. If you actually read My comments I'm referencing using blue loctit on the Bolts that bold the ball joint body to the Knuckle
@@AntonioClaudioMichael and doesn’t that cutter key make it impossible for castle nut to back out ??? The cat key goes through the hole in the stud and then gets wrapped around the castle nut .
@@mycaddigo I'm not talking about the Nut and Cotter Key I'm talking about the bolts that hold the entire Ball Joint assembly to the Knuckles. the cotter key holds the Castle Nut only to the Control Arms
I have nearly 300k miles on my 03 Sequoia. I'm the original owner and have never changed the ball joints. But I've kept spare, new OEM ball joints/control arms in the 3rd row for the last 2 years. I guess I'll make the change soon. Thanks for the video!
I checked my records and discovered that the LBJs were replaced by Toyota at 50k miles. The replacement LBJs had 250k on it before I replaced it recently and were still good. The UBJs and control arm bushings are original with just over 300K miles. No issues. Pretty impressive.
@@nj2mddude205Same. 05 warrantied in 07 at 35k miles. I just replaced them at 235k miles and they were fine. I firmly believe that all of these horror stories are either non oem lbjs or originals that never got replaced 🤷♂️
Toyota IS STILL HONORING the lower front ball joint recall as of 1/25/24 for all 2002-2007 Sequoia's and Tundra platforms. I got mine replaced 3 days ago.
Thanks for making this vid for us. I really appreciate it. I do recommend red threadlocker as mentioned by others. Wouldn't want those bolt to vibrate loose.
No cleaning before mounting new hardware. No loctite on threads. No torque wrench on any of the bolt heads or nuts. Hanging the suspension on the brake hose and abs wire with no support. Yeah, fantastic video.
Now Now 😂😂😂 What ever you can get away with works ! As long as it is installed right ! But yes you can not skip cleaning everything up and take some sandpaper to the hole that the ball joint goes through !
Wow, fantastic video. Love how detailed it is, and props for the lighting too! Will check if the ball joints were ever replaced on my dad's 04 with 300k on it. Thanks!
The change over from smaller to larger LBJs for Tundra was in 04+ but 05-06 to be safe. You can tell because the earlier ones will have 14mm bolts, the larger ones have 17mm bolts. You can upgrade to the larger set by adding the spindles/hubs and lower control arms from the 05-06 (and possibly 04) to your 00-03 tundra/seq. It’s a direct fit. And the original LBJ recall for 05-06 was due to manufacturing defects. Eventually it was also expanded to earlier years because of increased failure rates. Regardless, only use OEM replacements!
Yes. there is a snap ring spreader for rings without holes. Vintage New Britain, SK, Craftsman, Snap On, MAC, but prolly not finding one in Harbor Freight or Lowes. IT would be nice if you mentioned how much harder this job is with the vehicle on the ground and not up at shoulder level. Rust belt vehicles will have a much tougher time getting the old parts off. Perhaps Advance Auto or Autozone has that blalst how catastrphic these failures can be. I changed mine at 228k and they werer originals, but the POs of my truck babied my truck with no offroading etc.
The video was good but, every toyota truck lower ball joint replacement (because theer was a safety recal for almost 10 years 95-2003 for every model Toyota truck) say to use OEM Toyota parts. Yes they are twice+ the cost of an after market, and he did not use original toyota parts. How I know is original Toyota ball joint replacements do not (and never had) grease fittings. They do not need them but I guess after market ones do.
Check out the stretched brake hose keeping the upright from leaning any further out when doing the upper B/J. Toyota forbids letting a caliper hang from the hose, never mind the rotor, hub, upright and C-clamp press, too. Better to remove and hang the caliper on a hook, and wire the upright to limit outward travel. Really nice shop and he was right about detecting B/J wear. I've never had tapered studs come out by hitting the ends.
@@jeremiahisaaccanto6411they arent 14mm and that gun has 65 ft lbs of torque which exceeds the specified torque, are you a mechanic? Did you know 90 percent of mechanics dont torque those to spec, i know a dozen guys that would laugh in your face for pulling out a torque wrench, just grab a fucken ratchet and gooden tight it im certain the ammount of force you put on it will be greater than a torqur wrench
@@jamesbasye2362 I see you know nothing about these ball joints. First of all, yes they are all 14mm, I’ve changed them enough to know that they are 14mm. Secondly, no I’m not a mechanic, I couldn’t care less about what others think if I pulled out a torque wrench, especially someone like you who clearly doesn’t know. The 14mm as I said are known for failing if overtightened or not tightened enough, sure you could go ahead and tighten as much as you want, I don’t care about your procedures, you do you, one thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t let you work on my truck.
Had one of these fail (drivers side) and the wheel came off and got jammed up under the vehicle...luckily I was only doing about 5mph or it could have been a catastrophic accident. Toyota should be sued through the roof for this incredibly dangerous design
I miss my Sequoia, but love my new-to-me FJ Cruiser. I'll definitely check the lower ball joints when I get it up in the air. I'm about to add an additional trans cooler & change all the ATF in the trans & torq converter. Turns out the shudder some people have dealt with in these can be fixed by changing all the fluid, so I'm just doing it as PM.
