90 series - front suspension ball joint wear

[steve allard]

I have 8 units 95 series prados in amongst other vehicles. I first had a ball joint let go on a car with about 200,000km, same damage as what Bob had on his. I started changing all the vehicles ball joints but before I could complete the job, another one let go, similar mileage. I have seen other vehicles fall apart and I agree that rough road does play a part in this.
If the vehicle is permanently on paved roads, I wouldnt panic too much, the ones that I have seen let go have been on corrugated small potholed roads, long km, fast driving. They dont like it................

 

[chadr]

There's a recall on the VOSA site for the 90 series lower ball joints - though only seems to apply for some 2001 build vehicles.....????

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/rec...E69D8BC09980257004002A15F2&freeText=Blank&tx=

 

[cavanmick]

I had my o/s/f one let go crossing a speed ramp last week, same symptoms, steering got a bit stiff and then the joint popped, I relaced both of them and found the n/s one to be pretty notchy and worn yet could not get a hint of play even on the shaker plates in work(vehicle test centre), I brought blueprint replacements which had a small bolt fitted to the inside of them, I removed the bolt and fitted a pair of grease nipples instead so should be able to keep them right from now on.

Mick

 

[Shayne]

Great idea with the grease nipple Mick .

If the vehicle is permanently on paved roads, I wouldnt panic too much, the ones that I have seen let go have been on corrugated small potholed roads, long km, fast driving. They dont like it................

Yikes that rings too many bells for me can anyone suggest a good separator tool that will fit and what else do i need - spring compressors and a hammer ? something like this i would be tempted to let a garage do but cleaning up and painting wishbones and anything else that i can paint before applying some underbody rust protection is on my MUST do as soon as we get some proper dry weather list .

 

[cavanmick]

No need for separator or spring clamps buddy, loosen the nut but don't remove it and give the wishbone where the joint goes through a couple of good belts of a hammer and it will separate, same with the track rod ends and the remove the 4 14 bolts and your off, 25 minutes a side and all finished. You can fill the rubber boot with grease through the nipped then as they have a release valve built in so you can't overfill.

Mick

 

[Shayne]

Cheers Mick looking at ball joints those Blueprint ones seem to be the only ones showing the nut you replaced with a nipple and double the price of some others but the peace of mind a bit of grease will give has to be worth an extra 60 quid .

 

[cavanmick]

I bought them for 73 euros each, not bad seeing as I was quoted 85 sterling each in Northern Ireland(15 miles away). Should give a bit if peace of mind.

Mick

 

[steve allard]

One set of ball joints that I bought out of a toyota packet were fitted with grease nipples!! lovely, I put them on the car that I am driving. I have now fitted about 6 sets of ball joints and this was the only pair to have grease nipples. all of our cars operate on about 30% gravel roads (uganda), it is one of the first things I look at on this model

 

[mjanasze-pl]

One set of ball joints that I bought out of a toyota packet were fitted with grease nipples!! lovely, I put them on the car that I am driving. I have now fitted about 6 sets of ball joints and this was the only pair to have grease nipples. all of our cars operate on about 30% gravel roads (uganda), it is one of the first things I look at on this model

Do you have a picture of the part number?

 

[MikeJak]

Do you have a picture of the part number?

as far as I know (and I've looked quite a bit into the LBJ options) not OEM ball joint was ever greasable.
apparently the quality of the OEM toyota is still superior to aftermarket but changes in production mean they don't last nearly 200K miles any more.
I had a set bought from Milner that were about to fail with less then 8K miles. shockingly loose. I stil have them somewhere... should cut them open to have a look.
in general keep a very close eye on LBJ, testing them is easy, jack up the Lower Castor Arm and put a pry bar or a 2x4 under the tyre and pry up, ANY movements tie to change them...