The defect
ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, DUE TO A MANUFACTURING ISSUE IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE SURFACE OF THE BALL OF THE JOINT MAY HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED. THE BALL JOINT MAY EVENTUALLY EXPERIENCE EXCESSIVE WEAR AND LOOSENESS, RESULTING IN INCREASED STEERING EFFORT.
The risk
THE LOWER BALL JOINT MAY SEPARATE FROM THE KNUCKLE CAUSING LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL AND A CRASH COULD OCCUR.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINTS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 5, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Toyota 4Runner | 2001, 2002 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2002, 2003, 2004 |
Components: SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota 4Runner | 2001 | 154 | 1 |
| Toyota 4Runner | 2002 | 193 | 1 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2002 | 666 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2003 | 565 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2004 | 380 | 6 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2001 | 396 | 4 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2002 | 333 | 3 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2003 | 360 | 3 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2004 | 414 | 3 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2002 | 482 | 3 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2003 | 399 | 7 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2004 | 466 | 8 |
Other suspension recalls in 2005
37 of the 562 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2005 concerned the suspension; TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. filed 95 campaigns in all.
| 05V545000 30 Nov 2005 | WELD-IT COMPANY |
| 05V544000 30 Nov 2005 | WABASH NATIONAL CORPORATION |
| 05V542000 30 Nov 2005 | HYUNDAI TRANSLEAD |
| 05V546000 29 Nov 2005 | BENTLEY MOTORS LTD |
| 05V538000 21 Nov 2005 | APRILIA USA, INC. |
| 05V514000 10 Nov 2005 | FORETRAVEL, INC. |
| 05V508000 3 Nov 2005 | STOUGHTON TRAILERS, LLC |
| 05V493000 25 Oct 2005 | GREAT DANE LIMITED PARTNERSHIP |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2005