Toyota Suspension: Lower Ball Joint

Toyota is recalling about 2,501 vehicles over a problem with the suspension. In this condition, one or both bolts could become loose during driving and fall out.

Campaign
14V539000
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Reported
8 September 2014
Vehicles
2,501
Built between
Feb 2014 – Aug 2014
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
7 November 2014
Repaired
89%
Unrepaired
258

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between February 2014 and August 2014. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2014 Toyota FJ CruiserBuilt February 2014 to August 2014

Repair progress

258 of 2,501 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2016.

89% repaired — 2,215 of 2,501 reported

Owners not reachable
28

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2014 FJ Cruiser vehicles equipped with an optional "Trail Teams Ultimate Edition" package, in which the front shock absorbers and springs were replaced at vehicle processing centers. In some of these vehicles the bolts which secure the front lower ball joint to the steering knuckle and/or the front suspension lower arm to the front cross member assemblies might have been tightened with insufficient torque when the front shock absorbers and springs were replaced during the installation process.

What could happen

In this condition, one or both bolts could become loose during driving and fall out. If both bolts fall out from the front lower ball joint or the front suspension lower arm, these components could detach from the steering knuckle or the front cross members, causing a loss of steering control, which could increase the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

Toyota will notify owners of vehicles with the optional package installed, and dealers will inspect the torque of the bolts. If the bolts are found to be loose, dealers will retighten them to the proper torque. For any missing bolts, dealers will install new ones. The recall began on November 7, 2014.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtFebruary 2014 to August 2014
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA8 September 2014
  3. Owners notified7 November 2014
  4. Latest repair reportQ1 2016 — 89% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 8 September 2014.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand