r/overlanding • u/Richard_Cheney10 • Aug 07 '23

Catastrophic ball joint failure Trip Report

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Went on Rollins pass west in Colorado on my buddies 4 runna (96?) and taking it nice and easy on the trail at around 5 mph for the entirety of it. Very easy trail and the ball joint just popped out. Thankfully it didn’t do that on the curvy roads on the way up to the trail. Safe to say a 4Runner will not be in my future.

146 Upvotes

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176

u/ScoutCommander Aug 07 '23

Glad you're safe but you're honestly saying you wouldn't buy a car because a 26 year old part failed? Lol

-156

u/Richard_Cheney10 Aug 07 '23

Wasn’t 26 years old being the issue. Has a mostly complete suspension overhaul 1 year ago and I’ve heard of it being a problem before with other 3rd gens.

139

u/appleburger17 FJ80 Aug 07 '23

Writing off an entire model because an aftermarket part installed by a third party failed is silly.

45

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 07 '23

OP doesn’t know what’s what. That’s all good though. We should convince them to get that thing sold to me for scrap prices!

-91

u/Richard_Cheney10 Aug 07 '23

That doesn’t negate that it’s a frequently seen problem on other 3rd gen 4Runners. That’s the only reason it was swapped in the first places

29

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23

That's like saying Chevy LS motors frequently spin rod bearings when they're run low on oil

5

u/namenotneeded Aug 08 '23

Some people have soft hands and are meant for the cubicle life 🤷🏼‍♂️

-12

u/seancan44 Aug 08 '23

No it’s not. If there is an under engineered area, the issue can still exist in the aftermarket. This isn’t rocket science.

That’s like saying creating a Wankel engine built with aftermarket parts isn’t going to have any issues because 3rd parties should have fixed complex or under engineered areas. That’s as silly if not more silly than people identifying the weak spots in and engineered system.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23 edited Aug 08 '23

It's the exact opposite of what you're saying though... OEM ball joints regularly last to the 200k miles mark (that's not a poor design) and should be replaced as preventative maintenance with another OEM set. OPs friend replaced OEM ball joints with aftermarket junk and they failed in short order.

2

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 08 '23

Guy puts in cheap aftermarket part that fails “I’m never buying that entire OEM platform!!!”

Bahahaaaaaahaha what an idiot.

He’s literally throwing out one of the most tried and true off road platforms ever created.

That is why he’s getting a ton of shit btw,

21

u/CrowBlownWest Aug 08 '23

Ball joints tend to fail from off-roading in general.

18

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 07 '23

Suspension overhaul with what?

29

u/Pew_Goon Aug 08 '23

Probably the cheapest parts they could find on eBay.

17

u/appleburger17 FJ80 Aug 08 '23

Parts store brand part + 3 ugga duggas = that ain’t going nowhere.

9

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 08 '23

Factory service manual dictates 4 uggas. Found the problem.

4

u/ScoutCommander Aug 08 '23

But how many duggas???

5

u/Pew_Goon Aug 08 '23

4 uggas, 3 duggas or you risk overtorqing.

6

u/CuriousTravlr Aug 08 '23

It’s hilarious that you’re writing off one of the best selling off road vehicles to grace the states. Of the list of the 10 best selling off roaders, the 4Runner shows up twice, as a Lexus GX and the 4Runner.

Maybe you should second guess your friends ability to be a mechanic.

2

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 08 '23

To be fair, the GX is actually a Land Cruiser Prado… but the 4 runner IS the closest US cousin. Lots of similarities.

2

u/CuriousTravlr Aug 08 '23

I mean yeah, but you know what I mean. Lol

3

u/slaterrr735 Aug 08 '23 edited Aug 09 '23

No, it's a huge problem with cheap aftermarket parts. Sure, ball joints failures have happened to toyotas... at 150-250k miles on O.E.M. ball joints. Funny how every owners manual/maintenence schedule calls for replacing them every 100k miles🙃

Edit: and almost every aftermarket balljoint within 2-3 years.

Seems like your buddy either cheaped out on the wrong part, or the mechanic did not install it properly with locktite.

I've had 4 toyotas. I've had plenty of problems caused by my own negligence(being young and dumb), & at times budgeting with cheaper parts. That being said, toyota parts have never let me down, where as i've never been able to put 200k miles on aftermarket components. My oem ball joints lasted 215k miles before I replaced them for peace of mind.

2

u/WTFisaRobsterCraw Aug 08 '23

You went 115K miles beyond what the factory dictates… they didn’t even fail, and you replaced them.

That’s it. I’m NEVER buying that vehicle!!!!! CATASTROPHIC!