Front end advice

I bought this '04 4x4 single cab in September, and I'm slowly going through the truck and replacing what needs replacing.

I took the truck in for an alignment and the shop (Mavis, i know) told me that i needed to replace the rack, the tie rod ends, LCAs, LBJs. The number they quoted for each was ridiculous ($530 for LBJs, $680 each side for LCAs, $1200 for the rack - aftermarket too I'm sure).

My plan is to get to most of these (aside from the rack - that will have to wait) a piece at a time because this is my driver and I dont want to drop $2k on parts all at once. My problem is that all these pieces are rusted together (see pics of tie rod end castle nut). What is your advice for getting this tie rod nut off? Can i get this nut off without destroying the tie rod end? I'd like to replace the LBJs without having to do all the tie rods because these outers look like they are rusted to the inners. This truck is in NJ, hence all the rusted fasteners (frame is in great shape though).

 

With all that rust, what does your frame look like???

Do NOT replace your lower control arms; that's BS. At most, you just need bushings, and the shop is too lazy to use their press, so they try to make YOU pay for whole new arms that come with bushings pre-installed.

You can get a whole rack + TREs from lowrangeOffroad for like <$600
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/toyo...t-by-low-range-off-road-tac-sp-1gen-urpk.html

Get a new rack bushing kit while you're at it:
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/toyo...-kit-black-by-energy-suspension-8-10103g.html

There are several videos on how to replace it, too. It's pretty easy.

As for ball joints, yeah, go ahead and replace those. There's a TON of controversy on going with OEM or not. Definitely don't get parts store brand, but Moog (from rockauto) is okay (minimum I'd get), 555 (low range offroad) is very good, and yeah, OEM is probably "best", certainly the most expensive.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/toyo...coma-4x4-lower-ball-joints-made-in-japan.html

 

Oem LBJs are only $200ish, and simple enough for a diy

pretty much what @jbrandt said.

id do a hammer test on your frame, make sure it isnt toast

 

If it were me I'd replace those things myself, most of those are pretty simple DIY jobs. Those outer tie rods are toast and Im sure the LBJs are too if they're original. I would replace both the inner and out tie rods since you're going in that deep anyway. I did my tie rods (inner and outer) over summer and it wasn't bad at all, but then again I don't live where there's rust.

Because of all that rust I would probably just buy new lower control arms too. They aren't terribly expensive and come with new bushings so you can just install them and not have to worry about re-using rusty original parts. It sounds like that shop is uncharging you a lot on what are most likely lower end aftermarket parts, even if you don't do it yourself I would bring the parts you buy to a shop of your choice that isn't a chain alignment shop.

 

Frame is like an A- which is why I pulled the trigger on this truck in the end. In my area, just about 9 out of 10 first gens have rusted out frames, really badly rusted out frames. My truck has some surface rust on some of the welded seams, as you can see in the pic, but thats it. However, I didn't factor in that just about every exposed fastener is rusted out but oh well.

I came to the same conclusion as you did @jbrandt on the control arms. they could be wire wheeled and painted but from what i can see, they are still quite sound. I also tend to agree with you on the LBJ dilemma (I've read all your posts on the issue). The way i drive my truck, the 555s i think will do just fine. certainly better than driving around on 15 year old shot ones thats for sure.

My problem is that to do the bushings on the LCAs, i would have to replace the LBJs, tie rod ends, front shocks (they're shot) all at the same time since the nuts on each are all rusted out. That's gonna take me forever.

so anyone have advice on this tie rod nut? can i get it off without having to replace the tie rods at this point?

 

I want to say no because that rust makes it look like it's welded on there...but I've never really dealt with rust so maybe it just looks worse than it is?

Doing both the outers and the inners anyway is generally recommended when doing tie rods, once you're in that far it's only a few more steps to replace the inners as well.

 

Nothing to add here; everyone above is right on point with sound advice.

As for the rusted ass bolts, just cut them sum'bitches off.

Don't try to salvage any of that junk.

 

I actually wasn't even considering rust when I talked about the LCAs, it's just a common thing for shops to be lazy, even if the LCAs are in perfect shape and you just need bushings. Definitely determine if it's just surface rust on the LCA's.

Unfortunately, I doubt you're going to be able to replace one thing at a time here. It's so rusted, that it's going to be easier and faster to just cut it all off. Hopefully the LBJ bolts that hold it to the spindle aren't rusted shut... Make sure you keep track of the bolt lengths that go into the spindle.

Before you start, take some measurements of the distance from the tie rod to the steering rack, etc... so that when you reassemble, you can at least get it close, but you'll still need an alignment when you're all done.

Just get all your parts together, LBJs, UBJs, tie rods, bushings, steering rack (?) etc.... If you go for something like the Engery Suspension bushings, that's a total DIY replacement (no press needed). You burn out the old rubber and slide in the poly bushings to the OEM sleeve. Rent yourself a balljoint press (the one that looks like a C clamp) for the upper BJs (they're usually free rentals from most auto parts stores), it will make like SO MUCH EASIER.

