What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

the lower ball joint has 4 bolts connecting it to the spindle. the upper ball joint is pressed into the spindle. both are attached to the control arms by the post/ball and held by a castle nut.

the entire spindle can be removed by removing the upper and lower BJ castle nuts (and the CV hub nut for 4wd).

 

I was just talking about taking the upper ball joint out, not removing the entire spindle. Went would he do that to change ball joints? Lol

 

Removing the spindle is the easiest way to change the upper ball joint. The lower ball joint is bolted to the spindle with 4 bolts, but the upper is pressed into the spindle. Swapping the upper is best done with a shop press or you might get lucky with a ball joint press you borrow from an auto parts store.

 

O gotcha, i used an air hammer and pushed it right out super easy.

Take castle nut off, flip it over screw it back on far enough that its flush with the top of the threads and hit it with the air hammer for 3 seconds. Pops rightoff

 

I'm somewhat surprised that was enough to remove them. Last time I did them was with a shop press and it takes quite a lot of force unseat them. Also, how then did you install the new ones?

Regardless, if you're changing upper and lower ball joints, you've essentially removed the spindle anyways.

 

Yes it will, can't wait until it's done. I can beat any V8 truck I want but your heading the right way.

 

Yeah that was the other part, I didn't change my lowers at the same time.

I used an impact on the castle nut and screwed it on/press it in

 

Are you saying you put the tapered stud through the UCA, and seated the ball joint in the spindle by cranking on it? Because if so, In would highly recommend against doing it that way.

 

Yeah this was back on my 5 lug but that's how we did it

 

Yeah, we're comparing apples and oranges here. Breaking the taper of the stud is the same on both, and very easy. I usually just hit upwards on the lip of the UCA. But whereas the 5 lugger UBJ is bolted to the control arm, on the 6 lugger it is press fit into the spindle. That's the real bitch, not the tapered stud.

 

Well darn I was hoping it was a good enough excuse to get tc ucas and a mid travel coilover

 

I'm in the market for some new UCA's as well

 

you're right i feel really stupid now. I knew that too hahahaha

 

The vib for a rear axle bearing is not restricted to a certain range of speeds. However, it will vary in intensity and pitch as speeds change.

Your 40-50 mph vib could be a wheel/tire vibration. That is a common speed range for those to show up.

 

Factory? I'm probably going to sell the entire front ifs if anybody is interested in anything.

 

I was correcting your statement

 

I just did this with a C-screw BJ press from Autozone. The most difficult part of the whole process was dealing with how inept the employees there are. I asked the guy point blank if they loaned out any other tools or accessories for pressing out ball joints. He says no. So, I went elsewhere to look for a pickle-fork. Then I found out that Autozone loans them as well, went back for it. Then I found out that the BJ press had the wrong attachments for pressing out my BJ. Found out they loan adapter kits for their BJ presses... went back to the store. Guess what? They're out of the Toyota specific adapter kit. Get told that none of the other kits are likely to work, I ask to see them all anyway. Ended up renting the adapter kit that I think was intended for some sort of Van, perhaps Dodge? Yeah, it may have been for an Astro van, I forget. This seemed really strange to the Autozone employee, he recommended the Honda adapter kit because i have a Toyota and "they are both Asian." LOL



Tl;DR Autzone BJ press and an adapter kit make short work of the upper BJ. Get the adapter kit that's "for a van."

 

Nope aftermarket, probably use part of my refund check

 

Would anyone be interested in the Trail Toys EZView Mirrors for the 01-04 mirrors? For just the glass, price would be the same as the second gen glass, $45. I was told that if I got enough interest, they could be made.

Here's a link -http://trailtoys.net/products/ezview-mirrors

 

Do they fold in?