Ok. So Here We Go...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the title says- Ok. So here we go...

I have an '02 Extended Cab TRD 4x4 (133K miles) I got a few months ago (August 2016) and I've had some things done to it (I'll post pics at the end):
-OME Suspension Lift with 883 Coils
-Light Racing UCAs
-Dakar Leafs with Additional AAL
-Exhaust Relocate Bracket
-Brake Relocate Bracket
-Stainless Rear Brake Line
-Baja Style Tube Rear Bumper from Street Tacos*
*Quick Side Note- Brian does great work and I'm TRYING to get him to do some other stuff for me right now. Be patient and you'll get a great product. I really, really like mine.
-Synthetic Everything Fluids
-16" American Racing Wheels
-Hercules 33" MTs (Full Size Spare)
-"Custom" platform in the cab for my British Lab "Grace"*
*She's from Wildrose Kennels in Oxford, MS. Best. Dogs. Ever. I'll never get another dog from another place...
-Carhartt Seat Covers
-Weathertec Mats

I've only put 3K miles on it in the 6 months I've owned it because I have a Honda Accord that I use as a daily driver- I'm the sales manager at a "big trailer" dealership in Houston and put bazillions of miles on cars- but I needed something I could hunt and fish out of since the "Off-Road Accord" doesn't favor well pulling boats/kayaks/coolers/etc. So, moral of the story is- I bought this truck from a guy here in H-Town and it's spent it's whole life here in Texas.

I spent 6 years in the Army (3 years in a Heavy Division) and it was beat into me that maintenance is the pinnacle of anything successful. So, after the beatings, it kind of just stuck with me- the maintenance part. I initially took it to the dealer to check it out when I bought it to see what needed to be done- at least what they would want to do with it- so I had them do some work on it because I didn't want to just start replacing stuff. I ended up replacing a lot of the suspension with the suspension system mentioned above.

As I said before, I've only put about 3K miles on it (yes, I drive it 2-3 times a week outside of the hunting/fishing/off-road miles) and took it back to the dealer to have them check it out and change the oil. Yeah, yeah, yeah here it comes... "You have the dealer change the oil?!?" Anyway, yes, I did and while it was there they told me that both CV Axles needed to be replaced and they would gladly do it for me for the convenient low price of $2,000.00. I probably had a blank stare on my face when he said that as I was thinking in my own head "are you high right now?" After questioning his sobriety, I thought to myself- there are enough youtube videos, write ups, and manuals that I can do this myself. So, I proceeded to buy a few hundred dollars in tools, 2 new CV axles, and got all ready to go when I realized I had a slight problem...

The truck currently sits with about 22" of ground to body clearance. There ain't a jack or jack stands around- even with blocks of 2 x 4's that lift or keep that thing off the ground. So, I had to dump some more coin on some 10 Ton jack stands and a 3.5 ton jack (will still have to use the screwed tougher 2 x 4's for that one...) to finally be able to lift it up. Then I thought to myself: "Well. If I'm going to already be down there, why don't I just go ahead and replace the LCA bushings? Also, while I'm down there, why don't I just go ahead and change out the lower ball joints? And. Hey, let's paint the brake calipers while we're at it?!?" So, while I was looking for Energy Suspension bushings I thought some more... (Yep. There I went thinking again...) "Why don't I just replace ALL the bushings on the truck? Why not?!? Right?!? So, I ordered the entire bushing kit from Energy Suspension, lower ball joints from Camelbak Toyota, caliper paint from local auto parts store, and all the necessary chemicals/sand paper/primers/etc. After these purchases, I thought some more...

"If I'm going to be doing all of this work... Why don't I just start doing everything I WANT to do to it and essentially 'restore' it and get it 'better than new'?!?" So. That's what I'm attempting here... I'd like to get this truck as 'pristine' as possible- because I really do like it and I really, really do enjoy it; and my son [he's almost 4] loves this truck and I'd really, really like to get it how I want it. As clean and pristine as possible. I might have bitten off more than I can chew, but I'm really going to put "maximum effort" (Deadpool anyone?!?) into this thing because I want it to look great, last a long time, and I really want everything to be done right- so I'm doing it myself.

