i replaced my upper and lower ball joints at 174K with Toyota parts. the replacements only lasted 75K miles...a major disappointment.

on the lift i noticed a lot of play in the driver's side wheel, and figured it was the original wheel bearings finally giving up. but i was surprised to see the lower ball joint moving quite a bit. the other wheel also has quite a bit of movement as well.

anybody else have replacement ball joint problems?

this now explains the vibration during braking. do you guys ever just replace the lower ball joints, and leave the uppers alone? I.e. do the lowers wear out faster?

thanks,
tom

All 4 of my originals died before 120k. I took them apart, they all have plastic bushings in them. Nothing you can do about that. Except find better ones or throw another $170 at toyota. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

i guess my gripe was that the OEM replacemenets are obviously not the same quality as the originals. but perhaps i should have expected that since it seems common with GM parts outsourced overseas.

The ones I got from the dealer were made in Japan and as far as I could tell identical to the original parts. But I don't think they are worth $40+ each.

Some of the ones I looked at online from aftermarket sellers looked slightly different and they all cost more.

Did you get the ones that you're complaining about from the dealer or in the aftermarket?

I got delco replacements, just did them at 193k. No idea if the previous owner did them, but they didnt look happy.

where did you buy the delco parts?

i bought them at the toyota dealership. i guess i need another set of 4 ball joints.

do the uppers or lower wear out sooner? if the lowers wear out faster, maybe i'll just leave the uppers alone. but i vaguely recall the uppers take more of the load?

The shop I work at I had the boss order replacements, came in delco box. Same with my idler and pitman arm, delco parts.

the preferred replacement parts that last longer are the SAS pieces. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Especially if the SAS'd truck just sits in the drive....... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" />