Advice on Shop Findings

I won't be in a position to buy a new car for a long while, I'm aggressively attacking my student loan debt. Seems like it will be more cost effective to fix the existing car instead of buying a beater, but I could be wrong. I live and work off the light rail in Phoenix, so that hasn't been so bad for getting to/from work, especially since it's cooling off now.

Just bought new tires a few weeks ago, the ride has been a lot better. Figured I would take care of the arms and maybe replace the front coil overs since I'll be in there anyway. I suspect the rear shocks are fine. Rear leafs are pretty flat, but I don't do much hauling these days.

When I replaced the spark plugs I wiped the engine block down pretty well hoping it will make it easier to spot leaks. I haven't seen any yet. Not sure if they had spotted old oil or what, but I haven't noticed any leaks

Recently changed the oil and filter and did a coolant flush when I replaced the radiator. I haven't checked the tranny in a while, I was going to look into the procedure for getting that fluid changed out.

 

Glad to hear you are aggressively attacking those loans

What about power steering and brake fluid and front/rear diffs? Have those been changed?

Other than those things that are clearly in need of repair I’d keep those fluids in mind for a flush/change if you have never done them.

Trans I would do a full pan drop and flush on.

 

Did you miss the part about the truck going to the mechanic and getting a complete look over?

 

Had the shop replace the steering rack and fluid few years ago. No front diff, I did the rear diff but that was a long while back as well. I'll definitely make note to check those when I get a chance. I thought it wasn't recommended to flush the tranny on high mileage trucks?

Know any good shops in Phoenix?

 

Can't say that I do Macguyver. I dont make it out to gods frying pan as much as I would like to. Loved your show though.

Maybe @PackCon does. Afterwords he can take you shopping for that new daily driver.

 

Old wives tale.

If there is gunk in the trans that will be dislodged with a flush the trans was on its way to a failure anyways. The flush could have sped up the failure but it will not cause a failure.
The best way to avoid a failure is to flush every 100k or sooner if a heavy hauler and tower.

 

If you want to change the trans fluid simply drop the pan clean the filter and fill it back up. Then periodically do a simple drain and fill. It's pretty cheap and easy to do yourself and while you wont change all the fluid at once over time you will get most of it

 

Dont forget replacing the gasket when you put the pan back on.

 

Yep I think there are rubber gaskets available but I use the FIGP/RTV (or whatever it is stock) when putting it back on

 

Okay, I had an opportunity to change my brake pads over the weekend and took some pictures. I can’t see any evidence that the shocks are leaking, so I think I'm gonna leave those until they bust (though

$63 Monroe Quick-Strut 171352R Suspension Strut and Coil Spring Assembly for Toyota Tacoma

quick-struts are crazy cheap on amazon right now).

I followed bartmaster’s advice and tried shaking the wheel while it was on jacks. There was a lot of movement forward and backward. The bushings are definitely bad. The ball joints look okay, but a quick look around the forms shows they typically fail with little warning. I'll look into getting those replaced, it seems they're prone to failure and fail catastrophically.

Would someone mind taking a look at my upper control arms? I believe they're stock, but there's a hole in the side that has me a little concerned. Not sure if it's worth replacing them or not.

I'll upload photos in a moment....

 

Photos

 

I would definitely replace those UCAs, my suggestion would be to go with some stock replacement off rockauto or grab some JBAs if you have the spare cash

 

Okay, I've been slowly making progress on all of this. I'm looking at pulling the trigger on this: With the 881 coils. My current suspension is made up of monroe quick struts that have 60-80k miles on them and my original leafs with 240,000 miles on them. This kit should replace all of that nicely while providing a bit of lift.

I'm unsure of whichs UCAs to get though. Wheelers wants to bundle some SPCs, but since this is a prerunner and my daily driver that seems like overkill. Should I go with stock? Are any of the daily driver options on rock auto good? Do they come with replacement upper ball joints?

Aside from that, gonna pick up some lower ball joints ($130) and new bushings for my LCAs. Is there anything else I should do while I'm down there?

Really excited to see how she rides after all of these replacements with new tires!

 

Those SPC's are high-dollar and probably not necessary. I don't have any experience with Mevotech, but those don't look bad for 60 bucks each on RockAuto and come with ball joints (look for a coupon code and you can get 5% off).

I would do inner and outer tie rod ends while at it -- they are relatively inexpensive, and you are going to have to get it aligned anyway. And sway bar bushings, maybe links. Then you have everything covered, should be TIGHT.

 

people have different reactions to 881s. For the PreRunner you could do 880s or 881s. there is about 1/2" difference in height.

as for aftermarket UCAs you shouldn't have to worry with just 2.5" lift. Energy Suspension or Whiteline make poly bushings, the ES ones need the old sleeves (outer, inner, cam plates) while the whiteline replace the whole thing

 

Is that a hole in one of your upper control arms?

If you want, I have my old stock ones for sale. 99k

 

I had my steering rack replaced a few years ago, would that have come with new tie rod components?

I'm new to a lot of this front end stuff. Taking my time to research and understand. I'm hoping to order everything in about a month

It is a hole! It's starting to make me nervous, so I'll replace it while I'm down there. What are you looking for price wise? I was looking at buying these as a replacement:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6691504&cc=1418453&jsn=18
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6691508&cc=1418453

They're like $60 on rock auto, but I don't know if they're any good though. The part numbers don't return any results in TW. I like that they come with new ball joints.

 

those are not the correct UCAs, do not order them.

those are for 2wd NON-PreRunner

4wd and PreRunner have the ball joints pressed into the knuckle, then the ball joint goes through the UCA.

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6118734&cc=1418453&jsn=414
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6118731&cc=1418453&jsn=415

 

Listen I did the whole front end on my 01. I did the lower control arms twice cause I fucked around and got aftermarket bushings. Don't do it.

It's not worth it. Trust me on this.

You can get NEW CONTROL ARMS with BUSHINGS from Toyota for less than the cost of the OEM bushings. Probably less than 500$ USD total. Save the cam bolts if you can, buck up for the OEM replacements, do the work yourself and bring it to get an alignment after.