Ball Joint problems of the 2004 Toyota Tacoma

Ball joint separated and wheel tucked under car. Also broke cv shaft.

Right ball joint broke. Wheel tucked under vehicle. Broke cv axle.

Takata recall, I am writing this complaint because I own a 2004 Toyota Tacoma . On November 2nd I was driving home , was at a 4way stop, once it was my turn to go I accelerated as usual and had my tire on the drivers side detach completely from the ball joint causing me to nearly wreck my truck, if I had been going faster I would have, this was one of the most scariest experiences I have ever had driving! it cost me nearly 1000. 00 dollars to fix and now I am having to have the other passenger side fixed because the mechanic says it's hammered. . . I noticed that over 150,000 Tacoma's were recalled due to this exact problem, when I entered my VIN it says I have no I repaired recalls on my vehicle! which obviously is not true, or my balk joints would be good to go, I have never taken my truck off road or even had it in 4 wheel drive, I have not beat on my truck I take excellent care of my vehicle, I feel this ball joint problem should of been part of your recall , I could of been severely hurt or even died as well as my son who was riding with me, thank god we weren�t. . . I am prepared to turn you into the bbb if I dont get a reasonable response.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Tacoma. While the contact's son was driving 55 mph, the axle and ball joints detached from the vehicle. The contact's son lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a dirt ditch. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to valley hi Toyota (14612 valley center drive, victorville, CA 92395, 866-405-5098), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 178,468.

Going 35 miles an hour the vehicle will start to pull to the side and the ball joint will come out also the abs sensor cable will brake and you will have to replace it a $2500 dollar spence for a Toyota malfunction in the suspension I have a friend in California that has one a year early model than mine a 2003 Toyota Tacoma and he told me about this problem had happen to him in the freeway about 60 mph to him a had to learn the hard way if you have a Toyota Tacoma please I am warning you to have the ball joint replace before its to late the new ball joints are warranty for life but I will check in to that if I still have the pick up in four years.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Tacoma. The contact was driving 15 mph in a residential driveway when the ball joint fractured in half and the front passenger wheel completely fractured from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed then to a local repair facility where it was diagnosed that the ball joint was defective and would need replacing. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 110,000.

On January 19, 2011 at approximately 7:15 am, I was driving approximately 15 mph on a dirt road, came around an approximate 90 degree right hand turn heading down hill, slid on mud or ice and hit a rut. After all wheels had passed through the rut the vehicle drove up and over a small rise (bump) in the road. After coming over the rise, the right front of the vehicle dove into the dirt and the truck came to an abrupt stop. I turned off the truck and got out of the vehicle to inspect the front end. The right front ball joint had completely separated from . . . ??? . . . What ever it is supposed to be attached to. The right front wheel was perpendicular to the wheel well with the inside leaning toward the front of the vehicle. I have several photographs of the vehicle taken moments after the equipment failure. I'm glad this happened where it did because only a few miles further into my trip to work, I would have been traveling 75 mph on the interstate. Amen! I had never received any notification from Toyota concerning recall no. 50j. I only accidentally came across the information while surfing the web within the past week.

I was driving on the road in my 2004 Toyota Tacoma when I saw my tire go rolling ahead of my vehicle, the truck leaned over to the left, skidded sideways and then stopped in the middle of the road. I got out of the truck and my tire was in the ditch and my chassis was on the ground on the left side. I called a tow truck and they said it looked like my ball joints just separated. I had the vehicle towed to my mechanic and he said the ball joints looked like they gave way and this allowed the wheel to fall off. I have mechanical breakdown through my insurance company gieico and they told me I would have to get a letter from Toyota stating if it wasn't under warranty from our local dealership in tallahassee, florida legacy and spoke with a service member (robb) he told my that there wasn't a recall on 2004 Toyota Tacomas and I would have to pay to have it towed in to check and see if it was still under warranty. This occurred on 12/13/05 and as of 12/15/2005 there still wasn't a determination whether or not it is under warranty. My concern is after reading about a recall on the internet stating that the ball joint may separate from the knuckle, that my vehicle should be a part of the recall and the wheel falling off could be a result from a defect. The dealership isn't accept responsibility for the recall or even looking at the vehicle in this regards. If they don't warranty the ball joints, then my mechanic will fix the problem, but I will keep all of the old parts in case they need to be examined.