2001 TOYOTA TACOMA — Complaint #1188574
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT filed June 5, 2015
NHTSA complaint #1188574 (ODI reference 10723682) concerns a 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA and was filed on June 5, 2015. The owner reports the failure occurred on May 30, 2015. The vehicle had 250,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA TACOMA cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA. WHILE DRIVING AT 30 MPH, THE SUSPENSION BALL JOINT DETACHED FROM THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE UPPER AND LOWER BALL JOINTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 250,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1188574 |
| ODI Number | 10723682 |
| Date Filed | June 5, 2015 |
| Failure Date | May 30, 2015 |
| VIN | 5TESN92N31Z |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2001 TOYOTA TACOMA
AFTER NOTICING THAT THE TRUCK DEVELOPED UNUSUAL TIRE WEAR AND SHAKING AND NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT END ,MAKING THE TRUCK DIFFICULT AND HAZARDOUS TO DRIVE. A PRIVATE TECHNICIAN INDICATED THAT THE F
DT: CONTACT STATES DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT BALL JOINT FELL OFF, CAUSING THE WHEEL TO COME OFF. THIS SPECIFIC VEHICLE DOES NOT FALL UNDER THE TOYOTA RECALL CAMPAIGN.*AK
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.