First Gen Lower Ball Joint(LBJ) Failures

Mech's can't buy it cheap at the parts store same-day, or even direct delivered. That means they can't turn around the car same day, and can't mark up the part as much as they want.

Many probably don't want to get labeled as "expensive" or "slow" on repairs also, bad for business, and they know OEM parts on 5+ year old vehicles probably won't be in stock locally, and even if it is, it'll cost 3x+ as much as cheap aftermarket, so they can't mark it up any more.

Last, there's a legitimate group of older folks and/or younger folks who were indoctrinated by older folks who came up in a time where Moog was great product, made in the USA. That time has long passed, but the reputation hasn't died yet, because they haven't been burned. This ignorance is rampant currently, current consumers don't realize how badly they're getting absolutely boned by manufacturers, aftermarket part quality these days is utter horseshit.

 

For hub-centric spacers I've used Bora, SpiderTrax, trailgear, and AA ignition (random ones on Amazon) without any issues. Just make sure to get extended open ended lug nuts to attach the spacer to your factory studs, torque everything down to spec (don't overdo it) and I use blue loctite on those nuts. Then check them after 50-100 miles and verify they're still torqued, and then pretty much just at oil changes/tire rotations after that.

 

368k miles on this truck. Owner didn't say how many on the ball joints.

 

Eerie, my truck's twin...

 

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust (yeah)
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

 

Oblivious....
Oh, and thanks for today's ear worm

 

LOL I needed this laugh

 

2nd time

 

Thankful: By some twist of fate I stumbled into this saloon, where the drums of LBJ are played loudly and frequently.

 

“Last time…” Guess he did heed the advice to only use OEM.

 

I saw this ^ ...and was stunned into silence!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKN1Q5SjbeI&ab_channel=GáborHényel

 

My guess is they trusted the shop, and we all know what most shops do…

 

How is it the people belong to a Facebook Tundra group and not see this or are these first timers reporting? Strange they all are on Facebook. For every one LBJ failure on Tundras.com you seem to post 20 of them from Facebook.

 

The reality is people casually watch Facebook, if at all. 90%+ only post in the FB groups when they need something, then go away for days or weeks. And you always have one or two people who’ve used aftermarket and gotten lucky so they seed doubt, cast shade, and people always want to hear there’s a cheaper way. They’re already skeptical of “OEM hype”, those ppl give them the hope they want. And they ultimately get burned, but with infrequency of it all, people miss it. Or they think it’s a freak occurrence. But you must also understand, Facebook doesn’t support threads as forums do, so you can’t lump all the examples of failure into one post, and sticky it somewhere so people can’t miss it unless it happens to be at the top of the pile when they look, and if they do dig, there’s that one asshole supporting their personal narrative of, “ah, it’s inevitable regardless what I use!”

I also gotta say, people on the FB groups are quite often, FTMP, fucking mechanically ignorant. Like, unforgivably, and they’re not willing to learn, ask for help, or try for that matter. “My mechanic told me”, and by “my mechanic” they mean, “the meth-addled guy with 5 teeth at the jiffy lube that’s always itching everywhere”, as if he knows anything beyond how to dump and refill oil.

Yes, we have members who aren’t super mechanically savvy here. But they’re (almost all I’ve talked to at least) willing to learn, willing to try, and quite often they’re very successful. And they believe it when they see threads like this full of proof.

 

I’d say the vast majority of people aren’t mechanically inclined and go with what their mechanic suggested since it’s cheaper and a 20+ year old truck.

 

This is what happens when you trust "mechanics parts"

 

He's got a front wheel drive Tundra? Guess he let the U-joints go in the rear drive shaft a long time ago.

 

Have you ever gone to the service counter at a dealer or an auto shop and watched the sheeple in front of you get talked into anything? Happens all too often around here. Sort of brings credibility to the mentioning of blinker fluid replacement.

 

There are all kinds of people. I know people who are overall far smarter than me, but mechanical things just don't compute. Brain wiring. No doubt there are plenty of idiots out there, but we interact with a very small percentage of humanity on this forum, which is people who self-select because of how we're wired and approach things.

 

That and forums tend to be for the older crowds, so FB probably sees more traffic than we do. But, this is a more comprehensive site vs FB. There it's just ask and go, and if more people post new stuff, your post gets pushed deeper and deeper to the bottom if no one replies. The alerts on there suck too. I'm mainly on there for the Vic stuff, but I enjoy trolling a bit on the tundra pages.

 

Well, at least we know the lifespan of an OEM joint is easily 10x what the Moog joints @KNABORES had on his truck will last.

 

To be fair, the moogs never failed me!!

 

This thread gives me anxiety, I shouldnt be worried though since I used OEM 2k miles ago.

 

Everyone does know the LBJ weakness also exists on other Toyota trucks of the era like the Tacoma 4Runner Prado T100 GX470 and LC right? Did I miss any?

 

From @clementl47 on Sankei 555 LBJ (which I believe @The Black Mamba was running up until recently): https://www.tundras.com/threads/sankei555-vs-oem-low-ball-joint-2006.151400/

tl;dr - aftermarket Sankei 555 are inferior and started to show signs of imminent failure after 2,000 miles.

 

Exactly @shifty` , on a 2006 with the "bigger LBJ" that he previous Gen, Sankei555 started to seize and develop play at the same time after 2000 miles, highway only.

I do not recommended Sankei at all.
The parts were not rebranded cheap parts, the were Sankei 555 stamped "made in Japan".

 

Correct. I'm glad to have swapped them out, even if I only had "very low" miles on them. OEM or DIE.

 

Those new OEM are going to seize up from lack of use though.....

 

I have gold starfish. I'm invincible.