555 lower ball joint boot torn in 500 miles. (1 Viewer)

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Hey all. Question for anyone who replaced their LBJ with 555. I had done this a few months back, bought from cruiser yard. I go to look today, entire boot on the drivers side lower is torn. This is less then 500 miles. Any ideas on this? Seems insane to have torn that quickly. Thanks
 
Did you remove the boot when you installed the new ball joint in the LCA?
 
Did you remove the boot when you installed the new ball joint in the LCA?

I don’t believe it was. I had it done by someone else. Is the boot supposed to be removed then reinstalled?
 
I don’t believe it was. I had it done by someone else. Is the boot supposed to be removed then reinstalled?
Depending on what style ball joint press was used to install it, the boot may need to be removed to avoid damaging it and to get the proper sized cup on the bottom of the LCA. If the common type from your local auto parts store is used then this is usually required to avoid damaging the boot.

Just trying to come up with reasons for why it tore so soon. There's no reason a perfectly intact boot would tear like that unless it was damaged during installation or a branch hit it just right while off-roading.
 
Depending on what style ball joint press was used to install it, the boot may need to be removed to avoid damaging it and to get the proper sized cup on the bottom of the LCA. If the common type from your local auto parts store is used then this is usually required to avoid damaging the boot.

Just trying to come up with reasons for why it tore so soon. There's no reason a perfectly intact boot would tear like that unless it was damaged during installation or a branch hit it just right while off-roading.

This truck hasn’t seen any off roading unfortunately. I’m wondering if it was messed up during the install then. Damn that’s a major bummer.
 
I removed the boots when pressing mine in. I have ~15k miles on them now and none of the 4 boots are torn.
 
Makes sense. Only option here to get another ball joint?
I don’t know this with certainty but I bet a new $8 Toyota boot (4334569015) will fit on that 555 joint just fine. Just pop the joint out of the knuckle, remove old boot, clean the dirt and old grease out of the joint, pack new grease in, put new boot on, and pop the joint back in the knuckle. Should be good to go.
 
I don’t know this with certainty but I bet a new $8 Toyota boot (4334569015) will fit on that 555 joint just fine. Just pop the joint out of the knuckle, remove old boot, clean the dirt and old grease out of the joint, pack new grease in, put new boot on, and pop the joint back in the knuckle. Should be good to go.

Ok. This is a good plan. I believe I sourced another 555 locally I can just take the boot off that worst case. Is there any trick to removing the boot or does it just slide on and off? I’ll see if I can try that Toyota boot kit also as a cheaper alternative. Thanks for the info
 
Ok. This is a good plan. I believe I sourced another 555 locally I can just take the boot off that worst case. Is there any trick to removing the boot or does it just slide on and off? I’ll see if I can try that Toyota boot kit also as a cheaper alternative. Thanks for the info
Watch @2001LC video below on removing the ball joint boot and pressing it in

 
Is there an easy way to pop that lower joint without having to disconnect the axle and reset the wheel bearing?
 
I had good luck popping mine off with the OTC 6295 Front End Service Set and using one of the ball joint tools. Might be able to get a rental tool at the local autoparts store that would work. I tried that route first, but the rental didn't have the correct dimensions to work. I saw this kit in someone else's post and I took a gamble and it worked well.
 
I had good luck popping mine off with the OTC 6295 Front End Service Set and using one of the ball joint tools. Might be able to get a rental tool at the local autoparts store that would work. I tried that route first, but the rental didn't have the correct dimensions to work. I saw this kit in someone else's post and I took a gamble and it worked well.

Did you do this with the knuckle still connected? I am just wondering how much I need to disassemble this to get the boot on. Thank you
 
Did you do this with the knuckle still connected? I am just wondering how much I need to disassemble this to get the boot on. Thank you
I was doing a full front end refresh so I had everything disassembled. If I had to replace it today I would give it a try jacking up the LCA and popping the knuckle off. You might be able to remove the TRE and swing the knuckle out of the way enough to work on the lower ball joint. Worst case it doesn't work and you have to take it apart anyway.
 
Confirmed you cannot just remove the lower ball joint boot, had to remove 2 ball joints and tre, axle snap ring, brake caliper, swapped boots, seems good now.
 
That's a shame. Glad you got it sorted. Did you repack the wheel bearings while you had it apart or was that recently done so not due at this time?
 
My 555 lower ball joints did the same thing. And I noticed they pressed in slightly too far which rendered the retaining ring useless (not useless but useless in its current position) and and raises concern that they will begin to loosen out and develop slack. There are other posts on this subject and one user posted photos of his observations which were similar to mine.

My advice is to buy the Napa lower ball joint which is more expensive but possibly a better fit.
 
That's a shame. Glad you got it sorted. Did you repack the wheel bearings while you had it apart or was that recently done so not due at this time?

Wheel bearings were done recently, I didn’t have to dismantle that far. Only snap ring on the axle and pull the whole knuckle off.
 
My 555 lower ball joints did the same thing. And I noticed they pressed in slightly too far which rendered the retaining ring useless (not useless but useless in its current position) and and raises concern that they will begin to loosen out and develop slack. There are other posts on this subject and one user posted photos of his observations which were similar to mine.

My advice is to buy the Napa lower ball joint which is more expensive but possibly a better fit.

Damn, that is interesting. I wonder if that’s the case or it was crushed on the install. Never the less, it’s got a new boot and it’s wasn’t crushed this time. So time will tell. Worse case I pull this again I suppose. Thank for the info, definitely something to keep in mind
 

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