So, in the meantime while I'm waiting on all of these parts/pieces/tools tools to come in I thought I'd go ahead and get a jump on things and pull off some of the pieces that were put on to strip, sand and paint. So that's what I've done. I pulled off some of the basic relocate plates (exhaust and rear brake) and I pulled off the chrome "nerf" bars because I just really didn't like the way they looked and started to prep and paint them.

*Quick side note here... So, I looked for a while and I couldn't find the "crush washers" or even a part number or anything for the front brake calipers... Soooooo, I saw that the stainless brake lines from Wheelers Off-Road came with the washers I needed.... Soooooooo, I bought them.... Haha. Why not?!? I need $2.00 in washers and walked away with $80.00 in SS Brake lines.

Here is what I'm planning on doing and have the stuff to do:
-CV Axle Replacement (How ALL of this got started...)
-LCA Bushing Replacement
-Lower Ball Joint Replacement
-Steering Rack Bushing Replacement
-Body Mount Bushing Replacement
-Sway Bar Bushing Replacement
-Nerf Bar Paint Job (working)(pics to come)(Black Truck-Bed Coating)
-Caliper Paint Job (Candy Red)
-Various "Off-Road" Part Painting (Candy Red)
-Some Type of Frame Coating and/or Paint*
*I'd really, really, really like to take the truck bed completely off and REALLY do the frame and sand/prime/paint the bottom the the truck as well, but I'm doing all of this completely by myself so I don't know if this will happen. I'd really like it to, but we'll see how all of the other stuff goes... But. Damn. I'd really like do this...
-Replace Rear Window Latches (one is broken so I'll replace both, and I already ordered the parts)
-Clean/Paint/Replace

Here is what I WANT to still do:
-Badlands Baja Style Front Bumper
-Swing Away Rear Tailgate with Tire Rack
-Smittybuilt Winch (the only waterproof rated one on the market to date)
-Safari Snorkel (yeah, yeah yeah... here we go with the comments...)
-Custom Skid Plate (Candy Red, Baby... Just Kidding, we'll see where that goes.)

By the way, I have a full time job and an almost 4 year old, so most of the work I do and/or am going to do is going to be at night. But, 6 years in the Army, night work doesn't bother me... I'll just have to snap pics in the morning, or they'll mostly be dark as I go. I'm going to do my best to be as diligent as I can about all this and do a little bit at a time- a few hours a day- to get all this done.

Without further ado- here are some pics:



So, there are a few pics of the truck, the plan, the parts are on their way, and I'm getting started. I just want to thank everyone for their help in advance because I'm sure I'm going to have some questions like this one... Do I have to replace the axle seals when I'm replacing the CV axles???

Anyway. Thank you again for the knowledge, and I'll do my best to be diligent about updating pics and work as I go.

-RLP

 

subbed

 

Noice. Less mods & auto, I owned a twin to yours.

 

That thing is clean! No need to do seals when changing axles. I have a hunch that thing had an easy life prior to you

 

Ok...

I got all of the body mount bushing installed the past day/night. I'll do a full write-up on this later, but wanted to give an update. I'll have all the pictures in the next post. I did a "really long way" and painted all the mounting posts after basically sanding down to bare metal with Rustoleum "Chassis and Roll Bar Paint."

Like I said, I'll do the full write-up on this later, but just wanted to give the update.

By the way- if you're considering doing the body mount bushings- you can totally do this by yourself. Just make sure you you torque to spec- which I'll provide in the next post.

Also, the nerf bars are in the process of their 72 hour cure- as per directions on the Rustoleum truck bed paint... Hopefully I'll be getting those bad boys put back together in a day or so.

Now... I just need the D*M* jack stands to come in so I can do all of the front suspension work. Also, on that... I'll be sanding and painting all of the parts so they'll look new. Should have a decent product when I'm finished.

