Starting suspension work...

Hi all, started working on changing out UCAs, coilovers and noticed my front sway bar is floating on passenger side/not bolted on.
Now I have basically no mechanical knowledge but I’m pretty sure this isn’t supposed to be this way.

 

Did you not notice that when driving? Yikes

looks like the bolt snapped off. You need a stabilizer/sway bar link.

 

Noticed when I took off the tire. Hopefully can find a replacement over weekend. Thanks

 

Didn’t feel any different recently?

at least they’re a cheap part to replace. Hope you find one locally easily

 

Situation Normal for a truck this age. Both mine snapped off years ago, on different occasions, and I drove without them for a few years.

Replace both at the same time. Plenty of choices out there and many here recco Suspension Max. I have no idea which links a shop installed on mine. They are stout compared to OEM, though. Truck drives so much better with the sway bar reattached.

 

Actually thought I wasn’t handling as well about a month ago but didn’t think much of it.

Appreciate the input

 

Thanks. I’ll look into sus max

 

Any tips on how to remove an axel nut that won’t budge? Stuck here for 45mins. Wd40 applied 3 times.

 

Impact or a breaker bar.

 

Heat that shit up with a torch also.
Try to use a pipe on the end of the wrench if you have one as an extension to get boo-koo leverage.
If you can get a tight grip on the nut, use your foot and put all your weight on it. Be careful.....

 

Thanks. Have a friend coming over with an impact gun and have a torch at home which was my next step.

I can’t get good leverage on the nut since it’s less than half an inch thick. Thinking maybe my CV joint being ruined on this side might have something to do with it being so tight. My car would shake when accelerating fast 1st & 2nd gear. Also when I would slow down quickly exiting freeway right around 2nd gear.

 

Make sure there is no indentation on the axle nut, or it will ruin your threads.... I'm not sure if they still indent the axle nuts, or they use a pin, but it doesn't appear to have a pin....

 

Iirc, I was able to break free my driver’s axle nut with a cheapo electric Harbor Freight impact gun when I had to punch out a broke ABS sensor... But then again it didn’t look like it had as much corrosion as yours

 

Any pics of this job you did? Just curious of the set up.

 

Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics. Here’s the new sensor installed after though:

And here’s the screen grab from 1A Auto with the hub pulled and the hole for the ABS speed sensor:

While trying to do some rotor & brake work, I tried removing the sensor so the caliper could be more free to move. It had so much corrosion build up that it got stuck in place which resulted in trying to use more force to pull it out. That meant snapping the already brittle 16y/o plastic sensor off partially in the hub. Watching the 1A Auto video gave me the idea to punch it out.

It was funny enough that when my local shop recently replaced the bearing on the other side of the truck that they ran into the same problem and replaced the sensor too. (Noticed while doing brake work)

 

WD 40 can't help much on that sort of thing. You need something like Liquid Wrench or Kroil or any other penetraiting oil. It makes a difference.

 

Breaker bar did the trick. Then I got stuck for about 4 HOURS!! trying to get the upper ball joint to release from the UCA. YouTube videos make it seem so simple... Ended up cutting it off after pounding it with a full size sledgehammer with no luck lol.

After a couple rentals tries from the local auto part store, ending up ordering ball joint remover from Amazon. Had trouble at first but used another car to hold down the large C clamp(ball joint remover) and got it off. Basically impossible to Torque it enough to pop out without someone/something holding things in place.

After 2 cuts, the axel was ready for high angle CV boot. Also got a new boot from Toyota for the outer CV boot.

Now I just need to apply the final clear coat(s) on the spindle gusset my friend welded to put it all back together.

About 12 hrs in so far and I gotta say, one of the more rewarding experiences I’ve felt in a while. Love learning and working on my truck!

Appreciate you all!

 

Thats good stuff. The problem i had with upper ball joint removal was limited space. No room for an impact gun and I couldn't get the leverage with a long socket wrench. My buddy cut one end off his snap on box end and we stuck a 4' pipe on it and got the joint off. I made him best man at my wedding for cutting his snap on wrench lol

 

Lol, man deserved it!

 

Pics of progress cause well, pics or it didn’t happen lol

The CV axel cut was by far the scariest part of everything. Cut it once but there was a section going inward which touched the CV (arm I wanna call it) so I called and asked, was told to cut a bit more. Then assembled it all... oh, I even marked the location of notches so I could connect at same spot. Yeah I did my homework.



Spindle gusset. Here’s to good friends! Mainly welded on back side.

oh and ProHandmodel, Got the suspension max sway bar links. Order Sat, arrived Monday and they look beefy. I actually think I remember the exact moment my old link broke. Was off-roading with a buddy and heard metal break but couldn’t find anything at the time. Pretty sure it was the link snapping off now.

 

What exactly were you cutting on the CV?

 

Nice work. Yeah. I heard mine snap going over a speed bump at the mall.

 

Cut the extension off. Not all of it, just the outer portion.

 

Gotcha, I was thinking you were lengthening the shaft or something! ala longer travel setup.

 

Gonna feel real satisfaction knowing you did all the work yourself. Just make sure you got proper torque specs on those front end nuts and bolts.

 

Finally... Passenger side complete. I was told the king coildovers were set at a 2” lift out the box, I was expecting about the same lift I had before with the TRD springs and Bilsteins set on 1st notch but I’m over 2” of lift from before. I was around 35 1/2” from ground to fender, now almost 38”. Not complaining lol but guessing it’ll settle lower.

 

Where’d you buy the setup at?

 

Different places. Coilovers from Wheelers over Labor Day sale. Got a great deal. Camburg UCAs from KT Performance while on sale. Total chaos spindle gusset, suspension max sway bar links from Summit, high angle CV boots from off-road solutions, threaded brake lines in think we’re from Wheelers as well. Been ordering parts from about 3-4 months ago lol. Finally had enough to get started