Yes it will fix it , late model sequoia and tundra have that issue the fluid and filter change fixes it , i also secured the deal on the green xb , so maybe more vids on it
I got the Bad feeling... my wheel was starting to rumble at over 50 mph... Power steering leak ate all the rubber on ball joint and right control arm... All is very loose... Fixing now.. But, scary to see that... and these videos. 😲
My Sequoia is a great vehicle. But the frame rust and the lbj design flaw are the only main issues. Folks should only use the Toyota LBJ. The aftermarket are no where as strong to support the weight in this flawed design. I change my LBJ every two years and check them at each oil change. I have seen too many of these pop out on my friends while driving and hitting a pothole
@@Mrtekem from what I heard the moog problem solver line is better than oem. I’m not sure about standard moog ball joints but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the problem solvers
You need to make sure you specify not only the year, the motor size but if it’s a two wheel drive or 4x4… most parts houses list only the 2 wheel drive model, which is a smaller version ball joint… they look identical but when you go to install, you discover everything about the two parts are smaller… I discovered this the hard way
My 2003 tundra 4x4 feels like a 10 ton dump truck without a load when I hit potholes and dips. When I brake on occasion I feel a sudden jolt or slippage just before the truck stops, 498000 miles and all original suspension except for struts. I can see the upper control arm has lots of play so assuming ball joints are history as well. I bought the truck new.
My 06 tundra just blew the lower ball joint on Friday . Insurance has it right now and are leaning towards a total loss. It was that afternoon that i discovered the recall out on them but my vin is strangely not included in the recall.
Wow, I'm in Australia with some of the worst roads known to man. My 2004 120 Prado still running original ball joints. I've been servicing my car since 10,000km, now has 305,000km as of 11th August, 2024.
Will the lower or upper ball joint cause shaking when braking? I have replaced pads, rotors, calipers & tie rods. But still have bad shaking when braking. Thanks
In my case there was no shaking but loud clunk on braking. Squeaky sound when turning and a vague steering that refuse to centre after turning left of right. Than it popped out after some months with this symptoms. I thought it was my arm bushes and my steering rack and pinion gone bad😅.
tHanks for the video. Don't know why UA-cam sent it...but it was good. tHank UA-cam. I like the wood cabinets in the shop...with the window too. It is a classy look.
Toyota states that balljoints should be changed every 100k. I think that is just Toyota corp covering their asses, because nobody does that. I've ran into Toyota techs that aren't even good at diagnosing ball joint play. Even if it doesnt clunk you're supposed to use a dial indicator as per the FSM. Good callout on the size and lower bolt difference. The grade 11's are much beefier Also, the lower ball joints are easy to replace. The upper is more of a pita
Remember watching this I think when it came out. Remembered watching bit but not the actual content of the video. Wide said her first Sequoia was jerking around at full lock. I drove it around in front of the house and then came back. It almost felt like a 4wd when you leave it in and turn on pavement...but ours is 2wd. Look under and the castle nut was one thread from falling off and the ball joint had separate!!😳😬😲. I just replaced the trouble joint with OEM. I will do the other one, just wanted to get it back on the road. I was looking around for a replacement at all the parts places. They all had sketchy names I have never heard in suspension parts...even rock auto had no real names. I don't know what's up with that. I was going to buy a NAPA top of the line joint then saw it was actually cheaper to order from Toyota online and pick it up at the dealer.
Never even knew there was an "issue" with the lower ball joints until I saw a video on it lol. Did change them at 240k miles and couldn't tell the difference. Mechanic said the old ones looked pretty good. Oh well.
lost the front passenger wheel at 30 mph on a 97 4runner. Not fun, luckily it was on gravel with no traffic. A week prior I was doin 70 on the interstate and my buddy mentioned how nice the old rig drove.
My Sequoia 02 ball joints busted loose going 72 mph, slapping the wheel under the driver side step board. Replaced with a full moog front end. What a ride. Has 348k.
I have a 2001 Toyota sequoia with about 230k miles. I am definitely going to replace the front ball joints uppers and lowers do I need to replace the rear as well tho?
@@horitauri Yep. I do not respect the use of click bait or people who persist in it. Society is full of enough forms of manipulative and deceptive communication tactics already.
@@onenikkione Oh yeah, I see what you're saying now - that part where he says: "...Okay this thing still drives totally fine.... you can, recently you can hear clunking when you hit bumps..." I can't believe that UA-cam hasn't taken it down! That's really graphic. Yet somehow he survived. Amazing they were able to capture it. A distant relative heard a clunking once. I'm not sure how they were able to revive him.
I have a 05 Tundra the ball joints were replaced because of recall at 30,000 miles I'm at 182,000 now. I did the prybar method as you demonstrated no play drives fine. Should I replace?
I use MOOG parts, almost as expensive as OEM but they are well made American products though instead of OEM, I also drill & tap a hole on them for grease fittings, do the same for tie rod ends too...haven't had one fail yet!!...If a OEM part by yota is failing, I go with something else that exceeds that!!
