Advice on suspension issues

Hey Tacomaworld,

I was just looking at my suspension as it is very loud (squeaky) and out of alignment (drifts mostly to the left). Seeing all the lower ball joint horror stories I just ordered some OEM lower ball joints to do and may explain the drift I have had for too long... when I was looking, the bottom of my shock seemed a little off centered and high (pic below). Is this normal for the bolt to be so high or has the rubber failed?
Additionally, this is a TRD and this is not the bilistien Off-road shocks so may be something the PO did. Lastly, the grease on my passenger ball joint is what scared me but was wondering if it is likely the shock that is the issue.
Lower Ball joint (driver):

Lower ball joint (passenger)

Thanks in advanced for the help!

Best,
Jacob

 

From the pic of the shock, I would definitely say the bushing in the shock is gone

 

Yeah the eyelet of the shock should be centered on the bolt. That bushing is spent.

 

Would that explain drift/misalignment? Also maybe the reason for the noisie suspension? I have a pair of 5100 waiting to be installed (luckily). Also I plan on doing the lower ball joints anyways because the PO liked to cheap out on all the sensors so the LBJ either has 180k on them or are aftermarket...

 

Would defiantly explain the noise in the suspension, not sure about the drift / alignment , very possible tho

 

I am waiting on a spacer (anti-taco lean) and LBJs then I’ll get to it and get it aligned. Appreciate the help just didn’t look right so wanted to check in. You guys rock!

 

No problem.. Should be an easy little project

 

Since you're replacing the LBJ and getting an alignment anyways, I would consider taking a look at the outer tie rod ends. You need to knock out the outer tie rod end ball joints when you do the LBJ's anyways and new outer tie rod ends really helped my truck feel more stable and less clunky in steering.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW...Hope you get it figured out.

 

Been here about a year and a half but I appreciate it haha

 

Update:
The bushing was messed up... not sure if you can tell...

Now trying to get the bilistiens in there and they are being a bitch. Guess I’ll have to loosen the cam bolts

 

Use your bottle jack and turn it upside down(small end on the upper control arm), flat end in top of fender well and tighten it up enough to get the lower shock bolt through.. Just be careful if you go this route to Not let the bottle jack fly out and hit you!

 

Yeah I don’t have a bottle jack and my jack just fucked up my under wheel well but I’ll give it another try but upside down. Just that 1/4 inch spacer is just enough to make it a little off

 

Use your pry bar and pry down on the lower control arm (end of pry bar or 2"x4" on the frame other end on the lower control arm) (if you can get someone to pry it down a little while you get the bolt in would help), I know it's a pain in the ass doing it by yourself

 

Yeah, that is what I was doing. I pried down and had my soon to be wife put the shock into the spot. Still couldn’t get it through. Got a spike in it but then trying to swap it with bolt ended with the suspension trying to punch me in the face. I was worn out and it was dark so I’ll pick it up early tomorrow. Worse comes to worse I’ll loosen the lower control arm.

 

Bent the shit out of my jack bar haha

 

Damn, sorry to hear it's giving you a hard time

 

Set at 2.5 and has the 1/4 in spacer for anti tacolean so the other side shouldn’t be as much of a pain

 

I used the pad on my floor jack to push up on the actual shock itself while keeping it as close to the holes as possible (be VERY careful if you do this), with my dad prying downward on the control arm, lined them up close enough to put a big screwdriver half of the way through so I could use it to pry a bit and line up the holes, and once the bolt is partially in you can move the screwdriver a bit to make more room for the bolt.