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

I would not use red.

A couple Toyota techs I've talked to said not to use any at all. That being said, I've used blue the last couple times.

 

Someone a few days ago posted that the dealership had replaced their lbj under the recall. They reused the old bolts....I doubt they added any loctite.

 

Okay thanks

I did buy the toyota ball joints and new bolts for them. Blue lock tight it is.. hopefully all goes well. Not really that complex of a job

 

Mine were replaced under recall at 30k

So the small side to side wiggle in the front is either lbj or inner/outer tie rods

 

How are you guys checking the ball joints?

Are you jacking up on the frame until the wheel comes of the ground?

Place a bar under the wheel and pry it up looking for slop in the joint?

 

The LBJs are super easy. Make sure you have the Pitman arm puller and you're good to go. Don't forget to properly torque everything and use a new cotter pin.

 

My driver's side passenger seatbelt (xtra cab) is fully retracted and no longer has any spring retention. Do I need a new seatbelt or is it easy to fix it?

 

If you read the post I quoted yesterday regarding LBJ info, one would be wise to note the acceptable amount of vertical play in the joint, as stated by Toyota, is .020".

If you notice ANY play in the joint using that method, you're way past a proper service interval.

 

I was planning just to hit it with a hammer to get the tie rod out? They claim a few hits will do it

 

I'm gonna try and get them done before I hit 140K on her. Plus a new tranny filter and oil cooler is gonna be installed sooner or later.

Good luck. Big topic on that earlier on this trend.

 

That's what I did. Save that for gas money.

 

Yea im sure, lbj’s are always popping in and out of this thread. I don’t have the time to always keep up with it

Free to rent at auto zone, just requires a deposit

 

From reading/research etc. The inner/outer tie rods don’t look very hard to do either.

Any comments? (Other than ill need an alignment after)

 

I thought and read the same thing about the stock control separating from the spindle with just a few blows with a 4lb maul until it didn't work for me. Luckily I was prepared w/a 4 1/2" angle grinder and had to cut the bitch of a bolt off in order to separate the two. Better to be over prepared.

 

Common problem. Take it out and wash in soapy water.

 

Yea I suppose ill rent one because ill have to stop for blue lock tight anyways

 

Before 140K? Nice. I was at about 171K and the fluids were all original, according to how they looked and my service records.

 

Plan on buying at least one new tie-rod end.

Hammer method to deform the tappered hole and release the tre didnt work for me. Also, the castle nut is too soft, so dont try threading it on and hitting it. I ruined my TRE by trying that.

Grab a pitman arm/tre puller and a ball joint separator pickle fork to make life easy.

 

It's not stuck, it's fully retracted. It won't go back into the mechanism. If I pull or push on the belt nothing happens.

 

Or play in the steering rack. Pull the driver side rack boot back then shake and observe the rack shaft and inner tie rod.

You need to understand that the normal state of the LBJ is in tension. No amount of shaking or prying will show play in the joint if it is already under tension. The tension must first be relieved. The wheel should be off and the lower control arm jacked up to as near to "ride height" as possible. Only then can a pry bar between the LBJ and the spindle show the actual play. Keep in mind that the (OEM type) upper control arm bushings themselves are capable of placing tension on the LBJ if the test is done with the suspension in "droop", below normal ride height. The upper control arm pivot bolt is intended to be tightened at "ride height" so at any droop below ride height the UCA bushings can be putting the LBJ in tension.

See above, even the FSM fails to note the torsional effect of the upper control arm bushings on the LBJ and essentially says to check at full droop, fail.