By the way- I'm seriously, seriously considering replacing the carpet inside the truck and I'd really like to get the seats re-upholstered. I wish there was a way I could use the fabric on my seat covers (Carhartt Seat Covers) as a carpet replacement... Is this a wild hair or am I just out of control on this one?!?

Oh, also- almost forgot. If you're super, super crazy about getting rust off and keeping something clean- I "built" a screw painter. All you need is ply-wood and drill bits. I think you can put 1 and 1 together on that one, but that's the kind of level of detail I'm going for here...

 

I'm only here for the pictures.

 

I'll get them all uploaded later. It'll get done before I go to sleep tonight- I promise.

 

Any plans for running long trip on the highway? Consider sound proofing. If you take the carpet out might as well do the sound proofing.

 

Sorry guys. Sick kid, truck work, and a full time job kept me from posting this sooner.

Here is the full write-up on changing the Body Mount Bushings on an 02 Extended (XTRA) Cab, 4x4...

1 x Impact Gun (Mine is Electric) OR 2 x Ratchets OR 1 x Impact Gun and 1 x Ratchet (the method I used...)
2 x 14mm Sockets (1 x 14mm Short Socket)
1 x 15mm Socket (1 x 15mm Short Socket)
1 x 15MM Wrench
1 x 14mm Wrench
Jack
2 x 4 (yes, the length of the 2 x 4 DOES matter- I found this out very quickly on the transmission mounts)
2 x 4 (This can be the short one you realize won't work, and we'll use it for "safety")
Bushing Sets (I do believe this goes without saying)
Flathead Screwdriver
Phillips Screwdriver
Silicone Grease/Paste if you don't use the one that comes in the kit
PB Blaster
Safety Glasses (story on this later... and it ends up screwing me in the end, even after a 10 minute eye flush)
Anything Else You Need that I forgot (Just Kidding)

*Optional*
Chassis and Rollbar Paint
Alcohol
Brake Clean
Sand Paper
Towels
(You'll see what I did with all of these in a little bit)

*Stuff I wish I knew before I did this*
-I wish I pressure washed the frame of the truck the night before I got this whole thing started- especially on the body-mount areas. It will certainly help if you do the "Optional Method" that I did. It will just help get everything clean and sprayed off before you start this journey.
-I wish I would have started with my safety glasses on my face because about 30 minutes in to it, some dirt came off, got my eye, had to do the eye wash, and then I "forgot" about what I was doing and didn't loosen that bushing- which bit me in the end- and had to recover later. Wear your damn glasses. Trust me...
-I've seen some pretty rusty tacos, fortunately mine has spent it's whole life in Houston, TX so I didn't need to PB Blaster the entire thing. You might want to do that the night before and let it soak if you plan on doing it in the morning.

Step 1- Assemble the materials

Step 2- Read the Directions on the Kit (It's a 1 pager, just do it)

Step 3- After reading the directions in their entirety, you'll need to loosen all of the bolts on the existing body mount bushings all the way around the truck. So, what I did, was loosen every single bolt- I mean back it all the way off- and just hand tighten it back onto the bolt stem. You'll want maximum space, and you'll need it to do both of the middle bushings, especially if you want to do them both at the same time.

Take a look at this pic, and you can see those spots on the concrete from the PB Blaster I put on it (just in case) on where these body mounts are going to be:


So, I took the 15mm wrench, and the 15mm socket and started at the front on the transmission mounts. I don't have too much to worry about in terms of rusty bolts, but I was on my back for this part. Take your 15mm wrench and put it over the 15mm nut at the top of the transmission mount, and then take your 15mm socket and put it on the bottom with the impact gun and let that thing rip. Take the nut all the way off, and then hand tighten back on for a few threads. You can look through the front grille and/or the top (with the hood open) and see the top of the bolt you'll need to remove. Once you see where it is, just feel for it with your fingers and your wrench. You'll get it.