@@anjr6282 True. Just go to any dealer and ask them to pull the recall records for your vehicle. If they do not have noted in the Toyota system they will replace for certain early model year Sequoia and Tundras.
I just got off the phone with Toyota, give them your VIN number n they would tell you if there’s a recall on your specific car, I guess since it depends the month it was manufactured 3/23/22 1435hrs
I just bought a new set of tires and went for an alignment. Shop said I needed both lower ball joints and 1 inner tie rod. I replaced those with napa parts then got alignment and thought I was good. Last weekend, About 2 months after the alignment, the passengers side tire completely came off. Both upper and lower failed. Luckily I was doing about 35mph and safely stopped. I had just finished hauling cars on a tow dolly about 200 miles. Lucky I'd say. Should have bought oem.
I wonder is there is multiple styles of Toyota joints for first gen? I didn't think I saw a grease fitting on my Toyota joints I just installed, so I went outside to look and see. No grease zerk. Did you happen to take a pic of the part number for this one?
Do you think the lbj catastrophic failures are related to harsh environments? I’m in the SE, and my 2001 Sequoia (257k) has been a family hauler. No heavy towing, no rust. I will do these because I don’t want to tempt fate. I see a lot of these videos with frame rust which has got to weaken components. Also a salt environment is hard on everything.
The design is bad. The ball joint is inverted. And if it fails will cause the lower arm to drop and wheel to come off. Not sure why toyota engineers did that. Every other car i have, even from 95 have it the proper way. The weight of the vehicle should rest on top of the ball joint. Not hanging onto it for dear life.
I have a 2001 Sequoia, the right side ball joint broke at 136,000 miles and I was lucky it broke going into a parking lot. Toyota recall is from 2002 and up ,well it is happening on 2001. Called toyota and their excuse is that it was normal wear. This is extremely dangerous and Totota has gotten lucky that no fatalities happened yet. This is Original ball joints so they will not last 200k which they should. If anyone is reading this and have a sequoia , buy a quality ball joint, I bought the brand "moog" and if you had an accident , I would get a lawyer and take them to court. They are well informed of this problem.
I have a 2002 Sequioa and was just debating replacing the ball joints. I was actually was wondering if the 2005 and newer joints would fit, your the first to mention the different size bolts and pattern. Idk if the effort to swap a 05 or newer spindle over would be worth it.
I'll tell you what will kill you! The block of wood on your lift adapter as seen at 6:50. The biggest cause of lift failure is improper spotting and adapters. that thing moves or splits and you would wish you kept the old ball joints.
Way too much editing, wished you had included how hard it was to put that upper ball joint back on, setting it up and getting it to align to be pressed on and the upper ball joint boot back on along with the boot ring, I know it's a pain. You basically edited all the hard stuff off the video. Would have been nice to see that part. Otherwise it was a good video.
I will admit not watching the whole video, but Toyota’s design of a tension loaded LBJ is just plain dumb. With all the other manufacturers using a compression loaded lower ball joint that rarely fail in a dangerous way, this is terrible and dangerous, notice they changed the design to the standard compression loaded joint for the second gen Tundra. Also please get your vehicle checked for stuff like this at a shop you can trust unless you are truly capable of doing it yourself. Do it yourself oil changes or quick lubes are not always a good idea if it doesn’t get your vehicle checked properly.
Nathan, maybe I missed in one of the comments. Can I do this on a level driveway. I do have some 12 ton Daytona Harbor Freight stands I trust will keep me safe. Just wondering if it's doable without a car lift. Also, I can't thank you enough on your other BMW videos. Cheers!
My problem is when I look for the lower ball joints on toyota parts page for the 2002 tundra 2 different part numbers pop up for the left and right but i dont know the difference. One part number for both is more expensive. Maybe the beefier version? idk
Overall it’s a bad design. They changed it thankfully on newer models. The problem is the ball joint is being pulled on instead of pushed so when your tire goes up it’s pulling down on the ball joint the direction the ball is pressed in, when the ball joint wears it can be pulled out of the socket causing failure and your tire flying off. The newer suspension pushes into the ball joint and they last twice as long and won’t fail like these
I just purchased a mint condition mid 2004 Sequoia and was looking at replacing all my ball joints as just precautionary measure after hearing the high failure rate on them. I've noticed when looking around mine didn't look the same as the 2003 model ball joints and mine were more expensive. This video explains why. Thank you!
I really wish you did every sequoia UA-cam vid. This was so easy to see what you’re doing. Thanks!
😮 I. Also have a 2000 tundra death truck..... what a ride after the left ball joint broke on the 7 mile bridge...Woopie!!!
SANKEI 555 made in Japan. They are the company who made the original Toyota ball joints. Toyota doesn’t make ball joints like any other auto manufacturer. They have a spec/recipe the aftermarket OEM suppliers follow. I prefer using only Japanese parts on my 4runner. No autoparts junk
I went with sankie i hope thats true
Just because they are an OEM supplier doesn't automatically mean that they are meeting OEM specs with their own branded products though just as a warning. That certainly is the case with some things like Denso but not all of them.
555 fails too.
