2000 Tacoma TRD SR5 Build

This is how my truck looked when I got her

 

The paint was pealing off... All and all it was a truck that my dad's friend had to pull a boat with

 

That's how my truck looked until I started to save my money and my current mods that are on my truck are:
1. A new bug shield (because those always looked so dated)-$50
2. Front end repainted-$500
3. removed front mud flaps-Free
4. Painted my rims (the rims started to pit and I did not have 800 for the rims I wanted)-$24
5. Coverking Tactical Seatcovers - $225
6. Sony MEX-N4100BT -$150
7. Two Alpine Type X 12's with ported box-$800
8. PDX-M12 Alpine 1200 RMS Amp-$900
9. Custom TRD decal-$30
10. Deckplate mod-$9
11. K&N drop in air filter-$40
12. ARB Bull bar w/ winch $900
13. Repainted Grill and Fender Flairs-$10
(btw trying to give you an estimate of the costs)

 

nice, clean truck

 

Thanks man

 

The reason that I'm building this truck is so that I can go wherever and in comfort, therefore, these mods will be done in the future
1. Truck shell with sliding windows and carpet interior
2. Toyo open country's 285 tires
3. Led lights on bumper
4. Cb radio and antenna
5. HAM radio
6. Rock sliders
7. A rear hybrid bumper with swing out and Jerry can holder
8. Warn 8000lbs winch
9. Roof rack with LEDs
10. And a 3.5 inch lift with new Bilstein 5100 shocks and springs with a rear AAL kit in the rear
Also, I'm open for any new ideas so just tell me. I'll continue to add pictures and tell about how things are going

 

Keep up the good work home slice!!!!!

 

So, was going to school this morning and my lower driver side ball joint went out. Slid about 30 ft hoping there is no severe damages. Does anyone know of a heavy duty ball joint I can use instead of the OEM ball joints

 

I replaced mine with Moog BJ's at the same time I did the Inner and Outer Tie Rods. Installed pretty easily and are working great so far. I just got them off of Amazon.com

 

go with OEM trust me, moog are sub par, most people on here would recommend OEM. were yours replaced under the recall? The ball joints on these trucks are higher maintenance than most because of the (imo very poor) design, glad you are ok and didnt total it however couldve been much much worse

 

As stated above, the OEM ball joint is the heaviest duty one. Couple areas on these trucks where you don't want to 'save' money with aftermarket parts, this is one of them.

 

oh god, this is my biggest fear and I keep reading about it happening on here. Did you by chance get the recall done? I heard there was one for the LBJs on 1st gens way back when

 

I think the recall was from 01-03 (don't quote me on that though) so you should be good, I checked my vin and didnt have it, so either I didnt have a defective lbj or my dad had it done cuz I think it was also specific plants that had them recalled too, he doesn't know if he had em done or not though.

Also I believe the reason moog aren't as good is simply because the boots are really bad and tear quick

 

Cool thanks for the reassurance lol...I wheel my truck pretty hard and haven't had any issues, figured I probably would have by now if it was going to happen *knock on wood*. I did have the techs check my suspension last time I was in for service and they said everything checked out so fingers crossed...

 

If you start hearing a sort of clunking or popping in the front end when going over speed bumps/pot holes it could be a bad lbj, if you wanna check simply stick a steel pipe or something similar under the tire and pry upwards and have someone look at the lbj and if there is even a slight bit of play between the ball joint and the spindle, replace them.

also, sorry for the thread jack op

yea there would be a bit of side to side play too, if you jack it up you could also stick a screwdriver between the spindle and lower control arm and check that way, there is some new noises after a lift but Id definitely check to be sure
hopefully u noticed I quoted here lol

 

I do have a clunk in the driver's side Every time I go over a speed bump or dip in the road. Been there for almost 2 months but only after I got my 5100s/OME coils put on, so I just attributed it to the new suspension (everyone seems to say that some clunking with a lift is normal). Now I'm worried all over again, lol.

Can't you also check by lifting the front end to see if there's any side to side play in the wheel?

Also, sorry for the thread jack OP. Hopefully this helps others that are concerned about their lower ball joints though...

 

I don't know how to copy an actual post from a thread, so I'm just doing a cut n paste from Dirty Pool. Regarding the lower ball joints, this post of his should be a sticky and a mandatory reading with a quiz before membership in TW is granted, lol. This clears up all the BS floating around about the LBJs. Again, I take no credit, just sharing. Check out the two links he shares in this post. Actual analysis and data from the actual lower ball joints. I can only ever recommend using OEM Toyota branded parts for the LBJs.



NAPA premium, Rabestos pro, Moog and some other "premium grade" 1st gen LBJs are all the same re-brandedaftermarket Sankei-555 (Japan).
Sankei-555 also makes Toyota OEM to Toyota specs. The Toyota OEM looks similar to the aftermarket but they are a completely different and better technology only available from Toyota.
There are only 2 actual manufacturers of 1st gen LBJs that I know of, Sankei-555 and Chinese no name bastard joints. OEM 555 will last longer than the aftermarket 555 but neither are going to fail catastrophically without ample warning when checked correctly.

More, post #29https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lower-ball-joints-brand.341767/page-2

One more time, post # 34.https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-ball-joints.374853/page-2#post-10284167

 

I don't know if the recall was done... I do know that the top ball joints were replaced before I bought it

 

I took the wheel off and looked up some you tube videos... 6 hours later I finally got the top and lower ball joints replaced with the strongest ball joints they sale at o Reilly's... So, the top ball joint was $50 and the bottom was $75

 

Thank you man, it could have been much worse glad the taco survived