One also has to take into account the normal type vehicle owner that would have no real concept of what was being shown to them.

Kinda like me trying to understand how computers work I am completely clueless.The best I can come up with is magic.

**The run flat tires are for those of us that can`t afford vehicle payments and the low tire pressure light burnt out.**

I also got the Horse meat Ford Pinto Pun!!

 

It's a LED...

Besides...it's just another laziness additive, like ABS, For those who can only mash the brake, traction control, for those who can only mash the gas, and vehicle stability control, for those who do both!

 

Hi all

The recommended torque for the 4 securing bolts appears to be 59 Ftlbs from what I read here, but my 2002 repair manual (the online one that most of you probably have) list these bolts as being 39ftLbs. Any thoughts?

I have a 2" lifted diesel Surf here in NZ 185000km and just found about 2-3 mm of movement (but firm still, not slack loose movement) in my LH balljoint. I'm assuming there should not be any movement at all when levered with a pry bar? (haven't check the right one yet)


Matt

 

Just had the same thing happen to my 1999 4Runner. Fortunately was only driving about 10 mph on a local street. Scary though as I was just on the freeway earlier that day and about to get back on. When the car dropped it skidded for about 20 feet. Residents came out of their homes and said that "they heard a strange noise they had never heard before."

The vehicle has had a shimmy when driving at high speeds down a hill during breaking but not sure that at all is related. Just had the vehicle fixed and will test out on local hill and see if shimmy is gone.

I had Toyota do a full maintenance check on it at 128k and they said at the time that the ball joints were fine. Car now has 146k. Can a ball joint go from no problem to totally bad in that short amount of time? And if Toyota knew this was an issue due to the weak LBJ design why not recommend to me at the time of the maintenance check to replace the ball joints. They said nothing.

Since it is a 1999 it was not part of the 2001/2002 recall. Do I have any recourse with Toyota to cover my repair costs due to their inferior design (which could have been fatal had I been on the freeway), and the fact that they checked it less than 20k miles ago and said all was fine. Probably a long shot but worth asking.

Thoughts?

 

Sorry to see that mon. Toyota will do nothing for you if your vehicle is not in that recall. If you can afford a high priced attorney and take this nationally you may have a shot. This is the most piss poor 4WD front suspension design I have seen. I could never feel comfortable driving one of those trucks knowing that 2 serious failure points exist. As I said before,Toyota dropped the ball on this one.

 

I have found the solution! Do an SAS and then you don't have ball joints to worry about.

 

A Chaos kit will make the Balljoint fail safe but you still have the issue of the 4 attachment bolts possibly failing. SAS is for rock crawling..the ride is rough, Steering and handling sucks. iFS is a way better all round suspension.

 

I will respectfully disagree. I daily drive my 1985 Solid Axle Pickup, it might be a little rough if I hit a bump, but it rides fine and I wouldn't hesitate to say that it handles and steers about as well as any IFS truck I've had.

Plus, less parts to break and easier to work on. I don't rock crawl at all, but I bought this truck specifically because it had a solid axle.

 

This can be a heated debate but IFS is far superior in handling and ride to any Solid Axle setup..look at Baja and stadium race trucks.. Most manufacturers are switching to IFS. Solid axle is old suspension technology..strong yes but they sure do have their followers. There're those who love it and some who love IFS.. Take your pick..lol

 

Ha! That is NOT going to happen

 

Can you explain how the TC kit is failsafe? I am trying to understand how a broken LBJ could not result in the LCA (and truck) dropping off the spindle. Thanks.

 

Great...we've opened this can 'o worms again?

 

I'm gonna leave it at this. My style of offroading is essentially high speed trail riding, hitting pot holes and washouts at 45-50 mph while trying to get ahead of a pack of hounds. The solid axle rides and handles fine doing this.

 

For what it's worth, I'd say look at true Hiluxes for what's arguably the best merger of durability and tech...

Starting in '86 w/ 2nd and third gen pickups, the Hilux and North American Pickups began to diverge on suspension.

86-95 North American Pickup: IFS double wishbone w/ torsion bar
86-95/97 Hilux: Solid front axle

96/98-2004 Hilux: North American Pickup and T100 IFS setup (also used same fully boxed, internally gusseted frame and steering from previous gen NA IFS pickup too -- same ball steering as pre-86's used too)
95-2004 Tacoma: exclusively a North American production. Weaker double A arm coil sprung suspension (weaker, partially boxed frame and weaker rack and pinion steering)

As of 2013, both the Hilux and Tacoma have the same independent, double wishbone coil spring suspension -- not sure when Toyota made the change on the Hilux (might have been just this year), but I think Tacomas have been sporting since 2005 (sorry, not a new car guy). Good read on new here: http://www.overlandexpo.com/overland...ota-hilux.html
And the hopeful rumor is that the Hilux will be available in the US in 2014 (or at least a Tacoma that matches the Hilux nearly identically, doubtful w/ a diesel engine however) -- but we'll see!

 

The Uniball joint on the chaos kit fits into a cup and is held in place with a steel snap ring. There is no way the joint can separate compared to a ball and socket of the stock setup. The 4 attachment bolts still exist on the Chaos kit bolting the uniball cup to the spindle and this still remains a possible failure point as the bolts can sheer causing the cup to separate from the spindle.

 

Ah, ok. Thanks for the explanation. I suppose I always pictured the ball breaking off the stud (even though I've seen the pictures where the joint separated without the ball breaking off...). I do understand that ultimately failure can happen anywhere.

 

So, if I were going to replace these are there any brand better than others?.

 

Oe or moog

 

i was just reading some old front end posts and came across a member who claimed OE toyota steering parts are re-packaged and sold by aftermarket companies.
i believe he mentioned looking for a specific mark on the part.....555
1- is this true?
2- is there an aftermarket company balljoint or upper control arm bushing you would trust like OE ?

Quote: the "555" company makes allot of OEM parts for toyota and mitsubishi, they are made to the specs you mentioned earlier, BUT they also ship parts off to get heat treated and/or cryo treated to buyers specs.

ks

 

And the beatings continue... Fortunately this was PO and not me. I just bought it / brought it home today.

Check those lower ball joint bolts!







Trail DeSaster 6" lift is not helping BJ life >>>

PO welded new ball joint to damaged knuckle. That ill fix ya!!!

BTW ~ i'm now aiming to replace the knuckle / ball joints / hub bearings.