@@rushthezeppelin my fear is the design of ball joint differs greatly from Toyotas design they may make Toyotas ball joints but that doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same
my 06 Tundra passenger lower ball joint just sheared off in a parking garage (during low speed tight right turn) 2 days ago. 230k miles I go offroading a few times a year, nothing to crazy, but rocky stuff that wears on the suspension.
my upper broke on my 02 tundra luckly it happen when i was coming to a stop and into a turn lane. the whole truck feel down broke my break likes and sensor cable. could had been bad drivving 70mph and that happened. I replaced all them after that
One of the best auto repair videos I’ve seen! Well filmed and very informative. Unfortunately, a little too late for me. My lower ball joint had a catastrophic failure and the wheel came off, fortunately at low speed. Get those ball joints checked!
How many miles at time of failure and what state?
@@oldowl4290I’ll guess the Midwest just judging from the offshore oil rig rust situation… I could never live in the rust belt. Worst part of the United States and absolutely decimates good cars. No thanks!
If the boot dissolves from power steering fluid, could happen any time, when grease is gone.
My 2000 tundra had the boot failure ,no lubes then snapped off when I was backing up slowly,my warning which I didn,t realize was the steering at slow speeds getting harder to turn the wheel...........
Same happen to me driver side lower ball joint snapped after making a left turn wheel pretty much went under the truck I was lucky as before the turn I was just on the highway going 65 they're pretty easy to replace went ahead and got them and a couple other components replaced
After 225,000 miles on my 3rd gen 4 Runner I replaced the upper and lower ball joints. There was hardly any play in any of them. Went with OEM. A bit more in price but it’s worth it to me. Same goes for when my steering rack needs to be replaced…… OEM.
If you flush the ATF and use Mobil 1 it will never need replacing. Unless the pump grenades and contaminates the system. Never seen that happen. These racks just never go bad. They leak because people are dumb and don’t ever replace the fluid.
I bought a tindra 00 a few months ago, the last owner gave it 0.0 maintenenace both low ball joints were only fitted with 2 of 4 bolts on base and main nut loose. Fortunately I detected this contidtion before a catastrophe happens, welding machine, WD-40 and M12X1.25 tapping tool were needed for this mission
Don't wait tell its to late I lost my tire driving down the road. I bought the truck used with 380,000 miles on it. I found out it was already on its 3rd set of ball joints the dealer replaced the last ones under the recall but it still didn't matter. So OEM for lower with freedom offroad upper control arms with 36mm uniballs I haven't had an issue with those yet. But now my wheel bearings are shot. The truck came with 33s when I bought it and I upgraded it to 35s so that might be my fault. Once I'm done with all 4 outer axle seals and all 4 wheel bearings. It will have all new suspension on it now. Rack and pinon, high articulating extended halfshafts,diff drop down kit,OEM lower control arms freedom offroad upper control arms for "4 lift and "5 coilovers from freedom offroad with a extra leaf pack and "2 block in the rear. My calipers were both seized and rotors were warped to. So I bought a big brake kit for a 2015 lexus GX460 with steel braided brake lines. Oh and my masterclyinder and brake booster blew out after putting the 35s on my truck after 6 months as well as the driverside rear wheel bearing blowing out and taking my outer axle seal with it. So it dumped all my diff fluid with it. So all new outer axle seals as well. Cross my fingers nothing else brakes. I do my own repairs but it still doesn't help my wallet out with $8,750 in repairs within months. But it's still cheaper then buying another tundra with the options mine has.
Lost a front wheel in a 97 4 runner. EYE opening experience
@@ahole5388did you have any warning signs beforehand?
NO warning at all. Weeks before someone mentioned how nice the old rattletrap drove.
I traded it for a solid axle 1 ton ram with Dana 80s no problems at all with suspension. Now everything else no comment 😂
@@dillonkoch72 My 97 2wd 5 lug tacoma with nearly a half million miles has shot ball joints, rubber all cracked. Am about to change the front wheel bearings. Kinda just wanna sell it now that I got a solid axle 1 ton super duty, though it seems twice as big. maybe ill look at freedom offroad for the upper, kind of wanted to lift it 4" but it seems hard to find aftermarket suspension parts for the 5 lug in the 1 or 2 places i looked
This is a great video. The views are fantastic and your detailed explanation as you went was second to none. Thank you!!
I would recommend blue loctite on the lower ball joint bolts stops them from backing out like then tend to do
Don’t they have a cutter key?
@@mycaddigo the only part of the ball joint that has a Cotter Key is the Ball Joint Stud itself. If you actually read My comments I'm referencing using blue loctit on the Bolts that bold the ball joint body to the Knuckle
@@AntonioClaudioMichael and doesn’t that cutter key make it impossible for castle nut to back out ???
The cat key goes through the hole in the stud and then gets wrapped around the castle nut .
@@mycaddigo I'm not talking about the Nut and Cotter Key I'm talking about the bolts that hold the entire Ball Joint assembly to the Knuckles. the cotter key holds the Castle Nut only to the Control Arms
@@AntonioClaudioMichael ohhhhhh I think I know what you mean .
