Truck with Neglected maintenance. Most of the work done now.

(TLDR Below)
Some info on my Taco,
I don't know to much but I've been learning quite a bit from YouTube and the forms here for the past few years.

I have a 2002 5vz-fe Tacoma PreRunner Crew Cab SR5 256,000 Miles. Daily driver.
This truck has been in the family for the past 20 years, with that I know that my dad hasn't done much maintenance on it. A lot on it is stock. On the 80K miles I've had it for I haven't done as much maintenance as I've wanted to do.

I am looking to,
take care a lot of parts of the truck that are over due to be worked on. I'm trying to maintenance in sections as a one and done for a bit, till I get more cash and time.

Two of my focuses,
is replacing a lot of Suspension and steering parts. I will be doing the LBJ's and tire rods as they are probably stock but also am looking to do upper ball joints?, Steering Knuckle & Wheel Bearing Hub (The 6 threads don't have much longer) and Related?
Also Coilovers, Shock reducers (Still learning what everything is) because the ride of the truck sucks

I'll also be working on some of the cooling system and belts-I have most of the parts for that.

Money and time,
I have $1,700 to $2,500 to drop on maintenance on the truck and I currently have a lot of free time for the next month or so.

I stick to OEM unless I want a better aftermarket part, typically not paying much more but wanting things to last and be quality, sometimes paying more for quality of life. Prefer to keep repairs simple EX: I would rather buy a starter than rebuild it.

So I have a few questions
What should I prioritize when it comes to suspension and steering? I assume some parts might not be as important to replace tho I do want to get a good amount.

In general What parts of my truck should I make sure I maintenance so that I can avoid costly repairs?

Mainly the first question as that will be project number two. Honestly I have a lot of questions and I don't even know how or what to ask.

If I'm getting Coilovers and shocks this link I think is what I should get. I don't want a lift-kit that sounds like more work, no thanks.
https://www.suspensionlifts.com/sho...with-rear-shocks-for-1995-2004-toyota-tacoma/

TLDR: What's important to replace on steering and suspension at 260K miles stock? Anyone in the Space Coast of Florida that is good at inspecting a 5vz-fe?

 

Imo I would spend $200 to have a Toyota dealership inspect it. From there you can research everything and decide what you can takle vs pay to have done. I would say just about everything up front will need to be replaced.

 

The first thing to check is front ball joints. Having one of these let loose will ruin your day.

 

Keiden,
Probably best to make sure it’s safe first before spending money on bells & whistles.
Ball joints first for sure! Then brakes. Buy some tools if you don’t have em. These trucks are easy to work on. If you’re so inclined.
Keeps us posted with a lot of pics

 

Here’s a link to a good website for truck repair and mods.

https://bajataco.com/bajataco.html

 

And you can "rent" a kit from Advance Auto (and prolly from the other car parts stores too) that contains a variety of ball joint separators, all for the low, low price of... $0.

Here's what I would do in your position, in the order of priority:

1. Forget about blowing $200 on a Toyota technician to go Easter-egging around for problems. He'll find a butt-load of 'em and call them "super critical".

2. Next, I would replace the LBJs as the number one absolute priority.

3. If the shocks have more than 40K-60K miles on them, replace all four shocks with Bilstein 4600's preferably.

4. After that, I would check the tire treads and if they are cupped, I would replace them with Michelin LTX tires. IMO those are the best all-around tires available.

If I found that they aren't cupped or otherwise worn out, I'd take a good look at the upper and lower control arm bushings and replace them if necessary.

5. Have someone get in the truck and with the wheels on the ground and the motor running, have him/her turn the steering wheel back and forth between 10 and 2 o'clock several times while you look at the steering rack bushings. You should see no movement between the rack and the frame as the wheels are turned. If you do see movement, consider replacing the rack with Toyota parts down the road.

That should pretty much take care of most of your $2,000. If you have money left over and nothing to spend it on, then you could waste it on a Toyota technician looking for "problems".

And don't forget to ask questions here, and to search around this forum for "How to.." threads. There's a ton of excellent information on just about everything to do with Tacomas.

Good Luck!

 

One priceless gem is "Timmy The Toolman" on YouTube. He has tons of in depth Toyota tutorials, mainly related to 3rd generation 4Runners. Most of the maintenance translates right into the 1st generation Tacoma.

