2nd Gen Full Front End Rebuild (Suspension) Advice Wanted!

Hello all,

Part 1: Current State of Vehicle​

I have committed to rebuilding the entire front end of my 2009 Tacoma 4x4 regular cab 4 cyl by myself, with common household tools. The truck has 160,xxx miles and is currently resting on a Bilstein 2" spring lift, and a 2" lift provided by an extra spring in the rear. Currently there is a significant "thud" when traveling over speed bumps at any speed faster than a crawl, and a great deal of wander when at higher speeds when I hit bumps in the road. The suspension feels VERY stiff and unyielding. The truck went from being my daily driver, to a piece of metal I kept insured for no reason on the side of my house for 3 years. I recently sold my newer cars, and it is time to bring this baby back from the dead! Generally the truck is in drivable condition, although not the most comfortable due to its suspension issues, and a few other creature comforts that have failed, such as the speakers, power steering, climate control knobs, etc. I have set out to identify and purchase all of the parts I feel need to be replaced not only to fix the truck, but also give me a great deal of confidence in it. I have purchased a great deal of parts already (see bellow) as well as a few tools in preparation. I have also been spraying the various related nuts and bolts under the front end every 5 days or so with PB blaster to make sure they are good and soaked for the last 3 weeks to prepare for the upcoming repairs.

Part 2: Diagnosis

TRUCKS FUCT


Part 3: Diagnosis Redux
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The front end needs a major overhaul in most of the suspension components and a few others. Current fixes to pursue are as follows:



1. Existing suspension is far too stiff and bushings are deformed. - Needs new suspension.

2. Rack and pinion has failed. Power steering system will not hold fluid. - Replace rack.

3. Upper and lower control arm bushings, ball joins, etc. are questionable at best - Replace or rebuild.

4. Clutch is slipping. - Needs replacement

5. CV axle boot on passenger side is torn/gone. - Needs new CV axle / CV Reboot.

6. Sway bar bushings are deformed. - Replace bushings/Remove sway bar completely.

7. I am bored. - Needing something to take apart and rebuild.

Part 4: Good Medicine​

After much research on this very site, and watching countless hours of related videos I have selected my path of action, and purchased relevant services/parts to complete the rebuild. They are as follows:




(Yes, we are having fun with this rebuild.)

1. I have decided to get a suspension system that not only can take a severe level of abuse, AND be rebuilt and serviced, but also comes with a little bit of... how do the French say? "FUCK YEAH". Between Fox and King, I have always preferred the later, and their HQ is a 45 minute drive for me when I need these things serviced. The spring rate on these King units are a bit stiff for the 4 cyl regular cab I have, so I may have to purchase another set of softer springs.

2. For the upper control arms I am using Total Chaos stock length uppers with poly bushings and uniballs. These are necessary for the King suspension, and I purchased the suspension and the uppers direct from Total Chaos. Total Chaos is also about 45 minutes from me.

3. For the lower control arms I have taken 2 routs simultaneously. The first rout is, I purchased new Duralast LCAs from AutoZone, and will use them only if the second rout does not work. The second rout is that I intend to take off my OEM LCAs and rebuild them with Duralast's highest quality Zerk fitted ball joints (lifetime warranty), and WhiteLine's Tacoma specific bushings. I searched countless threads to figure out the best OEM style LCAs on our Tacoma's, and in my opinion, rebuilding your LCA's with WhiteLine's bushings is the best bang for your buck option. This is a good middle ground which will require far more work out of me, but will produce a result that should hold up better than non OEM replacements and outperform the OEM LCAs and their bushings without spending $2k on Total Chaose's options. I also searched for OEM LCA's and my contacts with Toyota have all stated that OEM lower control arms cannot be purchased new any longer.

4. I purchased a new Duralast CV axle from AutoZone, and I will install it. My OEM axle will be rebuilt, and likely stored behind the seat of the truck as an extra trail replacement piece in an emergency.

5. Similar to the LCA issue is the concept of replacing the rack and pinion. An OEM rack costs north of $1000. (yes, I called multiple Toyota dealerships and some mechanics I know and they all quoted the same) The next best option was to yet again, snag a Duralast option from AutoZone. I went for a NEW unit, not a remanufactured option. This came out to about $650, and has a lifetime warranty (OEM does not). The installation of this item should be the most difficult part of everything. In the name of overhauling the front end of the truck, I am also replacing the outer connecting rods with new, Duralast, zerk fitted units, that also have lifetime warranties.

6. The sway bar can also go one of two routes. I will either remove it completely, or if feel I prefer it after test driving, I have purchased, you guessed it, Duralast, zerk fitted sway bar linkages, as well as similar quality Duralast rubber bracket bushings. If I don't use the sway bar I will simply return these items to AutoZone

7. The clutch I actually just decided to have replaced for me. A local, and trusted shop right down the road is partially run by a 20 year veteran Toyota mechanic who can recite off the top of his head every bolt size and torque spec you can throw at him. When it comes to drivetrain issues I trust him with my money, more than I trust myself. He also found the water pump was failing and leaking while under my vehicle so he took care of that for me too.

8. My wife's left hook is getting really good, so I have been taking jujitsu classes to help me counter her blows every time she looks at our bank statements. For some silly reason she rationalizes that spending $10,000 to rebuild half of a $10,000 truck is a bad idea... Women... Am I right fellas? They just don't get it.

Part 5: Your Advice
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I love this website. I love this community. I love that we can all come together in our mutual love of our vehicles, and help each other. While I do not feel I have much room to discuss any further WHICH rout I am tacking, I would love to have input on HOW to travel that rout. I am an intermediate level mechanic, and I do love me some wrenching, so this will be a labor of love for me. If any of you reading this have any wisdom for me, PLEASE feel free to backseat drive my build. I am going to start this build on Friday 11/11, so there is a weeks time before I even begin, and I want to give time for people to throw their $0.02 at me. I anticipate I can have this job done in 2 days, but will likely take my sweet time and give it 4.

Part 6: Give Back
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I have before and will continue to pull invaluable information off of this website, direct from all of you that have made it such a powerful resource. It is my intention to continue this post with updates and photos that might help others in the future with their projects. I am going to do all of this with hand tools (no hydraulic presses) if I can, and hopefully be able to help any one else in the future with a similar project in front of them. I have wanted to do this since before I even purchased this truck, (I have had many Tacoma's) and one of the main reasons I never did was because of fear, and a lack of educational resource. Hopefully, this will serve to help others the way I would want to be helped.