13:51 You now let everything hang on your ABS/Speed Sensor...
Bungie Cords are your Friend! 😄👍
I peeped this too... Bad business lol
I have nearly 300k miles on my 03 Sequoia. I'm the original owner and have never changed the ball joints. But I've kept spare, new OEM ball joints/control arms in the 3rd row for the last 2 years. I guess I'll make the change soon. Thanks for the video!
I have an 03 Tundra. Toyota had a recall on the lower ball joints. Check with dealer before you do the job. You might get a free-be.
Did you get it recalled?
300k???!!! You are 100% playing with fire.. dancing with the devil.
I checked my records and discovered that the LBJs were replaced by Toyota at 50k miles. The replacement LBJs had 250k on it before I replaced it recently and were still good. The UBJs and control arm bushings are original with just over 300K miles. No issues. Pretty impressive.
@@nj2mddude205Same. 05 warrantied in 07 at 35k miles. I just replaced them at 235k miles and they were fine. I firmly believe that all of these horror stories are either non oem lbjs or originals that never got replaced 🤷♂️
still trying to figure out where the balljoint failure was in this whole vid.
Toyota IS STILL HONORING the lower front ball joint recall as of 1/25/24 for all 2002-2007 Sequoia's and Tundra platforms. I got mine replaced 3 days ago.
What’s the recall notice
I’m guessing no recall for 09 Tacomas
@@HB-yq8gy well... if you call your local dealer. You would know. I cant tell you something I havent inquired about.
Mines a '01 Tundra 😞
Yo fuck Toyota mfs got my ass i got the 01
Thanks for making this vid for us. I really appreciate it. I do recommend red threadlocker as mentioned by others. Wouldn't want those bolt to vibrate loose.
Just had my ball joints on my sienna done. Yes different car but i changed them in the end of 21. Toyota, Oh what a feeling!
No cleaning before mounting new hardware. No loctite on threads. No torque wrench on any of the bolt heads or nuts. Hanging the suspension on the brake hose and abs wire with no support. Yeah, fantastic video.
Now Now 😂😂😂
What ever you can get away with works !
As long as it is installed right !
But yes you can not skip cleaning everything up and take some sandpaper to the hole that the ball joint goes through !
Wow, fantastic video. Love how detailed it is, and props for the lighting too! Will check if the ball joints were ever replaced on my dad's 04 with 300k on it. Thanks!
-mmmm
The change over from smaller to larger LBJs for Tundra was in 04+ but 05-06 to be safe. You can tell because the earlier ones will have 14mm bolts, the larger ones have 17mm bolts. You can upgrade to the larger set by adding the spindles/hubs and lower control arms from the 05-06 (and possibly 04) to your 00-03 tundra/seq. It’s a direct fit. And the original LBJ recall for 05-06 was due to manufacturing defects. Eventually it was also expanded to earlier years because of increased failure rates. Regardless, only use OEM replacements!
Fj cruisers, sequoia, 4runner, Tacoma, older tundras, lexus GX series and RX series as well as Highlanders and rav4s
Use OEM and new bolts. Loctite and torque. Change every 100,000 miles but check them often.
Yes. there is a snap ring spreader for rings without holes. Vintage New Britain, SK, Craftsman, Snap On, MAC, but prolly not finding one in Harbor Freight or Lowes. IT would be nice if you mentioned how much harder this job is with the vehicle on the ground and not up at shoulder level. Rust belt vehicles will have a much tougher time getting the old parts off. Perhaps Advance Auto or Autozone has that blalst how catastrphic these failures can be. I changed mine at 228k and they werer originals, but the POs of my truck babied my truck with no offroading etc.
The video was good but, every toyota truck lower ball joint replacement (because theer was a safety recal for almost 10 years 95-2003 for every model Toyota truck) say to use OEM Toyota parts. Yes they are twice+ the cost of an after market, and he did not use original toyota parts. How I know is original Toyota ball joint replacements do not (and never had) grease fittings. They do not need them but I guess after market ones do.
For a critical part of the vehicle that can kill you or others with a failure of any sort... loctite and torque the darn balljoint bolts please lol.
Check out the stretched brake hose keeping the upright from leaning any further out when doing the upper B/J. Toyota forbids letting a caliper hang from the hose, never mind the rotor, hub, upright and C-clamp press, too. Better to remove and hang the caliper on a hook, and wire the upright to limit outward travel. Really nice shop and he was right about detecting B/J wear. I've never had tapered studs come out by hitting the ends.
No amount of loctite and tight bolts stops the ball joints from separating themselves
@fullyxflared1217the 4 14mm bolts are known to fail if not torqued to the specified torque spec.
@@jeremiahisaaccanto6411they arent 14mm and that gun has 65 ft lbs of torque which exceeds the specified torque, are you a mechanic? Did you know 90 percent of mechanics dont torque those to spec, i know a dozen guys that would laugh in your face for pulling out a torque wrench, just grab a fucken ratchet and gooden tight it im certain the ammount of force you put on it will be greater than a torqur wrench
@@jamesbasye2362 I see you know nothing about these ball joints. First of all, yes they are all 14mm, I’ve changed them enough to know that they are 14mm. Secondly, no I’m not a mechanic, I couldn’t care less about what others think if I pulled out a torque wrench, especially someone like you who clearly doesn’t know. The 14mm as I said are known for failing if overtightened or not tightened enough, sure you could go ahead and tighten as much as you want, I don’t care about your procedures, you do you, one thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t let you work on my truck.
