1999 Toyota Tacoma: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Jun 26, 2017 · Steering, Suspension · 106,000 miles · NJ

I've had complete failure of both sides- front ball joints. I chalked up the the drivers side failure to happenstance, but after passenger side recently had the same failure I did some investigating and realized this is a vehicle assembly issue. The same issue had recalls for the later models 2001-05 tacomas, I believe. Not sure why the earlier models were excluded, but this is scary and dangerous to have a complete breakdown while in traffic. The tows and repairs cost over $500 in total for both instances. I'm not looking for reimbursement as much as reassurance that my truck is safe to drive. Both instances occurred on city streets. Passenger side was under 10 MPH turning right towards my driveway. The recent incident was turning left at approximately 25 MPH through an intersection with a traffic light. The truck tire crumbled on the passenger side and slide about 30 feet to a stop along the curb.

Filed Aug 9, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 125,323 miles · CA

Lower ball joint severed. My family and I were lucky that it did not happen a few minutes before on highway going 60mph. We were on an extended trip and had slowed down going through a town, stopped and were making a u-turn when the front left wheel practically fell off.

Filed Jun 19, 2008 · Suspension · 133,000 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 toyota tacoma. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the front driver's side wheel suddenly fell off the vehicle. The contact lost control of the vehicle, but was able to safely pull off the road. Upon inspection, she noticed that the upper ball joints failed. The dealer stated that the ball joints needed to be replaced at the contact's expense because there was no recall for that component. The manufacturer did not provide any assistance. The current and failure mileages were 133,000.

Filed Aug 17, 2007 · Suspension · 90,000 miles · OR

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 toyota tacoma. While driving 65 MPH the ball joints failed which caused the driver side wheel to collapse. There was a loss of power steering and brakes. The road conditions were clear. The current and failure mileages were 90,000.

Filed Mar 1, 2006 · Suspension · 70,361 miles · RI

Dt*: the contact stated without warning while driving 30 MPH, the passenger side tire seperated from the vehicle. It was towed to the dealership which determined the lower ball joint was shattered. The vehicle was repaired and there have been no further problems. Updated 04/11/06.

Filed Jul 7, 2003 · Steering · OH

I lease a 1999 toyota tocoma when I turned into my driveway an started to back up. The tie rod end pulled out out of the knuckle on the rack an pinion without stripping the threads. Due to the fact that one si smaller than the other. The threads are there they are worn on the outer ends of both pieces. The truck has 50,100 miles on it. So far I am told this is my problem for me to fix. This is a serious safety problem to me. Because I did buy new parts to fix it. So I could have my truck. After two and a half weeks this all started 6-18-03 . But to my surprize the new parts did not fit much better than the one I took off. This scares me because even if they fix it. I would not feel safe thinking they might use the same kind of genuine toyota parts like I brought from them to fix it.

Filed Sep 3, 1999 · Steering · FL · crash

While driving through a known residential area near my home and approaching a slight s-curve in the road, the steering began to not respond as expected. It had worked previously, less than a minute before, moving through curves in the same neighborhood. As I approached the s-curve I attempted to steer to the right, and mid-way through the curve the steering became weakened and less responsive. This caused the truck to continue in a near straight line of direction towards a yard. To counter this loss of control I responded by turning the steering wheel more towards the right until it was locked all the way right. At this time the truck was still not turning towards the right, and sent me across my lane and off the road. Once my left-front wheel was off the road, and due to it being turned towards the right in full, my truck swung in alignment with the left-front wheel back onto the roadway. With that sudden emergency seeming to be nearly under control I realized I was traveling towards a parked car. I began to steer to the left around the next curve and found my steering wheel was stuck to the right, and would not move to left as though it was somehow locked or frozen into that position. In extreme panic I ripped the wheel to the left as hard as possible and broke it free of it's locked position, only to find the wheel spinning freely to the left and still rolling towards the other car. Once the wheel had spun to the left completely and I was still going in a forward direction with no screech of the tires so I slammed on the brakes until I was in a skid across the the roadwayand hit the other car. When I landed the truck was not running, and there were no damaged engine parts. Also my steering wheel was turned to the left, and the left front wheel was too, but the right front wheel was turned out towards the right! The ball joint on the tie-rod end had come loose on that right-front wheel, but had not broke.

Filed Aug 25, 1999 · Suspension · PA · 1 injury

Nut on left front ball joint became detached while vehicle was in motion, causing left front axle assembly to strike & drag on road surface.