Front suspension rebuild

Looking for some advice, dropped a ball joint otw home from work the other day. Front end needs some attention. Looking to possibly redo everything. Upper Lower ball joints outer inner tie rods sway bar links shocks, possibly control arms. I have bilstein rear shocks and I love them. Looking for a kit ideally. Seen moog kit for $400, should I go ahead and get uniball control arms? Any advice helps, thanks.

 

Ouch...

 

I’d say go uniball if it’s in the budget.

 

I have uniballs and I love them, but I've heard if you live in a place where they have to salt the roads, the uniballs can wear out faster than regular ball joints.

 

If you are balling on a budget, then I'd say find stock parts.

How man miles did you have on thise LBJs?

 

Thanks guys. I’ve had the truck since 150K in 2012. Now I have 228k, only replaced cv axles. I do live in Maine right now so salt is definitely an issue. I want to make it right but would hate to put the money into it for the salt to destroy. Control arms still look okay but the bushings probably need replaced. Anyone used 1Aauto? They have a full front end kit for $135. Lifetime warranty. On the fence to rePlace the control arms or not and with what.

 

https://bilsteinlifts.com/shop/toyo...x-5wCBTvPvcYRliQnwobx1_khoQJ-ztBoCsdMQAvD_BwE

Check these spc light racing ucas out. They have stock style ball joints (non-uniball) a lot of guys on this forum like these things.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/uca-on-a-budget.493288/

 

I would go with whitelines LCA bushings. Get the set for a 3rd gen 4runner, same thing.

If you where not having issues getting alignments, I would stick with stock UCA and lower. Buy Toyota LBJ and know that they need to be changed every 150k or so.

UBJ don't seem to wear out. I'd go Toyota there too.

I'd also be concerned about the steering rack since it seems to be all that's holding the spindes currently...

 

Uniball UCAs aren't really necessary, and this is coming from someone who has total chaos UCAs. They're great if you beat on your truck a lot, or have extended travel coilovers, etc... but they are also rather expensive. If it's been lifted and you're having problems getting it aligned, then you probably need aftermarket UCAs, but they DON'T need to be the uniball style.

MOOG BJs are okay (I had some for many years), 555's are better (currently on my truck), and OEM are (arguably) the "best", however I'm not sold on the increase in cost over something like the 555's. If spending the extra on the OEM gives you piece of mind, go for it. Just don't cheap out and buy store brand crap from Auto Zone.

Likely you don't need lower control arms, but bushings might need to be replaced just due to age. There are a lot of threads on the Energy Suspension poly ones or the Whitelines. I like the ES ones since you don't need a press to get them out (you burn the old rubber out, lol), but a lot of people swear by the whitelines too.

I also just go ahead and replace your inner and outer tie rods, and inspect your steering rack carefully. If your steering rack leaks, just get a new one. Lowrange off road sells a "kit that comes with the tierods for like $575 or something.

 

Hey I just redid my whole front end a month and a half ago! I had a C/V boot bust around Christmas and everything was all rusted and corroded, so I opted to replace everything so I could cut/break off what I needed to. I'm a college kid and on a budget so I went with the cheap parts from rock auto or whatever, they're pretty much stock and I'm cool with it, even though a lot of people would disagree with me, I can replace them when I'm out of college.
I replaced:
LBJ
UBJ
Upper/Lower Control Arms
Tie Rod Ends
Shocks and Coil (Used this as an excuse to upgrade to OME 881s and Nitrochargers)
Sway Bar Ball Joints
Bump Stops
Camber Bolts
Brake Pads
C/Vs

I went with Moog for the control arms and the sway bars, the rest was all technically generic but had Moog bags, so I'm confident in their durability. I had to cut one sides camber bolts, so that's why those were replaced, I also forgot about the bump stops on the lower control arms, so that was a bit of a scramble to go get those at the last minute. I could not find a kit that had everything I needed in it, so I just bought bits and pieces here and there over 4-5 months. I also upgraded my front suspension to a higher and better setup, which feels amazing, especially after doing the back this weekend.

 

Ok I’m pretty deep In this project. Couple things I’ve run into. I can’t remove my spring/coil over assembly. The 3 bolts turn when I loosen the nuts. Video and manual says you don’t need the spring compressor until after it’s removed in order to separate. However, I do have a toytec leveling kit so I’m wondering if I need to compress first to get a wrench on the head of the bolt. Also, I’m into my Intre’s and I heard something about inspecting my rack. What exactly am I looking for? I did notice a slight bit of oil under the ITR. Keep in mind this is my daily driver for the most part so I’m trying to get this done but also get it done right.

