Ball Joint problems of the 2002 Toyota Sequoia

While driving 75mph on the interstate the front right ball joint failed (4 days after a safety inspection done at the Toyota dealership). The tire folded under the car and we nearly hit the median and then the car to our right. We managed to get the car to the side of the road. Took car to Toyota dealership where we were told that the ball joint had failed. $6,700 worth of damage was done to the vehicle. I ran my VIN # through your database and 0 recalls were found even though there is a recall for this make, model and year of car.

I have a 2002 Sequoia and the dealership has been doing the repairs since I purchased it in 2003. I took in the recall for the ball joints and even before I received it I had an issue. When turning right, mostly in curves there is a loud grinding in the frontend and has been doing this since I purchased the car . They told me that here was not a problem but I am still having this problem and now the trac has to stabilize my car, this has happen while traveling no turns. The trac light is on and off constantly for whatever reason they can not explain it to me. This is getting dangerous for me I have spent money on this car lately but this is a very large repair and need to know what can be done to get this fixed I was also told that there is not an issue with my airbag as well that my car was not affected. I need help with this, this is my only transportation and this is getting dangerous.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Sequoia. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph, the ball joints fractured without warning causing the vehicle to stall. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the ball joints needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 200,500.

Driving on the freeway, my car "collapsed". I was able to glide to the center median and stop. After towing my car to the dealer, it was determined that the ball joint failed (the ball joint had been recalled). I did not receive the recall notices. While Toyota is willing to repair the recalled item, they are not willing to cover the cost of the related damage which would not have happened if the ball joint did not fail. As an owner of 5 Toyotas, we feel that Toyota should cover the subsequent damage and the cost of the rental car since it took them over one month to contact us with their answer.

In 8/06 I noticed a roaring/grinding noise coming from my end. L. Bearing replaced x2. Problem remained. Then replaced the right front bearing. Still to no avail. I then took my car to Toyota in tampa who stated the replaced bearing had been pressed in too tight. I took my car back to the mechanic who then took the entire assembly over Toyota in clearwater to replace the entire assembly. Still no resolution. Tire problem? so, I took it back to the tire kingdom who put on new michelin cross terrain SUV tires. Problem remained. So I took it back to them and they then put on a new set of michelin ltx tires. Problem remained. So, I then took it to collisiontec in clearwater, thinking that perhaps tire kingdom might have bent something when they originally rotated the tires. (the certified Toyota mechanic had previously inspected everything under my car when he first had it but had been unable to detect any damage). Collisiontec drove the car and did an initial inspection, but could not detect anything. They have asked to have me bring the car back so that they can keep it for a week and do a complete inspection. In the meantime, my check engine light came on and the vsc/vtc light came on, so I took it back to the Toyota mechanic. The O2 sensor needs to be fixed/replaced. To fix the vsc/vtc Toyota doesn't sell the one part needed, only the complete set for $900! this is all on top of the original roar/grinding/vibration problem which still exists!! reapairs now up to 2k & no resolution. Also, my car was recalled for the ball joint problem. There is no sticker indicating ball joints replaced. If the ball joints were not replaced as they should have been, could this be the source of the roar/grinding/vibration? this roar/grinding/vibration is coming from the front and occurs only when the car is in motion.