I fought the ball joint and won.

[Chris142]

The FJ has recently gotten real squirrelly. Found the DR side moog ball joint with only 30k on it to be worn out already.

I put both moog lowers in at that time and already did the passenger side one a few months ago.

The wheel bearing hub assembly also had some play in it.

This time I got a trw ball joint and a Japanese made hub with a koyo bearing from eBay..... Hoping it's legit. Time will tell.

The dealer wanted $500 for a hub. eBay was $150.


My press that I have used on this car couldn't press the moog joint out of the arm. It was stuck! I had to physically beat it out with a sledge hammer.

It's still laying in my driveway.

The press did press the new ball joint in with no trouble.

I did break a small metal brake line. I was at the dealer when they opened this morning but they can't get one till Thursday.

Napa has a universal one you bend to fit so I put that on.

That's a lot of work for an old man working in the dirt. I feel it today.

 

[Jetronic]

I was always more impressed by TRW parts than MOOG. But TRW was the OEM for my cars, and it showed: forged control arms vs cast.

Just saying the application might dictate the quality

 

[02SE]

My advice is to go OEM only on ball joints for Toyota trucks. Most (all?) aftermarket ball joints are crap these days.

 

[Chris142]

My advice is to go OEM only on ball joints for Toyota trucks. Most (all?) aftermarket ball joints are crap these days.

They only sell the complete arm for an exorbitant price.

 

[SC Maintenance]

What kind of press did you have? I am afraid of this - I need to press my joints out of my Xterra. Its never seen salt, so I am hoping I am OK. I have just the normal giant C-clamp type with all the different cup sizes. The Xterra online world seems to think there not that tough. Same with Nissan, they only sell the entire arm. There not that expensive but are a lot more work to swap.

 

[02SE]

They only sell the complete arm for an exorbitant price.

What's that old Fram advertisement? You can pay me now, or pay me later.

Look, you can keep buying junk, and replace it at 30k, (hopefully it doesn't fail while driving down the road) or you can buy the admittedly expensive OEM part from a legitimate OEM seller (probably not Ebay where it's likely to be counterfeit) that is made much better, and will last for much longer.

Having been a Toyota master Tech back in the day, and having friends who still are, ball joints (and their failures) are a hot topic amongst current Toyota mechanics. Most and possibly all of the aftermarket parts are junk. after seeing failures of aftermarket ball joints for years, these guys have dissected brand new ball joints from all of the aftermarket suppliers. Even the Sankei 555 branded aftermarket parts are often junk.

You can do what you want, but now you know that Moog is not what it once was.

 

[eljefino]

Those c-clamp ball joint extractors break when you use them wrong.

You have to crank them way down, then whack the knuckle with a hammer to vibrate the joint interface. Check the torque on the big screw, you can probably get a bit more on it. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Just cranking the screw down, especially with an impact, will break the tool.

 

[Chris142]

What's that old Fram advertisement? You can pay me now, or pay me later.

Look, you can keep buying junk, and replace it at 30k, (hopefully it doesn't fail while driving down the road) or you can buy the admittedly expensive OEM part from a legitimate OEM seller (probably not Ebay where it's likely to be counterfeit) that is made much better, and will last for much longer.

Having been a Toyota master Tech back in the day, and having friends who still are, ball joints (and their failures) are a hot topic amongst current Toyota mechanics. Most and possibly all of the aftermarket parts are junk. after seeing failures of aftermarket ball joints for years, these guys have dissected brand new ball joints from all of the aftermarket suppliers. Even the Sankei 555 branded aftermarket parts are often junk.

You can do what you want, but now you know that Moog is not what it once was.

Ya well I understand but I can't drop $1000+ on control arms either.

 

[drtyler]

48069-60010 (LH) and 48068-60010 (RH) are both around $300 each and free shipping from a southeastern dealer with current 25% promo. The percent off deals happen regularly.

autoparts.serratoyota.com
autoparts.mariettatoyota.com

 

[JHZR2]

What kind of press did you have? I am afraid of this - I need to press my joints out of my Xterra. Its never seen salt, so I am hoping I am OK. I have just the normal giant C-clamp type with all the different cup sizes. The Xterra online world seems to think there not that tough. Same with Nissan, they only sell the entire arm. There not that expensive but are a lot more work to swap.

View attachment 273278

Beating them out is standard practice on older Mercedes knuckles. They last longer than most any other car on the road.

While I’ve seen those c clamps in use, many are Chinese and flimsy. If they work, great. I think otc offers a heavier unit if needed.

 

[Egg_Head]

A classic song by The Bobby Fuller Four and covered by many including The Clash:

 

[Nessism1]

No sense arguing about new arms vs ball joints. The deed is done! Hopefully, the TRW parts prove durable.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Beating them out is standard practice on older Mercedes knuckles. They last longer than most any other car on the road.

While I’ve seen those c clamps in use, many are Chinese and flimsy. If they work, great. I think otc offers a heavier unit if needed.

Yes, I have seen many ball joints beat out when I worked in a GM dealer mid 90's. I was hoping for a more sophisticated solution.

This Video does them on a Frontier - same setup as my Xterra. His is quite rusty, and still doesn't seem to have too much issue.

 

[JHZR2]

No sense arguing about new arms vs ball joints. The deed is done! Hopefully, the TRW parts prove durable.

TRW has at least two lines, an OE, first world made line, then a much cheaper and visually less well made line.

 

[D60]

If you can get at it, the air hammer is often the ticket for driving them out. No sense messing with the press(es)

 

[Chris142]

If you can get at it, the air hammer is often the ticket for driving them out. No sense messing with the press(es)

My snap on air hammer with 140 psi behind it just bounced around on it. So did my long barrel Cornwell one.

 

[D60]

My snap on air hammer with 140 psi behind it just bounced around on it. So did my long barrel Cornwell one.

This was firmly clamped in a quality bench vise or held to a welding table??

 

[Chris142]

This was firmly clamped in a quality bench vise or held to a welding table??

Control arm was sitting on a jack stand. Jack stand as close as possible to the ball joint. I had to hit it about 30 times with a 5 or so pound sledge before it started to move then about 20 more to get it out.

No air hammer I have is going to hit harder than me swinging that sledge hammer.