Loctite on lower ball joint connection?

Hey everyone. I recently did the UCA and LCA bushings, steering rack bushings, etc, and had Les Schwab double check all the torque during the alignment. Heard a weird squeak coming when I turned my wheels today, (been 250 miles since alignment) looked under, all eight bolts (four on each side) of the lower ball joint connection were loose, one was missing even. Anyone use Loctite on those bolts to keep them in, I tightened the heck out of them before the alignment and I can't imagine they would wobble that much, any ideas? Thanks!

Stuck in the garage for now

 

Medium strength And a torque wrench

 

absolutely locktite those bolts !

 

Double that. I use blue locktite, you do realize how lucky you were, right?

 

Perfect thank you guys!

 

Yeah very lucky, a couple more bolts and my tire may have been under my feet...

 

Got them fixed! Blue Loctite and a large torque wrench.

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New:

 

No where does Toyota require any loctite on LBJ’ mounting bolts. As long as they’re torqued to spec. 59ft/lb
Loctite threadlocker is not typically required on the lower ball joint mounting bolts of a 1st generation Toyota Tacoma; these bolts are designed to stay tight due to their high torque specifications and the nature of the suspension system, making additional threadlocking unnecessary and potentially detrimental in case you need to remove the bolts later.

Key points to consider:

• Factory design:
  Most automotive manufacturers, including Toyota, design critical suspension components like lower ball joint mounting bolts to be self-securing without the need for threadlocker.
  NOTE: Most torq specs are for dry threads, as soon as you put any liquid (loctite, anti-seize) it is now a lubricated thread. This is a common path to over-torque troubles.

 

There’s about 4 different type bolts that are available for the lbj.
Depending on the bolt used the torque spec is different.

I know the FSM doesn’t call for thread locker. But I use it on all critical fasteners. Ball joints are most certainly a critical fastener in my opinion.

 

I have witnessed on more than one occasion what happens when one of the four LBJ mounting bolts gets loose and backs out. The three remaining bolts are not strong enough and will fatigue and shear.

It is easy enough to get on a high horse on here and make proclamations, but for anyone who uses their truck offroad, a thread locker is easy insurance to prevent that from happening.

 

I used locktite and a torque wrench on mine.
I also marked them with a paint stick so it's easy to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't loosen up.

 

I might as well throw in my 2 cents/personal opinion. It's not called for so I don't use it on the LBJs. I do mark em' with the trusty paint pen though for an easy visual sanity check.

 

It might have been you that previously posted the idea of marking the bolts. I read about it on this site in the past. I won't have thought about that on my own.
If that was you, thanks.

 

Wont take credit for it but yeah, paint pen is a good tool for a quick visual check. Still, best way (and proper way) is to do it the way Toyota recommends - https://youtu.be/sp-D0EtX2gU

 

Torque and a cotter pin are good enough for me. Some blue won't hurt but ya don't need it.

 

If loctite was required to keep bolts and nuts from backing off cars of all shapes and sizes would be falling apart all over the place

 

Ummm....they do.

Flywheel bolts, flexplate bolts, all kinds of places need loctite.

I sure did use loctite, torque wrench, and paint marker. I have zero interest in loose ball joint bolts.

 

Everything You Always Wanted About Lower Ball Joint Bolts
Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by SpikerEng, Jul 21, 2022.

Dunno how to link this - but it has a ton of info about this particular bolted joint. Toyota has a black fastener they offer to use in this application - and this engineers testing has shown they are the "real deal".

 

Thread reasurection from 2013 is wild. Put a dab on blue, tighten them and call it a day. Les schwab half-assed the truck. That's not normal

 

Did did you install the cotter pin into the 4 mount bolts?