Another problem you may encounter is rusted/seized LCA cam bolts. That's fairly common, especially when there's rust like that. Soak those things in PB blaster or liquid wrench for a couple days before you start. In fact, dunk your whole truck in that stuff, lol...

When I did my UCAs, bushings, coilovers, balljoints and tie rod ends, that was an easy day's worth of work, and that was with my kids "helping". Granted, none of my stuff was as badly rusted... Although rust can make things FASTER to disassemble because you don't even bother trying to loosen bolts, just go straight to the

If you wanted to skips a few things, the steering rack and inner tie rods can probably wait. The inners are more than likely less rusty than the outers (they're covered), and if your rack is leaking, you can just top it off to keep fluid in it for a couple more weeks.

 

One more thing, I'd recommend just tossing a couple coats of paint on the LBJs and outter TREs befor you install them.

Mine have a very thin coat of corrosion on them. It's technically rust, but I hesitate to call it that, it's more just discoloration. Throw some bright pink paint on them and they'll stay looking awesome for many years.

 

Thanks @jbrandt, good advice, but i think I'll skip the pink paint lol.

While we're at it, if i swap out my front shocks, how bad would it be not to get an alignment? Those LCA cam bolts you mentioned above are most definitely seized so no alignments until i get to that...

 

Just doing shocks you don't need an alignment, unless they are lift shocks.

Ideally, you'd get an alignment after the tie rod ends, but if you're going to be replacing the cam bolts and bushings relatively soon, I think you'd be fine without an alignment, as long as you don't wait too long to replace the bushings/cam bolts, and take careful measurements before you replace the TREs.

 

@cast718, I'm in the process of doing much of the same items your replacing. I just did my inner and outer tie rods, and went with 555 brand, from either Rock Auto or Parts Geek. As for the steering rack, here's a link to the cheapest Toyota Dealer part and price I could find.

https://toyotaparts.bochtoyotasouth...bly-4425035042?c=bD0xJm49U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHM=

As for the shocks, if your not looking to lift, you could buy a set of bilstein 4600 shocks, which are for stock ride height.

Lower ball joints, I went with Toyota parts, after reading just about every post about them here on TW. whichever route you take, good luck you have some work ahead of you.

 

Thanks - what route did you go with the inners as far as wrenches? i watched the Timmy the Toolman video on these a few times and the options seem limited for that narrow wrench. I did see the HF inner tie rod kit but I'm not sure if the adapters it comes with will work on the Tacoma.

 

@cast718, I had to use a pipe wrench to remove the outer from the inner tie rod. Pipe wrench to hold the inner, open end on the flat for the outer. The 555 brand tie rods I used, have bigger flats for the wrenches. I still used a pipe wrench on the drivers side to tighten it down(Gudentight). when I was doing the passenger side, my neighbor came over and provided me with a big adjustable wrench that fit the flats on the 555. It's a slight pain in the Ass, but once your done, your good to go. Good luck

 

did you smother all of that front end yet with some FF or other product, i think it may help to loosen some of the bolts,etc. after a good soaking and penetrating

was it a replacement under warranty frame?

 

First of all, have you verified that the tie rod ends are bad? For that matter, how about ball joints and control arm bushings. Don't just assume it due to age. What's wrong with the rack? Leaking? Be sure you answer these questions before spending all that dough.

As to removing the outer tie rod nut, there are several ways to do it. However, be sure the other threads will turn allowing you to remove it once the nut is off and it's out of the steering arm.

The easiest and most obvious is to try soaking it in Bead Blaster or your favorite rust penetrant for 2-3 days. If that doesn't work, cut/split the nut. This is done easily with an air chisel and considering how rusted it looks shouldn't be too hard with hammer and chisel. If that goes sideways, take a torch or a sawzall and cut the stud flush with the top of the steering arm and drive the TRE out.

 

This (bolded) is pretty bad advice, IMO.

You have the luxury of having a redesigned balljoint in your 2016. 1st gens need to be MUCH more proactive with replacing balljoints.

 

no it wasnt replaced under warranty, but based on the carfax that i got when i bought the truck, the PO had the underbody coating 2x in the 15 years he owned the truck.

 

the shop i took it to for alignment told me so.

just kidding, well kinda. this truck is 15 years old living its whole life in New Jersey, and I did not buy the truck from the PO. So i have to assume that just about everything on the truck is original. The rear shocks were completely shot, no telling how long they were like that on the truck.

Basically, my thought process here:
I need to replace the LBJs. But they're rusted to the tie rod end. Need to replace the tie rod end to get to the LBJ, but its rusted to the inner TRE. So i need to replace the Inner TRE too. There is a small amount of residue on the boot of the rack on one side, leading me to believe that theres some kind of leak in the seal in the rack. I can live with that for now because the steering still works fine. After all this, i'll need an alignment, but my caster/cam nuts/bolts are seized on the LCA. So need to do that too. Basically I just need about 4 days uninterrupted to get all this done. assuming no setbacks.

 

If it is bad advice I apologize. It comes from my 40+ years of being in the suspension business.