My 2000 tundra has been so nice to me. Only broke ball joints when i was going under 20mph. I love my truck but hate those ball joints.
Why would you not fill the ball joint with grease before you install it?
That would be too easy.
@@hokie9910 we shouldn't let that happen ...true
My 01 taco lower ball joint failed. The truck was inspected 3 days before and no defects were detected. Change em out every 100 miles.
every 100 miles? typo there?
@@efil4kizum Think he meant every 23 years or so
Yeah, good to watch in real time. Cheers, Phil - New Zealand
Easy to understand video Thanks, we have 2005 Tundra and 2006 Sequoia and it's getting to be the regular fix up years,175 -195,000 miles
Had one of these fail (drivers side) and the wheel came off and got jammed up under the vehicle...luckily I was only doing about 5mph or it could have been a catastrophic accident. Toyota should be sued through the roof for this incredibly dangerous design
I miss my Sequoia, but love my new-to-me FJ Cruiser. I'll definitely check the lower ball joints when I get it up in the air. I'm about to add an additional trans cooler & change all the ATF in the trans & torq converter. Turns out the shudder some people have dealt with in these can be fixed by changing all the fluid, so I'm just doing it as PM.
Yes it will fix it , late model sequoia and tundra have that issue the fluid and filter change fixes it , i also secured the deal on the green xb , so maybe more vids on it
I got the Bad feeling... my wheel was starting to rumble at over 50 mph... Power steering leak ate all the rubber on ball joint and right control arm... All is very loose... Fixing now..
But, scary to see that... and these videos. 😲
My Sequoia is a great vehicle. But the frame rust and the lbj design flaw are the only main issues. Folks should only use the Toyota LBJ. The aftermarket are no where as strong to support the weight in this flawed design. I change my LBJ every two years and check them at each oil change. I have seen too many of these pop out on my friends while driving and hitting a pothole
Dang. Every 2.
What about moog ?
@@jhhsss i only trust the Toyota LBJ. Original oem. The moog snap too and you can google stories about them.
@@Mrtekem from what I heard the moog problem solver line is better than oem. I’m not sure about standard moog ball joints but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the problem solvers
Mevotech TTX are BEEFY
You need to make sure you specify not only the year, the motor size but if it’s a two wheel drive or 4x4… most parts houses list only the 2 wheel drive model, which is a smaller version ball joint… they look identical but when you go to install, you discover everything about the two parts are smaller… I discovered this the hard way
Can you install the bigger 4x4 ball joints on a 2WD?
@@MrVehicularmanslaugh I don’t think so, I own a 4x4 and the first pair I purchased were too small… I found out later they were for a 2 wheel drive…
My 2003 tundra 4x4 feels like a 10 ton dump truck without a load when I hit potholes and dips. When I brake on occasion I feel a sudden jolt or slippage just before the truck stops, 498000 miles and all original suspension except for struts. I can see the upper control arm has lots of play so assuming ball joints are history as well.
I bought the truck new.
My 06 tundra just blew the lower ball joint on Friday . Insurance has it right now and are leaning towards a total loss. It was that afternoon that i discovered the recall out on them but my vin is strangely not included in the recall.
I'm spoiled living on the west coast. I don't have to deal with all of the rust from the road salts.
this rig is doing some serious battle with the winter salt monster
Wow, I'm in Australia with some of the worst roads known to man. My 2004 120 Prado still running original ball joints. I've been servicing my car since 10,000km, now has 305,000km as of 11th August, 2024.
Will the lower or upper ball joint cause shaking when braking?
I have replaced pads, rotors, calipers & tie rods. But still have bad shaking when braking. Thanks
In my case there was no shaking but loud clunk on braking. Squeaky sound when turning and a vague steering that refuse to centre after turning left of right. Than it popped out after some months with this symptoms. I thought it was my arm bushes and my steering rack and pinion gone bad😅.
A video of Excellency.
Thank you so much , just a down to earth presentation.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
tHanks for the video. Don't know why UA-cam sent it...but it was good. tHank UA-cam.
I like the wood cabinets in the shop...with the window too. It is a classy look.
Page SA74 of the 00-03 Tundra SFM is the inspection procedure.
Always enjoy watching Other people work on stuff.. : ) ive had it after 2 decades haha.. Great vid.
Anything is easier with a lift and a big impact, i was telling phillip tales of before i had a lift and how hard life was lol
Great info! Good to see this up close and detailed. Excellent vid. Thank you, sir.
Just what I needed, thanks 😮
Dude, that tie rod end just fell out. I had to crank on it with a press to get mine to seperate. Passenger side with just a bit of rust. 2001 4runner.
anit-seize onit?
