Broken lower Front strut mount

2006 Tacoma, Pre Runner, 2.7 Broken eyelet, or lower strut mount on passenger side. Normal driving, no off road stuff. Original equipment, truck stays in Cincinnati area, 242,000 miles. I’ve read this has happened to a few other owners, being a fault, but not a common one.

Was wondering how to prevent it from happening again. I’m not sure the lower mount bracket allows it to flex properly when the bolt is tightened down to spec

 

It may have failed due to rust

 

Just looks like it was time. Hopefully had a helluva life!

 

Yeah, I’d say remediate by slightly reduced replacement intervals.

 

There may be nothing you could due. It may be just a poor-quality joint from the factory that just couldn't take it anymore.

 

You probably have already but if not a good time to check out your lower BJ and tie rods. If the shocks are original probably most parts will be.

 

At 242k miles, it was well beyond its service life.

 

You have it out push it and see what kind of resistance you get if it ain't much there is your answer

 

Looks like just fatigue from age but also those rubber bushing joints should be tightened with the suspension loaded so the rubber bushings are in a relaxed state with the suspension loaded to minimize stress on the rubber bushing, same thing goes for upper and lower control arm bushings.

I see this mistake made alot even in shops, tightening them with the suspension unloaded and then loading the suspension causes the bushing to be in a stressed state when the suspension is loaded which can cause it to fail prematurely.

 

This is a troll post right?

Shocks get replaced around 50k miles; by going passed that it's free game.

Did you expect more longevity?

 

I replaced mine when needed, so yup, usually around 50k things start feeling a little *bouncy*! Lol!! Pretty sure OP uses his as a daily driver, but you never know.

 

Could go a little longer, but at times could be sooner even (depending if you drove on a lot of rough roads).

Many people argue the fact though for 2 main reasons -

1. The shock isn't physically broken

2. They can't feel the difference from now versus 5-10 years ago

Reason number 1 is a dumb one really cause shocks aren't supposed to be to warrant replacement. They fail at damping as well as they used to.

Reason number 2 makes a little more sense but that's because the change from good->ok->bad isn't felt right away. Especially driving said vehicle everyday, it'll take replacing the worn shocks with new ones to remember what it's suppose to feel like.

See it often in the 1st Gen section "got me a new truck, should I replace my shocks?" and the damn thing has 300k miles.

 

Reason number 2 makes sense because you just plain get used to it as time goes by. Reason number 1, yeah, couldn’t agree with you more. Got into an argument over that one before with a good friend of mine. We’re still friends, but damn!

 

50k? You're joking, right?

 

Not joking.

Shocks are cheap, and considered as maintenance.