ThatguyJZ's Build Thread

Attempting to upload some recent pics from my phone. Hopefully the resolution comes thru well.

131k miles, still happy.

New Yokohama Geolander G015 tires in LT265/75/16. My new favorite All-Terrain. Superb road manners and wet weather traction, as well as one of the lightest weight 10 ply tires in this size. I'd love to write a more comprehensive review on these eventually because I feel like these tires often get over looked.

 

Just hit 145k miles.

Almost a year on the Yokohama's and I'm still highly satisfied with them.

Got the truck Ceramic coated a while back. Should be good for another 3 years.

Got tired of the noisy OME Dakar leafs, so I replaced my worn down yellow OME leaf isolators (pucks) with the Doorman ones as suggested on here. They definitely helped, but I still have to periodically hit them with some grease and Fluid Film to keep them totally quiet.

Seeing as my TRD Baja Suspension had around 140k Miles on it, I figured it's time to replace some things.

I ordered Bilstein 6112's and 5160's. After some trial and error, I found that setting the 6112's at notch's 5 and 7 for 1.2" of lift matched the front lift height achieved from my old TRD Baja Kit. This is going by center of the hub, to the bottom edge of the front fender, with brand new KYB upper strut mounts. It actually netted about 1/4" more on each side considering the sag from age and that my lower shock bushings were also squished and deformed. I made another post about all that so if you're looking for the same results just search because I already went way down that rabbit hole. The 600lb springs on the 6112's do ride more comfortably then the old 650lb's on the Baja Kit.

I also replaced my upper control arms with new OEM style UCA's from Beck Arnley. I can say the quality of the BA UCA's looks to equal the OEM UCA's and exceeds a different set of aftermarket OEM style UCA's I personally examined. I went with OEM style UCA's because all the other aftermarket options have anywhere from 3-4 degrees of built in caster, which is excessive for my lift. Additionally, I don't want to deal with the noise associated with the polyurethane bushings most of them are running. These were done as preventative maintenance. I wouldn't say my original UCA's were bad, but the ball joint was beginning to leak out some grease.

The truck also got new sway bar bushings and endlinks, both Beck Arnley. The sway bushings had the OEM part numbers stamped in the rubber and the endlinks appear identical in quality to OEM aside from running a larger nut. My stock endlinks were puking out grease, so it was time.

I got tired of my needle bearing vibes. First noticed ever so slightly around 60k miles. Now at 144k, it was getting excessive. I took the truck over to ECGS and in an hour they took care of the needle bearing for me and replaced it with their bushing. Happy to say, those vibes are now gone.

It appears now my LCA's have decided show out. The ball joints are seeping some grease, but I'm pretty sure the bushings have had enough. Not to mentioned some likely seized alignment cams. I've always had to play a clunking and popping game after alignments, despite cam bolts being torqued to 100ft/lbs. Each time I have to torque them down a little more, and a little more. Now I've got them at 130ft/lbs, which has lessened the clunk/pop from when they were at 115ft/lbs, but still hasn't eliminated it. So next on the list I will be replacing LCA's, all the alignment cam hardware, as well as outer tie rod ends (cause why not) with OEM Toyota parts. Hopefully this will do the trick and shut the truck up.

On the bright side, I'll have a completely refreshed front suspension.

 

Still clunking and popping.

So LCA's replaced with new OEM. All new OEM Cam hardware. New OEM outer tie rod ends as well as alignment too.

The shop identified my Front Body Mounts by the radiator were shot. So I ordered new OEM Rubber bushings and replaced them. I re-used my metal sleeves, just wire wheeled off the little bit of rust they had. My drivers side mount was completely ripped where the rubber goes thru the hole in the frame causing the metal sleeve to contact the frame. Passenger side was distorted and had a hole worn thru part of it as well. The job was super easy with the front bumper removed and took under 2 hours.

After replacing those, I feel like I no longer hear the metal on metal contact sound I was hearing. They obviously needed replaced. However, I still have this damn low speed noise when turning. Definitely a clunk or pop noise. Will update if I eventually get this figured out.

 

Installed some new Dobinson's 110 Rear Leaf Springs and Poly Bushings over the weekend, along with new U-bolts.

No more popping and clunking. It rides like a new truck. The Dobinson's 110 springs ride soo much better than the OME EL095R Dakars. Rear height is around 23.5" to 24" hub to fender with some driver's side lean (full tank of fuel). I'll see how it settles out over time.

Glad to get that over with. Shout out to Mike at Exit Offroad for the order.