How often should the ball joints be replaced? My 2006 had them replaced per recall in 2007. Do I need to replace per miles or years?
As needed... Just check them when you do other work in that area such as brakes or when you hear/feel anything weird in that area.
Toyota states that balljoints should be changed every 100k. I think that is just Toyota corp covering their asses, because nobody does that. I've ran into Toyota techs that aren't even good at diagnosing ball joint play. Even if it doesnt clunk you're supposed to use a dial indicator as per the FSM. Good callout on the size and lower bolt difference. The grade 11's are much beefier
Also, the lower ball joints are easy to replace. The upper is more of a pita
WHERE does it or They state that? i have a gen1 Tacoma and Have NEVER heard about that from them, just on taco forums
@@efil4kizum I read it on a Toyota corporate dealer website the other day.
@@efil4kizumthey don’t.
Remember watching this I think when it came out. Remembered watching bit but not the actual content of the video. Wide said her first Sequoia was jerking around at full lock. I drove it around in front of the house and then came back. It almost felt like a 4wd when you leave it in and turn on pavement...but ours is 2wd. Look under and the castle nut was one thread from falling off and the ball joint had separate!!😳😬😲. I just replaced the trouble joint with OEM. I will do the other one, just wanted to get it back on the road.
I was looking around for a replacement at all the parts places. They all had sketchy names I have never heard in suspension parts...even rock auto had no real names. I don't know what's up with that. I was going to buy a NAPA top of the line joint then saw it was actually cheaper to order from Toyota online and pick it up at the dealer.
Never even knew there was an "issue" with the lower ball joints until I saw a video on it lol. Did change them at 240k miles and couldn't tell the difference. Mechanic said the old ones looked pretty good. Oh well.
The bolts sheared off on mine. I fixed the driver side a while back and it now just happened on passenger side. Just found out ab the recall
Great Video. Makes it look easy, which I'm sure it will be when I take this project on this week.
lost the front passenger wheel at 30 mph on a 97 4runner. Not fun, luckily it was on gravel with no traffic. A week prior I was doin 70 on the interstate and my buddy mentioned how nice the old rig drove.
do you recall the mileage on that LBJ that blew? Are You Lifted abouve stock height At All?
My Sequoia 02 ball joints busted loose going 72 mph, slapping the wheel under the driver side step board. Replaced with a full moog front end. What a ride. Has 348k.
You almost have to check them every oil change just to be sure
How long does Mood last?
xxx moog?
Great camera work
I have a 2001 Toyota sequoia with about 230k miles. I am definitely going to replace the front ball joints uppers and lowers do I need to replace the rear as well tho?
You made it look so darn easy
Very good video! Good job explaining and showing
Nice instructional vid! Thanks.
But I'm still wondering..., how did your Toyota balljoint failure "almost kill you"? I missed that somehow.
Click bait.......
@@horitauri Yep. I do not respect the use of click bait or people who persist in it. Society is full of enough forms of manipulative and deceptive communication tactics already.
He showed in the beginning.....all of the play in the joint
@@onenikkione
Oh yeah,
I see what you're saying now - that part where he says:
"...Okay this thing still drives totally fine.... you can, recently you can hear clunking when you hit bumps..."
I can't believe that UA-cam hasn't taken it down! That's really graphic. Yet somehow he survived. Amazing they were able to capture it.
A distant relative heard a clunking once. I'm not sure how they were able to revive him.
Thank you!! I always wondered how to check those type of ball joints ! How many miles on the vehicle?
I want a lift in my kitchen too! 😂😂😂
I have a 05 Tundra the ball joints were replaced because of recall at 30,000 miles I'm at 182,000 now. I did the prybar method as you demonstrated no play drives fine. Should I replace?
0:58 the lbj is not supposed to move like that? It seems to me like they will always have some play just due to their design.
A little click of a play should be alright. But if the rubber boots are torn its going to go bad fast.
Do u know what caused the vehicle to be wobble/bouncy? I fixed all my front ball joints and shocks, think it might be rear shocks or ujoints?
Worn out suspension.
Great video! Something I'll start looking at around 150K miles.
I use MOOG parts, almost as expensive as OEM but they are well made American products though instead of OEM, I also drill & tap a hole on them for grease fittings, do the same for tie rod ends too...haven't had one fail yet!!...If a OEM part by yota is failing, I go with something else that exceeds that!!
Careful, they are making/reboxing some parts from china. Also parts that used to have zerk fittings no longer do.
Awesome video this man is a pro !
There is a recall on the lowers, Toyota will replace them once for free no matters the miles or number of owners.
Where did you see that or hear about that I would like to know please
@@anjr6282 True. Just go to any dealer and ask them to pull the recall records for your vehicle. If they do not have noted in the Toyota system they will replace for certain early model year Sequoia and Tundras.
I just got off the phone with Toyota, give them your VIN number n they would tell you if there’s a recall on your specific car, I guess since it depends the month it was manufactured
3/23/22
1435hrs
Hope this is true . My passenger side lower came out while turning out of a gas station . Glad I was on the highway .
