NHTSA Defect Investigation #EA06014

LOWER BALL JOINT FAILURE: Suspension:Front:Control Arm:Lower Ball Joint

RECALL »

Recall #07V013000

2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA -- In a letter dated January 18, 2007, Toyota notified NHTSA of a safety defect in model year (MY) 2004 through 2006 Toyota Tundra and MY 2004 through 2007 Toyota sequoia vehicles produced between September 15, 2003 and November 17, 2006 (NHTSA recall no. 07V-013). According to Toyota, ¿in the front suspension lower ball joint on the subject vehicles, due to possible improper finishing of the ball joint, such as the aspect of the ball stud surface, some ball joints may experience an incidental deterioration of the internal lubrication. This may cause the ball joint to wear and loosen prematurely, which could result in increased steering effort, reduced vehicle self-centering, and noise in the front suspension. In extreme cases, if the vehicle is continuously operated in this condition, the lower ball joint may separate from the knuckle and could cause loss of vehicle control.¿Toyota will instruct owners to return their vehicles to any Toyota dealer for replacement of the front suspension lower ball joints. This engineering analysis has been closed, as Toyota is recalling the affected vehicles.ODI will monitor the effectiveness of the remedy and take further action if warranted. Investigation was initiated on August 02 2006. Closed on February 28 2007. For detailed information & supporting documents, see the official NHTSA page concerning investigation #EA06014 »

NHTSA Defect Investigation #RQ06005

LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATION: Suspension:Front:Control Arm:Lower Ball Joint

CLOSED

no recall issued

2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA -- The office of defects investigations (ODI) opened RQ06-005 based on four consumer reports of alleged ball joint failure. The complaints allege that a front suspension ball joint separated while driving, which caused the suspension to collapse and resulted in a loss of vehicle control. All of these complaints involved the failure of a lower tension-type ball joint. During the investigation there were 39 (36.7 per 100,000 vehicles) complaints and 74 (69.6 per 100,000 vehicles) warranty claims for the 2004 model year (my) Toyota Tundra. Further analysis showed that the average failure mileage was 54,025 miles, and that of the 109 unique ball joint separation incidents, 64 (133 per 100,000 vehicles) were on four-wheel drive vehicles, which make up approximately 45% of the 2004 my population (106,346 vehicles). The remaining 55% are two-wheel drive vehicles which experienced a total of 45 (77 per 100,000 vehicles) ball joint separations. Also, throughout the investigation there surfaced additional failures which have prompted ODI to upgrade this investigation to an engineering analysis and widen the scope of the affected population to include 2004-2005 my.this recall query has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (EA06-014) to further investigate this issue to assess the safety-related consequences, and to determine the scope of the affected population. Investigation was initiated on April 10 2006. Closed on August 09 2006. For detailed information & supporting documents, see the official NHTSA page concerning investigation #RQ06005 »