2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA — Complaint #661913
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT filed March 17, 2008
NHTSA complaint #661913 (ODI reference 10221435) concerns a 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA and was filed on March 17, 2008. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 15, 2008. The vehicle had 108,626 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: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
I OWN A 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA SR5 4WD TRUCK. MY VEHICLE WAS PARKED OUTSIDE MY HOUSE AND I WAS PLANNING ON REPOSITIONING IT SO THAT I COULD PUT SOME THINGS IN THE BED. I PULLED FORWARD ABOUT 10 FEET AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN I HEARD A BREAKING NOISE AND THEN A LOUD SCRAPPING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE OF THE TRUCK. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE VEHICLE AND GOT OUT TO INSPECT WHAT HAD HAPPENED. I NOTICED THAT THE LOWER SUSPENSION WAS BROKEN AND HAD SEPARATED ITSELF FROM THE TIRE WHEEL ASSEMBLY. WHEN IT BROKE OFF SOME PARTS HAD GRINDED/SCRAPED THE INSIDE OF THE WHEEL. AFTER SOME RESEARCH I LEARNED THAT IT WAS THE FRONT LOWER BALL JOINT THAT HAD BROKEN AND SEPARATED FROM THE KNUCKLE. LUCKILY, I HAD AN EMPTY UNLOADED VEHICLE AND WASN'T DRIVING FAST SO NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED, BUT EVALUATING THE DAMAGE IT WOULDN'T BE HARD TO BELIEVE HOW LARGE AND DEVASTATING THIS COULD HAVE BEEN IF I HAD A FULLY LOADED TRUCK AND WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY. I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH IT WILL BE TO REPAIR AND/OR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 661913 |
| ODI Number | 10221435 |
| Date Filed | March 17, 2008 |
| Failure Date | March 15, 2008 |
| VIN | 5TBBT44151S |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the steering wheel suddenly pulled to the right and front driver's side wheel detached from underneath the
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 TOYOTA TUNDRA. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE WHEEL DETACHED FROM THE AXLE AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO COME TO AN ABRUPT STOP WITHOUT WARNING. TH
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
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
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
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.