I just bought a new set of tires and went for an alignment. Shop said I needed both lower ball joints and 1 inner tie rod. I replaced those with napa parts then got alignment and thought I was good. Last weekend, About 2 months after the alignment, the passengers side tire completely came off. Both upper and lower failed. Luckily I was doing about 35mph and safely stopped. I had just finished hauling cars on a tow dolly about 200 miles. Lucky I'd say. Should have bought oem.
I wonder is there is multiple styles of Toyota joints for first gen? I didn't think I saw a grease fitting on my Toyota joints I just installed, so I went outside to look and see. No grease zerk. Did you happen to take a pic of the part number for this one?
I have the same question!
Thank for the video keep it up good job
Man I gotta check mine, mine drives like a dream no sounds no lights nothing at all and I got 320k miles on my Prius
Really really helpful. How long did it take you to do both lower & upper ball joints?
I'm wondering why you didn't do the lower bushings too.
T4TV
Nice to see more of this.
Hi from vegas good job
There is a recall for the lower ball joints!!! They fail and the suspension comes of causing no steeeing control of the vehicle.
dam. are you a pro auto mechanic ? sure make that look easy. the most ill go is a brake caliper change on my 09 taco.
Do you think the lbj catastrophic failures are related to harsh environments? I’m in the SE, and my 2001 Sequoia (257k) has been a family hauler. No heavy towing, no rust. I will do these because I don’t want to tempt fate. I see a lot of these videos with frame rust which has got to weaken components. Also a salt environment is hard on everything.
Buy any high mileage toyota truck and LBJ are the first thing you should do, even if there are no signs of failure.
The design is bad. The ball joint is inverted. And if it fails will cause the lower arm to drop and wheel to come off. Not sure why toyota engineers did that. Every other car i have, even from 95 have it the proper way. The weight of the vehicle should rest on top of the ball joint. Not hanging onto it for dear life.
Ball joints got larger mid-year, August of 2003. Brakes too.
I have a 2001 Sequoia, the right side ball joint broke at 136,000 miles and I was lucky it broke going into a parking lot. Toyota recall is from 2002 and up ,well it is happening on 2001. Called toyota and their excuse is that it was normal wear. This is extremely dangerous and Totota has gotten lucky that no fatalities happened yet. This is Original ball joints so they will not last 200k which they should. If anyone is reading this and have a sequoia , buy a quality ball joint, I bought the brand "moog" and if you had an accident , I would get a lawyer and take them to court. They are well informed of this problem.
Here in TJ, I've
Seen about 6 gen 3 4runners with the tire broken off
I have a 2002 Sequioa and was just debating replacing the ball joints. I was actually was wondering if the 2005 and newer joints would fit, your the first to mention the different size bolts and pattern. Idk if the effort to swap a 05 or newer spindle over would be worth it.
SAME I had 4 of my kids and my wife in the truck when it happened
Use a a dang torque wrench geeeeeezzzzzz
this seems to be a common issje with Prado 90 series too, scary when they let go
Crazy that you have a lift but no torque wrench…
I just did one of these at my job today and struts ball joints were squeaking away strut bushing wiped out
Please confirm anyone.
Did he rest only the c clamp screw shaft on the "ball" of the joint for removal?
And it worked?
I have a problem with that part too and I can’t find it in any autoparts or dealer, where can I find that part or what number that part is 🙏
Check out parts geek. Good luck
I'll tell you what will kill you! The block of wood on your lift adapter as seen at 6:50. The biggest cause of lift failure is improper spotting and adapters. that thing moves or splits and you would wish you kept the old ball joints.
Buongiorno, complimenti per il video. Qual è il il codice per le testine inferiori per il Prado j90?. Fammi sapere, grazie mille.
Can I ask if you did use the oem ball joint or that after market ?
Way too much editing, wished you had included how hard it was to put that upper ball joint back on, setting it up and getting it to align to be pressed on and the upper ball joint boot back on along with the boot ring, I know it's a pain. You basically edited all the hard stuff off the video. Would have been nice to see that part.
Otherwise it was a good video.
I will admit not watching the whole video, but Toyota’s design of a tension loaded LBJ is just plain dumb. With all the other manufacturers using a compression loaded lower ball joint that rarely fail in a dangerous way, this is terrible and dangerous, notice they changed the design to the standard compression loaded joint for the second gen Tundra. Also please get your vehicle checked for stuff like this at a shop you can trust unless you are truly capable of doing it yourself. Do it yourself oil changes or quick lubes are not always a good idea if it doesn’t get your vehicle checked properly.
Nathan, maybe I missed in one of the comments. Can I do this on a level driveway. I do have some 12 ton Daytona Harbor Freight stands I trust will keep me safe. Just wondering if it's doable without a car lift. Also, I can't thank you enough on your other BMW videos. Cheers!
Ami se me partio 1 el del conductor en el i-95 a 70mill y por suerte no paso nada y luego me llamaron para un ricol y me los pusieron gratis en dealer
My problem is when I look for the lower ball joints on toyota parts page for the 2002 tundra 2 different part numbers pop up for the left and right but i dont know the difference. One part number for both is more expensive. Maybe the beefier version? idk