2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA — Complaint #649562
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT filed December 12, 2007
NHTSA complaint #649562 (ODI reference 10211587) concerns a 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA and was filed on December 12, 2007. The owner reports the failure occurred on December 11, 2007. The vehicle had 147,106 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to North Carolina based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:lower 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 TUNDRA cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:lower 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 TUNDRA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
MY HUSBAND FIRST NOTICED A VIBRATION AND SAID THAT THE STEERING FELT ODD IN OUR 2001 TUNDRA. HE WAS THEN SUDDENLY SURPRISED WHEN THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT WHEEL DETACHED AND THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT END SLAMMED TO THE GROUND. HE WAS LUCKY BECAUSE HE WAS DRIVING AT A LOW RATE OF SPEED ON A SECONDARY ROAD AND NO COLLISION OR INJURIES OCCURRED. JUST MINUTES BEFORE HE WAS DRIVING ON A MAIN CONGESTED ROAD AT A HIGHER RATE OF SPEED AND THIS COULD HAVE CAUSED A MAJOR COLLISION AND SUBSTANTIAL INJURIES. THE TUNDRA WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL TOYATO DEALER IN OUR TOWN OF BOONE, NC. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE LOWER AND UPPER BALL JOINTS SEPARATED. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF CONTACTING TOYOTA TO SEE WHY A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN PLACED AND IF THEY ARE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING FOR US. IT SEEMS AS IF THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF THIS PROBLEM AND NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA HAS NOT RECALLED THESE TRUCKS WHEN PEOPLES LIVES ARE AT RISK. *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 649562 |
| ODI Number | 10211587 |
| Date Filed | December 12, 2007 |
| Failure Date | December 11, 2007 |
| VIN | 5TBBT44121S |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA
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VEHICLE WAS BEING DRIVEN APPROX. 35 MPH WHEN BALL JOINT FAILURE OCCURRED. LOWER PASSENGER SIDE BALL JOINT WAS AT FAULT. BALL UNDER SOCKET SEPARATED ALLOWING TIRE TO SWING 90 DEGREES AND JAM UNDER FRAM
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MY SON WAS DRIVING MY 2001 TUNDRA 4X4, ON HIGHWAY 1, WEST OF WATSONVILLE CALIFORNIA, AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH ON STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FREEWAY THE LEFT FRONT LOWER BALL JOINT FAILED DETACHING, EXCEPT FOR
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.