Brakes, bearings, and ball joint dust boots (1 Viewer)

[Ramathorn15]

I find myself in a bit of a pickle and am looking for advice. I know these topics have been beat to death, but I cant seem to figure out what I'm looking for.

My '06 with 138k miles needs new brakes as the pads have worn pretty thin. It also needs new lower ball joint dust boots (ball joints themselves are fine). It has presumably never had a bearing service (or may have had one done every 30k and not documented).

Do I go ahead and replace the pads, rotors, bearings on both sides, and lower ball joint dust boots? All in all, thatch going to cost me like ~$500-600 doing the labor myself. Seems like a lot for only really needing pads. The rotors have very small grooves, but not gouges.

Also, if you grease the bearings assuming they are okay, dont you still have to replace all the seals, snap rings, etc. Wouldn't it be cheaper and less work in the long run to just replace the bearings every 100k or so instead of opening them up every 30k to regrease.

Does anyone have any advice for the lower ball joint dust boot? Is there a Toyota part number for those?

Hate to beat the dead horse, but the bearings and maintenance intervals on these thing throw me for a loop.

 

[hkeller]

My understanding is the 30,000 mile recommended re-grease interval is highly conservative. I only do mine when I have to replace front rotors. Mechanic says the bearings always look new. Lexus mechanic said this is what he recommends.

 

[2001LC]

Bearings loosen, and snap ring gap widens so it's best to service every 30K miles. Doing so keeps wheel bearings & races in good condition, along with axle needle bearing & bushing, knuckle spindle, hub flange, cone washers, claw washer and axle teeth.
Rotors can be turned if 30mm remaining. (always turn or replace if installing new pads.)

 

[Ramathorn15]

Bearings loosen, and snap ring gap widens so it's best to service every 30K miles. Doing so keeps wheel bearings & races in good condition, along with axle needle bearing & bushing, knuckle spindle, hub flange, cone washers, claw washer and axle teeth.
Rotors can be turned if 30mm remaining. (always turn or replace if installing new pads.)


View attachment 1451553

Thanks for the info!

Just ordered pats, rotors, 2 bearing kits, and snap ring kit. Total just under $500. I called toyota to get the lower ball joint dust cover and got told that they discontinued the part for 06. The parts guy said 43345-69015 only lists for 98-05 which looks to be the same case here: 43345-69015 - Genuine Toyota COVER,LWR BALL JOINT

I wonder if they changed them after 05? Apparently I can't get a new dust boot if thats the case.

 

[2001LC]

***** The parts guy said 43345-69015 only lists for 98-05 which looks to be the same case here: 43345-69015 - Genuine Toyota COVER,LWR BALL JOINT

I wonder if they changed them after 05? Apparently I can't get a new dust boot if thats the case.

Interesting. The picture above is kit for 01 which I thought all years the same.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Interesting. The picture above is kit for 01 which I thought all years the same.

The lower control arm part #s are the same between 2005 and 2006 so I went ahead and took the leap and got the boots you listed. I'm betting its an error on toyotas catalog.

 

[jerryb]

can you take pics of the dust boot and joint when you get down to it. One of mine is not looking so hot. I'm just waiting for something else to go bad, I hate taking hubs apart for one little thing. I have and 06 also, so please let us know if you can. Thanks.

 

[2001LC]

The lower control arm part #s are the same between 2005 and 2006 so I went ahead and took the leap and got the boots you listed. I'm betting its an error on toyotas catalog.

I was going to suggest just that. It could be only a very slight difference, that perhaps will not matter.

You may also want to give Slee a call, they've surly run into this issue by now.

There may also be and aftermarket boot.

Last resort you can install new ball joints.

 

[Ramathorn15]

So I ordered the dust boots and bearings/brakes but the boots still haven't shipped and I have everything else and plan to start working on this afternoon. I just went back out and inspected the lower dust boots and they actually aren't torn like I though. It appears that grease has just leaked out and caked the bolt/stud.

So now I have 2 questions for the suspension gurus.

1: should I just leave the ball joints as they are since the boots aren't torn and wait until they begin to fail and replace them with 555 ones? I doubt using a needle to puncture the boot and add grease is a good idea. I have 0 reason to believe the joints are going bad, just saw the caked grease and figured I'd address it when I have the bearings all torn out.

2: if I do the bearings/breaks today and decide to replace the dust boots later when they arrive, is the only way to pull the spindle away from the lower arm enough to pull the old boot by removing the hub bearings? Could you not just break the spindle from the joint then lower the lower arm while lifting the spindle?

 

[2001LC]

Leave well enough alone.

You can do ball joint boot later. It will take a different puller to release lower ball joint with wheel hub/brake dust shield on. I've used the Evertough 67021 5 ton puller on lower ball joint as it will fit with shield on.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Leave well enough alone.

You can do ball joint boot later. It will take a different puller to release lower ball joint with wheel hub/brake dust shield on. I've used the Evertough 67021 5 ton puller on lower ball joint as it will fit with shield on.

Thanks for the advice. I think the plan now is to doing brakes/bearings and leave the joint alone like you said. Then hope the joints start going bad when its time for a 30k bearing service.

 

[2001LC]

Just a few notes:

I've seen 300K miles and ball joints, not FSM passable but ok.

Factory allows turning rotors until 30mm minimum. 138K miles, chance are your rotors are good. A machine shop charges $10 to $20 per rotor to turn.

Wheel bearings may or may not need replacing, inspection is key. If pass inspection, my second test is how much torque I need on adjusting nut to reach breakaway preload of ~10.5lb on fish scale (final 12.5lb after lock nut installed). If that goes much over 50 to 60lb torque I schedule bearing replacement for next wheel bearing service. Over 70lb torque on lock nut I replace now. Factory does not actually give maximum torque, bearing themselves do fine with high torque. But I become concern with threads of adjusting nut and spindle at this high torque.

Check your front stabilizer links for rust, by pulling nut off top of link(s). see post #172 Just scored a 2007 LC

 

[Ramathorn15]

Good info. I went ahead and got the bearings because I didn't want to pull it apart, see that it needed new ones (even though unlikely) then have to reassemble and pull apart again later to replace. Its a DD so I cant have it sit while parts are delivered. At least now I will know when I go to do my 30k grease service, that they will be in good shape (at least for a good while)

I probably should have just turned the rotors but decided to replace them and start fresh. Maybe I'll check them and still way more than 30mm I'll return the new ones.