Tacoma Ball Joint Recall '01-'04

[Box Rocket]

Stumbled onto this information yesterday. I found it to be a pleasant discovery since I've been thinking I need to have my lower ball joints looked at since I hear they tend to start having issues around 100K miles.

My truck is at the dealer getting new ball joints and a fresh alignment right now under this recall. Just thought I'd share in case anyone else can take advantage of this.


RECALL: 2001 - 2004 Toyota Tacoma
NHTSA Campaign Number: 05V225000 www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Manufacturer TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Recall Date: 07/25/2005
Potential Number Of Units Affected: 768379

Description SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
Summary ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, DUE TO A MANUFACTURING ISSUE IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE SURFACE OF THE BALL OF THE JOINT MAY HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED. THE BALL JOINT MAY EVENTUALLY EXPERIENCE EXCESSIVE WEAR AND LOOSENESS, RESULTING IN INCREASED STEERING EFFORT.
Consequence THE LOWER BALL JOINT MAY SEPARATE FROM THE KNUCKLE CAUSING LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL AND A CRASH COULD OCCUR.
Remedy DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINTS. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON JULY 15, 2005. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.

 

[irish_11]

Good to know. I wonder if this extends to earlier models, that would be nice since I plan on replacing mine sometime this year.

 

[RMP&O]

That is good info to have....

My 04 Taco has never had the lower bj's done as far as I know. The truck now has 125k on it and I bought it at 70k. The dealership just went through the whole front end though and found nothing to be a problem.

 

[ywen]

You can see whehter your vehicle has any active recalls on it here

http://www.toyota.com/recall/

 

[oxi]

You can see whehter your vehicle has any active recalls on it here

http://www.toyota.com/recall/

Here is a great listing of GM recalls:


http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/1_gm_recalls.htm

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I had mine done in '07 under the recall, the earlier model Tacomas were not included in the recall, beleive me I tried with my '96

 

[Box Rocket]

That is good info to have....

My 04 Taco has never had the lower bj's done as far as I know. The truck now has 125k on it and I bought it at 70k. The dealership just went through the whole front end though and found nothing to be a problem.

]

According to the recall description it's totally possible that your stock balljoints show no visible signs of wear or any slop that shows them out of spec, but they could still have the "defect" that caused the recall.

I know you've got a big trip coming up. Might be worth have the BJ's replaced under warranty before your trip just for peice of mind.

 

[Cackalak Han]

01 - 02 4Runners, Sequoia and Tundra's were also included in this recall (IIRC).

 

[RMP&O]

]

According to the recall description it's totally possible that your stock balljoints show no visible signs of wear or any slop that shows them out of spec, but they could still have the "defect" that caused the recall.

I know you've got a big trip coming up. Might be worth have the BJ's replaced under warranty before your trip just for peice of mind.

yeah, now you have got me thinking a lot about this.....

I just put in a call to the dealership and they pulled up the entire service history on my truck. Lower BJs were replaced in this recall in December of 06! That is before I bought the truck but it has been done...

Stoked!

 

[Box Rocket]

well. at least now you know. Glad it was done already.

 

[austintaco]

I had my truck in for service for the infamous dash rattle back in '06, while my truck,03 DC Tacoma, was still under warranty. They advised me about the ball joint recall and did it while it was there. However, they forgot to align my truck, and it completely chewed up my front tires on a road trip I did after the service.
Just make sure that they do the alignment. It should be second nature, but my truck was overlooked.

 

[TEJASYOTA]

First time I have heard of this.
I will be calling my local dealer this week.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[spdracr]

How have lifted trucks faired in the recall? Are the dealers still obligated to replace the questionable parts? I can remember getting a notice but never followed through with the service due to aftermarket coil-overs being installed. It would still be worth it for me to pay the labor and have Toyota pick-up the price of the parts as I'm now approaching 100k.

 

[damaged110]

it should not matter if it is lifted as long as they are the factory balljoints. it is the balljoints that are affected and not the lift.. if you get any hassle about the lift just call toyota's 800 number and talk to them.

 

[Box Rocket]

it should not matter if it is lifted as long as they are the factory balljoints. it is the balljoints that are affected and not the lift.. if you get any hassle about the lift just call toyota's 800 number and talk to them.

True this should fall under the Magnuson law that warranty items cannot be refused because of modifications unless it can be shown that the modification caused the failure.

I think with a mild lift there should be no problems anyway. The dealer that I use stocks and sells OME products as options on new trucks so my OME lifted truck wasn't a problem at all.