Diff or bearing noise.. OR.... @ 80km

[Bevan Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bevan]

Yeah tonz Apparently there was a recall on the ball joints(saw the one on FB. ouch..)
there is a list that shows affected prado's (mine wasn't one of them)
my ball joints were replaced 12 months ago anyway so should be good for a while but something to keep an eye out for.

yep its a shame about bearings but at least i know they will be good for a while.

got a pair of AT tyres for $300 of one of my suppliers at work so should arrive tomorrow and get em fitted up at work hopefully before the weekend..

time to get on to the next project which will be rocker cover gaskets as they are leaking !

cheers

[carco Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close carco]

The wording of the recall is hilarious. Mentions the ball may have been "scratched" during manufacture.
But that's a long time ago and there would be very few 90's still on original lower ball joints, unless they have very, very low k's.
If you follow the history, the original Toyota joints were rubbish so people moved to 555 etc. Then Toyota finally extended the shroud to contain the ball more and from then on the Toyota joint was preferred. (No apology from Toyota of course)
The other item is the 4-bolts holding the joint to the hub. They're under constant tension and tests have shown it's impossible to torque them to factory specs without them stretching, not in a good way either.
I run Unbrakos on mine, grade 12.9 which is at least 2-times the UTS of factory.
Next problem is the dust boot (optional) When I torque up my Unbrakos, the dust boot's sleeves crush !!!! So I wonder how many factory fitted cars are slowly crushing the sleeve while they drive along.
You have to be vigilant with the front end on these things.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I wish I came across this earlier because I would’ve mentioned too that it’s not your bearings unless your car’s done a fair few more kilometres than mine (380,000km) because they’re not known for premature failure. I would’ve thought it’d be a partly rusting exhaust causing a noise from vibration or tyres causing the noise. Two sets of tyres ago mine made that same kind of noise you were describing. For anyone to save themselves an unnecessary bearing replacement in the future (and provided your ball joints are not shagged) just raise the tyre off the ground and give the wheel a forceful wriggle. No wobbly movement no bearing issue.

Also the axle nut is a completely seperate unit to the bearing so no pre-load issue when torquing the axle nut back up properly. Definitely tighten the drivers side axle nut up properly at least because you risk loosening it if you go full on gung-ho with the right foot when off-roading. There is a cotters pin as a saviour but still do them up properly.

When tightening my lower ball joint bolts once I did break one easily when trying to torque it to 80nm. Just tightened them to 50nm instead from then on.

[carco Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close carco]

Have to take you to task re-the axle nut Brett.
It has a huge effect on your bearing as it sets the preload.
If you go nuts on the axle nut you'll kill those bearings in nothing flat.
My new bearings only did 500k's before blue with heat and all from over tightening the axle nut. I was new to the Prado and took her to a suspension shop who must have also been unfamiliar as they thought the bearing went against shoulders and the axle simple tightened everything shoulder to shoulder.
Not the case in a 90, 170ft lbs for a new bearing.
A total guess when you're replacing drive shafts and have to do that axle nut up again.
And yes, the lower ball joint bolts are indeed a mystery. They'll snap at factory torque settings hence my use of Unbrakos and Loctite.