LBJ failure - Public Service Announcement

Any incoming is deserved
I bought a 2005 Tundra DC 4x4 in May of last year with 136k and it currently has 146k. Recall service with replacement LBJ was done 7/2007 with 13k miles, so it's been 17.5 yrs and 133k miles on these LBJs.

It lived in the southern portion of upstate NY and I bought it after I wrecked my jeep and needed another vehicle. Only then did I start to dive into the forum to understand what I maintenance needed to be done. I eventually understood the LBJ design problem and ordered the kit on October 1st.
Things came up and then it got cold and I didn't install right away. Eventually I decided I'd wait until it started to warm this spring. Most recently I was working on my hacked up radio harness. Stupid stupid stupid....

This past Thursday I got done with work at 730pm and started to pull out of my parking space. I was driving maybe 3mph max and I was still in the parking lot when it felt like I drove into a large pot hole. After a second or 2, I knew what had happen. My passenger side LBJ had a failed.




I was about 3min from driving onto the parkway going 65mph, but fortunately it failed when it did. I got it towed the next morning and had a nearby garage do the work. The CV axle got wrecked so now it's got an aftermarket replacement which is a bummer. I couldn't wait for a reman to arrive as I needed my vehicle back in service.
In total I spent $400 (plus $150 in Ubers and $75 tow) getting it put back together due to my foolishness. There was no body damage but that was just luck. Hopefully this helps motivate or convince someone...

 

Looks you got lucky. Dragging your LCA on the ground can’t be good for the frame but yours was low speed. So the alignment after repair went well?

 

Yea, definitely got lucky. I got an alignment with all of the other work and it drives straight just as it did before so no complaints there.

 

It's sometimes hard to just get started on these projects, so we put them off. Too cold, too wet, too nice a day to 'waste' under the truck. I know I'm guilty. Usually we get lucky, but by definition, being lucky means that others are not so lucky. Sorry you drew the short straw.

Much respect to you for posting. Hopefully this will motivate others who have been procrastinating.

The most expensive maintenance is deferred maintenance.

 

Exactly. I definitely had opportunities last fall to get it done but then i needed to Fluid Film (8quarts in two sessions lol), oil changes, brakes, my son's football games, ect

 

I know some replace at say 100k as a maintenance item, which I will do. I’ve seen reputable people on the forum say they go longer but perform checks on it. Will they fail with no sign of play, leaking grease, etc? Or you would always see signs of it wearing out before it failed?

 

Where there any signs before it failed?

 

Bummer.

not having one of these has bit me in the ass dozens of times.

 

An old farmer I used to work for always used to say "Everyones good for something, even if it's a piss poor example"
Joking aside, glad you didn't get hurt or do too much damage to your rig. And props for owning it and posting that

 

I didn't notice leaking grease, but looking back through my photos that I took when I bought the truck, I see one photo (see below) with evidence of leaking grease. I didn't know about this problem until a day or 2 prior to Oct 1st when I bought the LBJ kit. I didn't immediately start to read the Tundra forum posts or the sticky mega thread, but by Oct 1st I certainly could not claim ignorance.

There were no sounds like squeaks or grinding. I didn't test it because as soon as I found out about the LBJ design problem, I bought the LBJ kit from Ourisman Toyota and had planned to do it. Stupid. Thinking back on it, there was a subtle wandering feeling at times that I had attributed to needing new the steering bushings. Generally the truck drove well, both around town and at highway speeds. I have only driven the truck twice since getting it repaired but Im fairly certain that wandering feeling has been fixed with the LBJ.

 

Totally thought this was a post about the failures of lyndon Baines Johnson from the title

 

I had to Google this

-"Round to it" is a humorous expression that refers to a round object called a Round Tuit. The Round Tuit is a reminder to not delay tasks and to do them right away.

 

Oh look.....it's a facebook post.....

 

I feel like having the big ball joint style of the later trucks and only 133k on them it still seems like they shouldn't have failed yet but I guess this is a good example of why we tell everyone they need to change them if they haven't ever done so.

 

it's recommended to change them every 100k

 

I agree 100 percent but they do go a couple or few hundred thousand without failure for some. I thought the newer style were a bit better but it seems to be luck of the draw.

 

it's not luck of the draw....

it's don't be an idiot or ignorant. Neither are good.

and they ALL fail eventually.

We literally have thread dedicated to people who decided

"eh, my wheel leaving the chat isn't a big deal"

or

"it can't be that important, I've never had to replace a ball joint on any of my previous vehicles"

 

I'm completely in the "change them every 100k" crowd. I guess the only point I was making here is that this is one of the lower mileage failures that I'm aware of which does good to prove that changing them every 100k is good advice.

 

I swore I pointed that out in previous pics, a while back, but it may've been another member. It's not an easy search to do, so I doubt I'll be able to confirm. And I don't want to be the "told you so" asshole. Just glad there's no major damage, and you're out for only a few hundo bucks. This could've been waaaaaay worse on your wallet. Or your life.

 

I personally won't even push it that long. They aren't that expensive or hard to change.

 

This is my take away too. Change every 100k or 10yrs along with the timing belt. I'm hypothesizing, but once the grease has leaked out and there is water in the joint, freeze thaw cycles in the northern climate do a lot of the damage and can lead to lower mileage failure.

 

Same could be said for timing belts

 

Agreed. I am not into humiliation rituals but I decided to post this as a PSA for this forum despite any incoming. I didn't realize that I had that photo until perusing my phone for this post. I kept planning to do the LBJs "next weekend" which kept getting postponed.

 

In my fifty odd years I've learned that the most painful lessons are the best learned, and most remembered. Aaaaand then I go and get married again

 

305k

 

I guess this PSA was meant for you sir!

 

I replaced the OG OEM at 305k with Sankei555 and then replaced those with OEM at 312k

 

Ok, good

 

As you, I can claim ignorance up to 305k replacement. I think the biggest reason I didn’t see failure sooner is due to the original design of the 00 LBJ. Those didn't suffer the recall because they were not part of the redesign that began in 01.

 

And the recall was not design defect related. It was due to scratching or scoring of the ball and socket assemblies that may lead to premature failure.

allegedly……