Bent drivers side spindle

A little bit about my rig:
I kinda fell into this pickup and got one helluva deal. I bought it in mid July with 229,500 mi and have put 2,000 miles on it. It has king shocks, Deaver leaf springs, and bumpers made out of 1/4 in steel. It is a 6 speed manual. Double cab short bed.

The other night I went to one of my classmates house for a party and he wanted me to park in front of this girls car and I had to drive up on a bit of an embankment to do so. As I was driving I hit a boulder at about 5-6 mph. It was a sudden stop so I thought it was my bumper, it was but somehow my drivers side tire also got hit and now my knuckle is bent. I can’t afford to buy a new oem one at the moment and I don’t want to buy a cheap thinner one. What years of Tacoma or other Toyota rigs use a knuckle compatible with mine?

 

05-current Tacoma only

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I was thinking of getting one from a junkyard so it would be more affordable, is there anything I should look out for when selecting one?

 

All years 2005-2023 should fit. If

$90 2005-2015 Toyota Tacoma With 4L Right Petrol intake air snorkel kit high performance system compatible kit Replacement black Rotational Molding (2005-2015)

2005-2015, make sure the truck is 4x4 or PreRunner.

Are you sure the spindle is bent (as opposed to the lower control arm cam bolts having shifted)? What's the tire-to-spindle distance on the passenger side?

 

Good luck finding any pick and pull junkyards especially Tacomas in them. I check them off a new set, not much way to check one by itself. But you can pull yours and to at least confirm the one you get isn’t bent like yours.

 

great point here. When checking online make sure they don’t confuse you with a 5-lug. Has to be 6-lug, 05-present.

 

A trick I learned in High School is to steal one.

 

I couldn’t find a tape measure so I put some markings on a pen. I hope that is good enough to show distance. I took it to have it aligned and the tech said I needed a ton of new parts. I have the alignment sheet if that would help.

 

What’s the measurements for the other side and how do you know it wasn’t bent already? With those aftermarket parts I would say the chances it’s been off-roading fairly hard are good to excellent. I might take it to an alignment shop just to have things checked out.

 

Here is what the alignment shop said

 

^OK, yeah that's confirmed, shorter distance to the driver side spindle.

 

Find a frame shop. Have them heat it and bend it back. It's not cast, it's forged, it can be bent back. I've done it several times.

I'm not sold that the spindle is bad.

Toyota designed the lower control arm to fail before the spindle bends. I would suggest finding a frame shop to do a quality assessment.

 

I just had my great uncle who works at my local wreck repair shop and he said the lower control arm looks fine (it only has 1000 miles on it) but that id better off replacing my spindle myself.

 

surprised you cant find some stock spindles on here or craigslist. maybe post in the WTB section. im sure someone who lifted theirs has them laying around in the garage

 

If I can’t find anything at the junkyard tomorrow I’m going to look on Craigslist. Also anyone have any input on whether it’s ok to drive for a short time?

 

this 100%

your alignment tech didn’t even change anything

IMHO
It’s would be rare to bend a knuckle
It would not be rare to have a heavily modified truck suspension be out of alignment
Have you jacked it up and shook down the front end?

 

Not true for 2nd/3rd gens. Relatively common to see bent spindles once you go to 35"+ tires or hit a rock the wrong way. That's why there are 4-5 vendors selling spindle gusset kits.

You can go with an aftermarket spindle if you can't find good OEM used ones. For example: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=11378305&cc=1431544&pt=7496&jsn=5

You'll need a replacement inner seal (for the side that interfaces with the CV axle): https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2472774&cc=1431544&pt=1860&jsn=1418

Depending on how rusted the truck is, there could be other complications, like a ABS sensor that refuses to come out of the spindle...

 

Alright, I’ll make sure to get it jacked up tonight when I get back from hunting. I’ll post the results then.

 

no

 

I’ve bent gusseted spindles, they’re super easy to bend. After they’re bent, they’re not repairable, only replace.