You can see where the transmission mounts are here in this pic:



Next, move around to either the passenger's side or drivers side (I worked clockwise around the truck and started on passenger side). At this point, you'll need to remove the skid plate on the top of the floor, and you'll need to remove the kick plate right next to it as well. Get your phillips screwdriver and start pulling screws.


Once you've gotten all of the screws pulled, the skid plate [don't know technical term] and the kick plate removed, you'll need to remove 1 carpet tab and then you'll grab a handful of carpet and move it out of the way to expose a little black cylindrical cap on the bottom of the floor. It looks like this:


Take your flathead screwdriver (the only time you'll use it) and pry up that little black circular cap. Once you've done this, then you expose the next set of bolts you'll need to loosen.

Now, take your ratchet with 14mm socket, put it on top of the screw under that black cap (once it's removed) and put your socket it on it. Now, take your impact gun with 14mm socket it on it, and back the nut off the bolt all the way and hand screw it back on. Now, you'll want to look in the rear and you'll be wondering how in the world you're going to get your short arms around that door frame to pull the next one off- but don't even worry about that- you're not there yet and you don't have to. Just focus on what you're doing in the moment and get through this one.

It should look something like this:


Now, once you've gotten this far, you'll need to go to the back of that little extended cab and do the same thing... Open up the storage box and put the storage box lid on the floor. If you have insulation in the storage box, move it out of the way and you'll see another little black cap sitting in the bottom there. Take you're flathead screwdriver and put under that cap and remove it. At this point, you'll see something that looks like clock arms on top of the bolt. Now is when you realize that you don't have to worry about your arm length... Take the impact gun with the 14mm socket on it, go right down under the cab and remove the nut. Once you remove it, hand tighten back on for a few threads and you'll be ready to move to the next one.

It should look something like this:


and


Good news. You just got through both of the transmission mount bolts and one half of one side complete... Only 2 more to go before we start the swap...

At this point, you'll literally need to go through this previous step on the drivers side. You've already done it once, so you you're ready to go ahead and get it off. Remember, you've done it once, but be present in the moment and don't forget your glasses and get that nut and bolt apart.

***That's the part that I screwed up on... On the driver's side, I went down there without my glasses and the impact gun, and there was some dirt/dust on top of the mount and it got all in my eyes. At this point I had to stop and do an eye rinse for about 10 minutes. When I did that, I completely forgot I didn't get it all the way loose and it ended up making the passenger side replacement much, much difficult. I didn't realize it until I got down there to actually got down there to replace the bushing did I realize what happened. Wear your glasses***

*If any of you would like for me to spell out this step, I'm happy to, just ask me and I'll go ahead and complete this for you in the post*

Once you get that out, then move up to the front of the truck, remove the skid plate and kick plate from the driver's side, remove the carpet clamp, grab a handful of carpet and pull back- it should look something like this:


Now, take your flathead screwdriver and pop that cap off. Now you're ready to get that bolt loose.


Again, take your ratchet with your 14mm socket and put in top of that bolt, and take your impact socket with 14mm socket and loosen the bolt from the nut. Take it all the way off, and then hand tighten it back on. If you didn't do the other transmission mount up front, then now is the time to do that- with the 15mm wrench and 15mm socket and loosen those up.

Before you do anything else, go through the entire truck and make sure all of the bolts are loosened and the nuts are hand tightened back on. Once this is complete, you're ready to start installation.

Step 4- Removal of the old bushings and simultaneous installation of the new bushings.

Again, start with the transmission mounts. I was a little nervous in this part and didn't get great pics, but you can see now is where you get the jack and start lifting the body to get the mounts in.

For the transmission mounts, this is where I put the 2 x 4 (Right next to the "actual" bumper and under the front support):



If you're 2 x 4 is too short, now is the time you'll notice it. You'll want to make sure the 2 x 4 is as flat as possible on the bottom of the jack, with some room to keep going up. Remember- look at the angles...

