Front Ball Joint Replacement

My driver side lower ball joint had a tear in it causing grease to leak out. Doing research for the fix, it took a while to find prius specific information on the job. Here's my experience in case someone in the future wants an idea of doing the job.

Original LBJ boot with tear:
Looks like it somehow got pinched. Was doing a tire change and noticed it before I had any suspension knocking noise. My coworker mentioned I could just replace the boot, but decided to fully replace because I let it sit for too long.


Replacement
Decided to purchase OEM lower ball joints from Japan using Amayama (43330-49185). One video mentioned Sankei 555 as being supplier for Toyota's OEM, but I had some doubts based on some google searching. In searching for Sankei 555s, I discovered Amayama for the first time. Great site with part diagrams and different options for parts (OEM and aftermarket). OEMs were $10 more than Sankei ($20 vs $30 ea) so decided to stick with OEM. Shipping (2) OEM LBJs to SoCal cost $90 and took 6 days. Good experience with Amayama and I'll definitely use them again.

How I did it (~3 hours for both)

1. Jacked up car
2. Removed wheel
3. Disconnected sway bar link from shock. Allowed knuckle to move a bit more.
4. Loosen/broke 19mm head castle nut. There was enough room below the CV joint to fit the wrench and back the nut off the threads, but not room to remove the nut off the whole shank.
5. Removed (2) nuts and (1) bolt holding LBJ assembly. All 17mm heads
6. Swung out LBJ assembly by pushing down on lower control arm
7. Removed LBJ from spindle using a pickle fork
8. Installed new LBJ. Held lower arm down, slid shank into knuckle, and then pivoted ball joint mount threads into lower arm holes.
9. Installed (2) nuts and (1) bolt between LBJ and control arm.
10. Installed castle nut. Lined up hole and install cotter pin
11. Installed sway bar links
12. Paint marker everything tightened

Notes:
Castle Nut: The critical part of this was breaking the 19mm castle nut. The castle nut was very easy to strip. If it does, I would've needed to remove the CV axle to get clear access for removal.
I wanted to avoid taking off the CV, so I purchased a 3/4" 6-point wrench from Gearwrench on Amazon (3/4" was cheaper and worked for me as a substitute 19mm wrench). I also used some lubricant and minor heat before breaking. With some steady force making sure the wrench stayed on flat, mine broke without any issue. I was lucky though because mine was free of rust. Also took my time tightening the nut as its just as easy to strip.
Ball Joint removal: I tried jacking up the upright and then knocking the ball joint with a hammer while applying downward pressure with a prybar, but wasn't able to do this. I didn't have the greatest position/room though so just switched to the pickle fork. The pickle fork was ok, but it damaged the boot on removal.



New vs Old LBJ: New one's were the nice and tight. FYI, I found a form post of someone being incorrectly sold Rav4 LBJs. They fit, but caused the tires to toe in/out.

Stuff that helped prepare me:
Ace Tech Auto - 2009 - 2015 Toyota Prius How to Replace Lower Ball Joint
TRQ - How to Replace Lower Ball Joint 2012-2017 Toyota Camry
CarLo - My 2010 Prius Lower Ball Joint Install
SkyCar - How to Diagnose and Replace Bad Front Lower Ball Joint on a Toyota
PriusChat Thread 239075 - Replacing lower ball joints