Here is his video on lower ball joints
https://youtu.be/bfLvtEnX9qk?si=Hve1cjsNcLlNte_n

 

I checked most if not all of the steering components. God must've blessed the truck because the amount problems and how bad some of them look, and how I drive the truck, last month I drove from Indiana to central Florida... that could of sucked. THIS TRUCK IS AWSOME!

Yeah... after looking at the truck I haven't driven it. Did the brakes 2 years ago; checked them today and they look good but I think a rotor maybe warped, I'll deal with that latter. I'll try to toss in some photos, will be a big job.

 

I agree at this point with not doing an inspection; with all the tools that I'll add to what I own long term, OEM parts on what NEEDS to be OEM... I would rather spend that $200 on parts because I need it.

Thinking of doing just the front two shocks and see if I can reuse the springs, I'll have to double check. I might just not do them all as they are pretty good from the bit I've researched, tested and inspected but I really want to replace them.

This Tacoma world we got going on here has been awesome and very helpful in this whole thing, also timmy the tool man and other video's I've watched. I'm very grateful.

 

So an update,

The hub wheel bearings looks to me like a big pain in the butt to fix, and I have a bad front right wheel bearing, the bearing is not super bad but not good. I'll be looking to do both of the front wheel bearings. I'll need some Help on what all to get, I will be looking into this soon.

Continuing with the right side I have what seems to be a very bad lower ball joint, a bad boot that has holes, the inner tie rod very bad, outer tie rod very bad, bushings on right shock bad and of course the bad wheel bearings. Probably more issues so I'll be replacing about every steering or suspension component/part in the front end of the vehicle.

Left side was everything that the right had but not as bad as the right and the wheel bearings had no bad signs.

Because so many steering components were bad, my power steering has a slow leak, the age/miles of my steering Rack, paying to get an alignment and other symptoms, I've decided it would be best for me to replace the rack as well as if it does have a problem I don't want it damaging what I just put on the Taco.

I'll try to get some photos in of the current state of things.

 

I have also orderd a lot of the parts.

OEM for the rack and LBJs. The rest was a kit that hopefully is good but maybe crap that will last hopefully for a good bit, and then smaller orders.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286233907572 (the possibly crap)

 

i am absolutely curious if you know if that timing belt & water pump on your 5VZFE are original stock at 256k?

 

From what my dad said he didn't ever touch the timing belt but he probably has done the water pump.

With both of them, I haven't had any issues or symptoms of them being bad. At idle the engine RPMs high for a half a second randomly but then its fine. In winter tho (in IN) I sometimes get when I put the truck in reverse quickly the truck dies down and almost shuts off. Might have an oil leak somewhere but that could be me spilling oil. Definitely have mild power steering leak and maybe some others.

 

There is the before in a week or two ill have the after.

Looking forward to everything but the wheel bearing replacement.

I've damn near exhausted my all of my current budget on this, need to file my taxes for some more truck money.

Hopefully the truck will drive smooth as Tennessee whiskey.

 

Picture 7 - Prolly indicates that you should replace the outer tie rod. Also indicates that dirt may have contaminated and damaged the inner tie rod. I would check them for play.

 

It has a lot of play like ALOT. After inspecting the front wheels steering and suspension parts I'm going to be replacing or rebuilding every part other than the sway bar->it will get new bushings.

 

Yeah and the body too. Hang in there.

 

Not my body yet but my brain... still trying to understand everything wheel hubs have honestly been the most complicated by far. Plan one getting it all done in a day or week from now.

 

Good for you
Getting dirty wrenching….getting up close and personal to your taco!!

IMO
Besides ball joints

that steering rack/inner and outer tie rod look pretty shot
Lemme guess your dad replaced tires more than once???

im firm believer in Remanufactured racks

now its a shop/vendor you’re looking for….not a online click thing

typically these vendors RM both steering racks and CV axles
ADCO is a national brand but lil expensive
Look around, you will find one

now the good part
If you take your rack to one of these RM vendors…..typically $250/$300 1day turnaround
They replace all inner rack seals/boots/inner tie rods
You would only buy otr ties

Now that’s me(2RM racks installed, one car sold one still running no leaks……shit that was 9yrs ago)
GL