This next part is a little more about feel and look than it is about science. I can't tell you how much I had to go up (remember, I was super nervous about doing this and didn't even think about snapping a pic of how high I needed to go, but just look at it and work with it. If you have a saw and a piece of a 2 x 4, you can cut it a little piece off and put it in between that support and the frame tor a little more protection. Your hands are going to be under there, and small piece of 2 x 4 could save your fingers.


You'll have to pull that bolt all the way out, and then pull the bushing out. Just get it worked out of the little carrier and discard. At this point, you can start building your bushings. You'll notice there are 3 different sizes of bushings and sleeves. You may be a little puzzled with the sizes, but I can tell you the smallest ones go up front on the radiator mounts. Once you get the old bushing out, it'll be time to build your bushings.

When it's 1 a.m. and you get stumped on the bushing sizes- Energy Suspension helped us out here... See. Below...


It has the numbers on it! There ya go. Problem solved. Problem stays solved...

Now you you're ready to put the new bushing under the radiator mount, put the bolt back in, and hand tighten the nut.

Once you're finished with whatever side you started on- move to the other side and get that one done.

***TIP*** ***THIS IS CRUCIAL***

******MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE DAMN PIECE OF 2 X 4 YOU PUT IN THERE TO KEEP YOUR FINGERS FROM GETTING CRUSHED****

Let me say this again, because I swear I forgot that damn thing until the very, last one... Insert curse words here, and LOTS of them...

At this point, your radiator mounts should be complete and you'll be ready to move onto the driver/passenger side. I did the passenger side next... Just make sure before you start this side that the bolts are only a few threads on and hand tight at the bottom of the radiator mounts, this is pretty crucial.

There is a way that you could do both of these at the same time, but I didn't realize that until I got to the driver's side, and already had the passenger's side complete... Another

If you want to do one at a time, this is what it's look like:


Just look at the bottom of the truck, and you'll see a pinch weld with about 3 pieces (thickest part on the bottom of the body). Put the 2 x 4 under this and start jacking the body up.

IF you want to do the "both sides at the same time" method it'll look like this:


Now, it get's interesting. When you look at the old body mount, you'll see two nuts and 2 bolts that you haven't touched yet. You'll be able to get these out when the body gets lifted up.

**NOW... Remember this, because I'm about to save you a WHOLE LOT of trouble....***

***Those 2 nuts on the bottom of the mount... THEY ARE WELDED ON!*** Yes, with a new battery in your impact gun, and your wrench on top, you'll get them to come off, but you don't have to! They're welded on!***

Check out the bolt on the right inside the mount of this pic... Yep. That's the one... It's welded on there!


Now this is where your short socket comes into play or you can use a regular wrench like I did, but you'll need to unscrew both of those bolts and get that mounting bracket it. You'll do this again on all 4 of the rest of the body mount brackets.

Here is the "long" or "optional" way... I figured while I was down there I might as well clean up all of those mounting posts and re-paint them and get any rust off of there because I don't plan on doing this again, so I got to work. You can see that here:





I don't plan on doing this again for a long, long time, so I'd figured I'd go ahead and get it all done now. Right the first time. The only hard part with this is the paint takes two hours to be tack free- even with a heat gun. Believe me, I tried it...

So, you're going to repeat that process (putting the RIGHT bushings in place) for 3 more times... Probably the hardest part- besides waiting for paint to dry- is wiggling those two screws out from under that mounting post and getting those re-attached (with the bracket in place) back to the frame.

Also, while you've got the skid plate and kick plate off, it would probably be a good time to give them a deep clean and get all of that "wader boot mud" off everything. You can see that here:


At this point, once you've done that, you're pretty much done. All you need to do at this point is go back through the truck and tighten all of the bolts back to factory spec. Believe me, if you over tighten them, you'll see the bushings start to scrunch up and you can see that you'll definitely compress them.

Words of advice- Just put the bushings together according to the diagram/directions and remember if you can't figure out which is what- just look at the bushings, they have the numbers you need on there:


Once you get that done, all you have to do is go back through the truck, put the caps back on the bolts, put the carpet back, kick plate back, and skid plate back on both sides and you'll be done.

