What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Much easier job when it was still a 4 banger

 

I need to do this still. The groan is fucking annoying.

 

Yup same here. My left side was leaking, had axle bearings & seals replaced on both sides months ago. Checked the diff breather at the time too & it seemed to be good.

A couple of months ago I had the rear end regeared & replaced the related bearings while they were in there, no leaking from the axles.

2 weeks ago the right side started leaking after I came back from Pismo. Again I checked the breather & it still seemed to be good, I could blow through it & it didn't seem damaged. Rear end shop replaced the seals again on the right side & checked everything, said there was nothing out of the ordinary but it still leaked.

Replaced the breather & the leaking stopped immediately. So it could have been a bad breather all along but I figure it was time the rear end got fully rebuilt anyway.

 

Yup good deal. I ended up paying 330-340 around there from camelback.

 

So I think I need to replace the lower bearings on these Kings...I can tell the creaking is coming from there but lubricant isn't doing much to keep them quiet.

Is this a DIY job or something I need a shock rebuilder to do? (replacing the lower bearings). From what I can tell by looking at it, seems like an easy enough job.

Got a long road trip coming up and if I can knock this out myself then I'd rather do it that way

 

You can do it yourself, just need some lube a socket that fits the OD well, block of wood, hammers, and snap ring pliers

 

Sounds good, I think I might have screwed myself a few months back when they were making a tiny bit of noise I used lithium grease to quiet them up, but it probably just attracted a ton more dirt and made it way worse. Might try just unbolting them and seeing if maybe I can clean them out well enough to quiet them or confirm that they do in fact need to be replaced.

 

I wash my coilovers hardcore after every trip to keep this shit from sitting and killing seals and bearings, they're quiet again but they squeaked last trip and are almost new.

 

Super easy.

COM10T bearings.

If you let them go too long, you can destroy the lower rod end on the shock. They make a chirping sound when they start going bad. Mine last one season, under 10k miles.

 

yeah it's kind of a bummer since these only have maybe 15k on them, but I guess it's all part of the game. Figure I'm still another 15k away from a rebuild (at least) so I'll just focus on replacing the bearings for now if I need to

 

It's almost always just the lower ones, the uppers on mine are 8 years old and still tight

 

FWIW - the upper bearings last twice as long. The lowers just are subjected to lots of dirt and water and stuff when you wheel.

 

awesome thanks! Gonna go ahead and order them so I have them ready to do this weekend if I need to

 

Also, don't forget anti-seize. Use it on the bearings into the rod end, the spacers into the bearing, and the bolt into the spacers.

 

Appreciate it, I only need 2 right (one for each side)? Gonna order the FK COM-10T bearings from Wheelers

 

Mkae sure they're 10T The t means it is PTFE lined, which keeps em quiet longer

Jegs has em too, they're common in coilovers...

https://www.jegs.com/i/QA1/122/COM10T/10002/-1

 

Correct, and that's a good price.

Might as well order a couple extra to have on hand if you're already paying for shipping.

Could pay triple and get stainless ones if you wanted, my shocks came with them and they didn't last any longer though. Wouldn't bother.

 

I think I'll just let you handle it from here.

You keep beating me by a second any ways.

 

Sorry Brett, I went through this shit with all six shocks I had been working with last year

 

lol thanks guys, appreciate it...hopefully get this done before my road trip next week