 

If those 3 bolts on top of your coilover turn as you try to loosen them, it's time to cut them off, and you'll likely want to either revert to stock height or get another leveling kit. I personally dislike spacer lifts like that

Get yourself a pitman arm puller from the auto part store or harbor freight, for like $10-$15, and that will pop off your outer tie rod from what's left of the ball joint. Same tool will work for pulling the other piece of the balljoint off the lower control arm. Just leave the castle nut threaded on (but loose) when you crank on the tool.

For the upper balljoint, just go rent the proper ball joint press tool - the one that looks kinda like a C clamp.

Generally, as long as the steering rack isn't leaking oil, it's probably fine.

 

Same thing happened to me. In addition to all the parts mentioned so far, I also replaced the wheel bearings & seals. My spindle was cracked too. I've got Total Chaos uppers with uniball which survived fine, well sort of. The through bolt got bent. It looks like your upper ball joint may have sacrificed itself to save the spindle. Check that it's not bent. Saving the spindle is a reason to stick with stock style upper ball joints in my opinion. A good used spindle was hard to find and the bearing pressing added complexity and time. Here's my list:

Uniball through bolt & a couple bushings (Thanks TC!).
One new spindle from Toyota.
Two new Toyota LBJs & bolts
Two wheel bearings & seals.
Both sides LCA bushings (Whiteline)
New steering rack with outer tie rods.
New sway links.
Tundra brakes & some new brake lines.
New coilovers.
New CVs.
One new camber bolt set (got lucky mine came loose but one was bent).
Plastics Guy front bump stop and diff bushings.
New bolts for a lot of that stuff.
I already had pretty new inner CV seals.

It also looks like your LBJ popped out of the socket? Mine sheared apart with the ball still in place.

 

I’m about to undertake the same project and attempt to rebuild as much as possible. Any suggestions or updates before I go down those road? Any other components you wish you replaced at the same time?

 

UCAs
I would recommend to do a thorough inspection of the front end and only replace what you need to replace, especially if what you have on there is still OEM. I personally prefer sealed ball joint UCAs like the Light Racing SPC, or the JBA. I honestly would have went with the JBA if they weren't an eye popping red, but i went with SPC and have no complaints. I do feel like the SPC have more adjustability than is necessary (for my driving habits), but could be a very useful feature if you do more aggressive driving.

LBJs
@turnerk1 made a solid list, more than most people need to replace but definitely a good list to use for an inspection and then cross off what you don't need. I went with MOOG LBJs for budgets sake and they came with new hardware. You'll need a good sized pintle fork to remove the LBJ from the control arm. I cannot stress this enough, REPLACE THE FOUR BOLTS on each side.

LCA bushings
replaced my LCA bushing with whitelines. Tedious process but well worth it for peace of mind. If you do the LCA bushings, you'll need a bottle jack and a hammper to press them out. I sprayed mine with some PB blaster, applied pressure with the bottle jack, and then gave one moderate swing of the hammer to the control arm eyelet and they popped right out. You'll also need a 6" vice OR a ball joint press to press in the new bushing. A 1 5/8" socket worked prefectly for the inside of the control arm when pressing in the bushing.

 

http://bajataco.com/tech/control_arms_01.html

 

I've been doing a lot of research on my front end/ suspension rebuild. I'm going with OME all around and Icon UCA. I'm still unsure about the LCA for 1st gens. I'm debating to replace the lower ball joint or the LCA all together. However, I did find this front end kit and wanted to get some feedback. Not sure about the quality or longevity of these products. Thoughts?

https://www.1aauto.com/1995-00-toyo...YQDWhw6UBdu0eK9uyNtaTKvBr5w22mTwaAjQOEALw_wcB

 

There's been a lot written here about lower ball joints. You have to decide for yourself based on how you use your truck. I chose Toyota OEM because of the seriousness of a ball joint failure, especially if you're far from home. It's not a matter of carrying a spare ball joint either. A failure causes lots of collateral damage, if not a very bad accident. Plus, my ball joint sheared straight across the shaft - tension induced fatigue. It didn't separate at the ball so no warning due to any play. My plan is to preventive maintenance replace these frequently. I don't daily my truck so all it gets are rough roads. 10,000 miles will be some pretty hard use.

Other parts aren't as critical. As listed above, I went with the Whiteline bushings and reused my LCAs. Doing them a second time it would be much easier to get the old bushings out. I used the heat and jack method. Melted rubber makes a terrible mess. If you prefer to get an aftermarket LCA with preinstalled bushings, I think that's fine.

I have the Total Chaos Uniball uppers so don't know so much about upper ball joints except that they aren't under tension like the lowers. The adjustability of the SPCs can be an advantage if you're lifting.

Also, I ended up with 550 lb/in King coil springs and am VERY happy with them. They fit on the Fox 2.5 strut bodies with some difficulty using the spring compressors. There isn't much gap between the strut body and the spring. The original Fox springs were 600 lb/in and felt stiff for my lightish Xtracab. Now I can feel the suspension move.

 

Go with OEM ball joints, don't skimp on those parts.