Oh, I ALMOST FORGOT... Once you lift the truck up body up on the jack, your door might not be able to shut all the way. Don't worry, because Uncle Ryan told you not to worry, it'll all go back together once you put the jack back down. I promise. Remember... "Uncle Ryan said not to worry about this part, so I'm not going to worry..." Right?!?



I've attached a few more pictures for you:





(Two Way Jack Cab Method)




If you guys have any questions, or need anything clarified, just let me know and I'll post a follow up.

By the way... No. I haven't been able to drive it BECAUSE... Northern Tool hasn't delivered the damn jacks yet!!!!

 

I'm late man, but I got everything posted. Sick kid with strep throat got me!

 

Dude- this thing was on 20's when I got it... See pic... I was telling one of the other guys it was a total "mall crawler." As I was told... A professor at Rice University (here in Downtown Houston) owned it, and the guy that I bought it from got it for his 16 year old kid.

When I "test drove" it the guy looks at me and goes "I've never put this thing into 4 wheel drive."

 

Awesome write up!! Save the link to it for my summer maintenance

 

Dude- no worries. I'll keep it up as long as I can. I'm thinking about even making a pdf of it so it won't take up so much space and I'll just link it to the original post.

I'm here if you have any questions. Seriously though- power wash the the whole under carriage like 2 or 3 days before you do this. This truck is not my DD, so I have as much time as I wanted, but couldn't drive it because of the CV axles.

Also, make sure all the nuts/bolts are as loose ask you can get them before you do this. If you don't, you can run the risk of bending that pinch weld where you'll be lifting up the body to change them out.

If I had to do it all over again without painting, I could probably knock this out in like an hour. It took me a LOT longer with the painting, but I just wanted to do it right.

Again, I'm here if you have any questions.

 

I rarely, rarely run longer than 2 hours in a single trip. Our home is conveniently located at the mid-point between the lake house and the coast. Literally, right in the middle. It takes 2 hours to get to the lake house and 2 hours to get to the coast (mild traffic).

That being said, I was considering putting a type of "matting" on the back of the new carpet I'm about to put in, but decided against it. What I'm going to do instead is go with the "Loctite Spray Glue and Frost King Duct Insulation" method. I think it'll be better for sound deadening, and for those hot summer days here in TX. Rarely gets too cold for considerable heat, but it certainly gets hot.

I'm almost done ripping out the interior, but had to stop tonight because I ran out of sandwich bags to put nuts/bolts/screws in to complete my filing system. Carpet should be on it's way tomorrow, and I'll get everything finished getting ripped out, and I'll start cleaning/priming/painting the components in there.

I'm also going to steam clean all the seats, and I've come up with a system to keep the yellow lab hair and dirt off the brand new carpet. That'll be a surprise later, but I think I got it worked out.

More to follow.

 

The irony is strong.

 

I'm glad you could save it from its former life of shame!

 

Excellent write up. Very interesting . I want new cab mounts now..... One of the best parts was cleaning / painting up the frame / mount. I have seen this part rust out very often.

 

I'm here if you have any questions. If you have the tools, the bushings aren't that expensive. Send me a note if you need anything or have any questions.

 

Quick update on the truck here since I'm STILL waiting for the jack stands to get her from Northern Tool...

I got the cab pretty well stripped out, and I'll be taking out that back panel, jump seats and side panel so I can fix the window latches on both sides.

Also, just ordered new carpet from stock interiors.com and as soon as that comes in I'll be getting that installed, and then HOPEFULLY I'll have the jack stands in from NT, and we'll be on our way to getting the suspension started.

Here are some pics:





By the way... Does anyone know what part number this things is? It's the little "clip" that hold the console to the dash. Also, does anyone know what part numbers are for the little door panel clips that hold the panel to the door? I'll need some of these to get the doors back on after I replace the speakers and install Frost King. Also, does anyone have the part number for the little cup holder tabs? I'm down there, so should probably replace them...

 

I don't even have a first gen but nice write-up!