Front end suspension rebuild

Re: 2002 Prerunner V6 Auto, 2 WD, street truck, 144K miles. Previous owner liked to go off road a lot.

I have been told that the front end suspension on my truck needs some attention. What are the parts that normally wear out? I have already replaced the struts.

My garage (nice people) has no problem with me supplying the parts.

 

Typically.... Lower and/or upper ball joints, struts, tie rods, bearings, and sway bar links. You don't have 4x4, so that eliminates a few other culprits. eBay has both individual parts as well as various "sets" for sale at pretty good prices. Just double check compatibility with your specific taco.

 

Are you referring to this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Suspe...5916b4ea:g:shgAAOSwv0tVY9Wf&vxp=mtr#vi-ilComp

It bothers me a bit that they don't ask much about my truck. Do all the 2002 models use the same front end parts?

 

You'll hear from many people to only buy OEM lower ball joints from a dealer or online parts store like partznet.com which is a dealer with an online shop. Low Range Off-road has good deals on inner and outer tie rods, but I haven't heard from anyone about long term experiences. I'm going to check those out when it comes time to do mine though. I'd stay away from eBay because of a lot of counterfeit products being sold on their unless you know how to identify without a shadow of a doubt what you're looking at. Online dealer parts stores and specialty stores will usually be a safer route than eBay especially since these components keep your vehicle steering straight at all speeds.

 

4x4's and prerunners use the same ball joints. 5 lug, 2wd uses a different setup. Here is the set that I ordered and installed on my 4x4.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-8...ash=item25abb157b9:g:HGEAAOSw~gRVzhJc&vxp=mtr

Go down the page and you will see a "Compatibility" box. Select your Taco's specifics from the drop-down menus and it will state below whether the parts are compatible.

I shop eBay all time. No issues, yet.

 

Thank you all for your advice! Now I gotta find what the labor will cost.

 

Labor will eat your lunch.... I did all of mine myself and will finish up with rack bushings and control arm bushings this weekend.

I had a few places quote me 500$ or more for just labor on upper/lower ball joints.

 

OUCH!!!

 

01GreenTacoma is right. Ball joints shop time is high $'s.
I do all my own wrenching, too (except alignment). When you are talking about ball joints, it's much cheaper to buy a master ball joint press set and any special tools you need, than pay a shop @ $100+ per hour. But, if you don't do a lot of wrenching, you can get in over your head real quick. A Tacoma's lower ball joints and tie rod ends are fairly easy, but the uppers can make an experienced mechanic cuss and damn. Plus, there's always the broken bolts, cutting, grinding, drilling, tapping, and loss of knuckle skin when dealing with older, rusty front ends.
If a person wanted to tackle the job themselves, there's a lot of great tech info on this site along with lots of members who have been through all of this and of course YouTube is full of DIY videos for our Taco's, but if you do not have a place to put it up on stands for a few days, all the tools you would need, and some wrenching experience, you would be better off having a shop do it. Especially when you are talking about front end control and suspension components.
But it's just an opinion...it's your truck and your $'s.

 

I have always been inclined to play with mechanical things but now I just can't get up and down....when you get old you also get fragile.
I will get an estimate today (gulp).

 

Let us know!!

 

Man, I really would like to meet your avatar!