First Gen Lower Ball Joint(LBJ) Failures

I know far more about the GenIII SBC, only reason I'd go that route.

Support and aftermarket perf parts are numerous also which is a big bonus.

 

Is 80% of the population sitting here like wtf, just like me?

 

Yep, pretty much. Those who have the money tend to buy such vehicles offered only on a limited production basis and keep it to flip it at a much higher price down the line.

Did you know Ferrari now has a higher market value than either GM or Ford just because they cater to the rich? That’s where we’re heading.

 

With everything. It's stuuuupid.

 

I had to correct myself. It’s their market value, but still it shows the direction we’re heading.

 

Look no farther than the streaming companies. As Netflix, Spotify and others are jacking up their prices and losing millions of subs, notice they're still making profits. They're finding they make the same amount of money charging each active sub $1-2/mo more. The ideal place to be is the least amount of people interfacing with your service, cutting down your operating/maintenance costs, while still pulling the same revenue. Besides, "commoners" are so much maintenance, and always want more for less money, at least in the eyes of the service C-level folks.

 

DUHN, DUHN, DUHN ... Another one bites the dust ... AND owner knew about all the LBJ issues. Man. How unfortunate.

 

More spare parts available for the rest of us from the local salvage yard. Win!

 

Ouch

 

Hey man, uh….. how much for that cap??

 

VULTURES!

 

I've driven my truck mindlessly for 13 years without a care in the world, but ever since discovering this in the last 30 days or so I can't so much as drive over a road reflector without clenching my butthole.

My Ourisman order got held up but should deliver tomorrow. Of course I am leaving on a ~700 mile road trip Thursday, and unlikely to be able to get it done before then!

 

Heres a rare one. '05.

 

2001 with just over 100k, I'd guess that it had the updated LBJ replacements done. I wonder though

 

I'm still not 100% sure that the recall OEM lower ball joints ever fail prematurely.

 

Aftermarket LBJ'S again.

 

Checked mine and the previous/original owner had them replaced under warranty with the updated ones. I'll need to dig through all the work receipts the truck came with, but I doubt they've been replaced since then. Guess I'll be looking around to see who has a deal on the OEM ones in the coming month and do them myself. Watched the videos and the job seems a lot easier than I was expecting, and it's an excuse to buy new tools. I found the clamp for the tie rod on Amazon, is there a recommended one people are using for pulling the LBJ?

I've had two first gen tacos and never had a problem with them, but a buddy snapped one on his first gen taco and still has the dented fender to show for it. I'd prefer to avoid getting that dent of shame.

 

I used my pitman arm puller to pop LBJ out of LCA

 

this or a large 3 armed pulley puller is what I used and few taps of the hammer

 

LBJ is attached to LCA

 

Autocorrect.

or is it autocowrong?

 

Auto-owned

 

Pardon my ignorance on the 1st gen Tundras, but are ball joint failures an issue with this particular model?

I’ve been wrenching for some time, and I’ve never seen a ball joint give out with some fore warning… like a lot of forewarning

 

Yep. We got a whole thread dedicated to it. OEM replacement only.

 

I happened across the thread… is it a design flaw or egregious lack of maintenance?

 

Poor design. Buying aftermarket only invites premature failure due to use of plastic internal parts unlike OEM.