Advice for 2001 Tacoma

2001 Tacoma, 130k, according to carfax it was garaged for almost a decade without much use before I bought it. Eventually I want to rehaul everything from swing control arms to suspension, but it might not happen for a couple years since I lack garage space.

Prev owner looks to have done some work but I can’t tell how long ago that was, but he left a hell of a mess with the grease. He installed cheap suspension with 1” spacers and I see a few junkyard parts with paint pen still marked.

I look forward to doing a deeper dive once I get a garage, but for now I have 2 questions:

1. Will the grease hurt anything if I wait on cleaning it up? How might this mess have occurred? I don’t see any leaking parts so I assume someone was just trigger happy and lacked aim. This is an example, but it’s all over like this



2. LBJ seems ok for now but the nut looks pretty bad. Anything I can do to preserve until I get around to replacing? Please don’t suggest more grease

 

Swingarms? What are those?

You can easily replace a lot of stuff on a Tacoma without a garage.

As for grease, it won't hurt other components but you run the risk of ruining your OEM cv axles in the long run.

Just replace the LBJs and reboot your cv axles.

 

Oops meant control arms

I lack a driveway too. I’d be limited to doing it in a parking lot or side of the road.

Thanks for input on grease, that case I’ll try to clean up as much as I can

 

Many of us have done parking lot jobs

And what I mean is, your torn boots will leave your cv axles to be exposed and have crud and crap get in there over time as you drive.

OEM cv axles are desirable and are often rebooted as they won't fail on you; last thing you want to do is run a cheap parts store cv axle.

 

Got it. Boots look good at first glance but I’ll double check to see if that’s where the grease came from.

 

Rent a 10 x 20 storage unit for a month. $200 or so and you got yourself a short term garage.

 

Inboard CV joint is where the grease came from Nothing else in the suspension has that much grease in it. OEM ball joints and tie rod ends don't have zerks for regreasing, so previous owner couldn't have been "trigger happy". The CV joint boot probably cracked from age.



Re-doing the inboard CV boot is best done on a bench with a vise. Make sure you have that handy if attempting in a parking lot



Alternatively you can buy a Napa CV axle and swap it in. Re-boot this OEM one as a spare (for when the driver side axle goes).

 

change ur balljoints

 

Thanks.

Some of the grease is in spots where CV lacks line of sight, so it didn’t seem like torn boot could have caused it. This initially led me to think someone was trigger happy.


But I’ll clean it up for a better look.

Here’s a diff angle closeup

 

We're telling you what it is; torn cv axle boot.

 

It is always nice to let us know where you live you might meet a great bunch of new friends.

If you were close to me I am always willing to help.

That is one of the worse CV axle leaks I ever saw. I will admit at first look it does look like target practice with a air powered grease gun.

 

Torn cv axle boots and leaking cv axle seals is a right of passage here

 

I would have never guessed !! Here I thought road dirt and grease made good valve lapping compound .

All the more reason to go solid front axle.

 

Appreciate that. Long story. I’m in Richmond VA but temporary. Trying to avoid roads while I’m here, just saw some salt trucks dusting the hwy last week. I’m slowly evaluating options and this was sort of a first step.

Once summer hits I’ll be more permanent and start socializing like a normal human. Might take advice of post above and rent a storage unit.

Ultimate goal is to recondition the truck for off-roading next fall, doing most of the work this spring and summer, and make some friends to explore the trails.