2WD Gen 1 Suspension Help

Hey y’all…. Coming to the hive mind for ideas. HUGE POST AHEAD.

Right before the pandemic kicked off, I snagged an 06 DC for 5500 with 190k miles on it. They had put a Tuff Country 4.5” lift with 35’s on it.

3.5 years later, it’s done the job of getting me around, but I was going to dump it to pick up a Power Wagon to get back into doing overlanding trips (now with a family, used to off-road around the country in a wrangler with my dog before life came up and it was a financially unfeasible vehicle to make payments on, plus I’m super tall and was profoundly uncomfortable commuting in it once I moved more than 3 miles away from work).

But the price on used gas Rams with 100k miles are delusional these days - so we’re going all in on the Tundra.

Yes I know it’s not the most modifiable truck, and yes I know general off-road driving doesn’t demand the craziest mods - but I’m looking at building something that’ll be reliable to drive around town (I’m a photographer and work from home so driving to shoots once or twice a week is all I’m worried about as a DD situation), but that will minimize the risk of getting stuck in 2WD when I vanish into the woods.

NOW THAT THE LONG WINDED INTRO PART IS OVER…

The TC lift has the back end sagging dramatically (I have a 1.5” add a leaf to throw on when I get the chance here, but life is busy with a toddler)… and the lift was the one where they welded a spacer to the spindle/steering knuckle. It also uses blocks in the rear that id like to move away from.

I’m also having issues with clunks, wheels feeling unstable, general chaos in the front end.

So I’m wondering if I should continue trusting a welded on spacer, or drop the cash on a Solo fabricated spindle and lower ball joint to uniball conversion. I can’t seem to locate any extended spindles outside of this one - but honestly, with the mystery ball joint chaos I keep reading about, is this a safer bet long term?

There’s a good chance that it’s now time for new hub bearings - but that seems redundant if I’m going to swap the entire hub type, and at 207k miles a steering rack as well. I replaced the bushings already and it tightened it some, but the play is still an issue. Some of that could be from the frame extension that comes with the lift as it seems to flex some when turning the wheels. Which also feels unreliable.

Last thing - 3” aftermarket spring packs for the rear - any good suggestions for brands? The blocks are 3” (“leveled”) and I’d want to put the 1.5 add-a-leaf on top of that.

basically I’m willing to do a lot of rebuilding because it’s still infinitely cheaper than anything newer with even the same mileage right now, and I’m expecting this to be relatively expensive. It’s also you know, 40k cheaper than a power wagon soooo.

Eventually I’m going to install a winch bumper, rear locker, and the other fun stuff, but I need to get the driving experience to be less of a shit show and more reliable first, and while adding aftermarket stuff is easy for me, I struggle to wrap my head around how to fix the suspension issues.

there are basically no maintenance records for the truck and it was owned by high schoolers before me, and it was more of a “price is right” purchase because it was less than the cash I had on hand. I’ve already cut and trimmed bits to eliminate wheel rub, and it’s clear to me that these previous owners were dumb as a box of rocks. I did a headlight swap and found a boatload of wiring from different headlights leftover that they removed and general chaos.

 

A lot of people here will tell you (and have told others) to skip the 4.5" TC lift because of the spacer and how squirrely/precarious it can be. I looked into it early-on when I started my suspension deep-dive to get hip on what works for me during my 'phase 1' and 'phase 2' buildout.

For springs out back, got a mix of folks here running alcan and Deaver. Ditch the blocks and go all-spring if you plan to replace it. If you find you're a bit too tall and stinkbugging in the rear, I think it's Archive Garage that shells shackles to help bring you back down a bit.

Have you done a check on your wheels, grabbing from either side and forcing a move to see if the tie rods, ball joints, and bearings are good? Can give more info if you're unfamiliar with the process.

Timing belt is actually the biggest thing I'd worry about with 'absence of records'. Have you at least signed up for the Toyota Owners site, to see if they have any maintenance records, and they did all recalls? More info on that here.

 

Tuff Country sells an extended spindle to get rid of that scary ball joint spacer. You may have to contact them directly to order. There's a few threads on this forum (paging @Hi06silver):

https://www.tundras.com/threads/hi06silvers-unf-ck-my-tuff-country-lift-thread.90187/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/200...ntrol-arms-tuffcountry-lift-questions.115264/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2004-toyota-tundra-lift-potential.114618/

 

Sorry, maybe I wasn’t clear in the wall of text - I tend to rant and tangent - one of the previous owners put the 4.5” lift on, and I’m now dealing with the wear and tear of it and 35’s on the stock components.

I’ve actually replaced ball joints, control arms, and tie rods, still squirrely.

As for the timing belt - I have it (aisin) and the water pump sitting in my garage waiting for me to have some downtime. I’ve only driven 13k miles since getting it, but I’m definitely testing my luck. The truck had a valve cover gasket oil leak when I got it, and I originally thought they panic sold it because of that but now…. Hahahaha

 

oh awesome! I was searching and coming up with nothing so that’s fantastic. I knew there had to be others with this chaos.


Edit: also sorry for the double post, at the park with my kid trying to put together coherent thoughts and you popped in while I was typing apparently. Hah

 

Building a 2wd overlanding rig is just going to be a huge waste of money. Selling it and starting with a 4wd isn’t an option?

 

Sometimes it’s cheaper to keeper. Sometimes it’s cheaper to off load and get the vehicle you need. Add up all the stuff you need to do to yours plus what you could seek it for. Does that amount get you another truck close to what you need? If it won’t, it may be cheaper to keeper. And there’s always the dirtjumper 4wd conversion possibility if that’s the real hang up.

 

Not with current prices, which while they’re sort of dropping are still insane. It’s at least 5k more to get stock 4WD in gen1’s where I’m at and on top of that, the gen 2 gets even worse for cost. Paying 10-20k for a vehicle with 200k+ miles for a newer model year and 4wd is not an easy pill to swallow.

I’ve taken vehicles into some ridiculous spots while still in 2WD, and with a whole family, realistic “overlanding” these days is going to be more about halfway decent ground clearance as a just in case measure and good tires more than anything. Looking back on a lot of places I went, I was probably using 4wd more for the “oh this is cool” than actually needing it.

honestly with the cosmetic condition and mechanical issues on this truck I’d be lucky to get 4K for it - and a trade in quote when I was shopping hit me with 2800…. So yeah.

But a lot of things are wearing out and if I’m gonna replace them all I’m trying to figure out if just going all out with nicer more off-road capable parts and knowing the truck’s gonna “hypothetically” last as long as replacement parts exist is worth it.


So to answer your question - it’ll be about the same to do most of the stuff I want to do to keep her running and not breaking while hauling the family vs buying a plain Jane 4wd of anything similar in mileage and year.

 

Just making sure: You're aware of the dangers of not using OEM lower balljoints, right?

 

as of last night, yes. Which means I’m either buying OEM ball joints in the next couple of days and the Tuff Country spindles OR just doing the full Solo swap to their extended spindles, Dana 44 hub, and uniball ball joints.

my screen time from stalking the forums for the last 24 hours is sky high.

had no issues with Moog on my really old grand Cherokee, but that was more than a decade ago that I was swapping those. Seeing the horror stories on here yesterday is part of what started this whole investigation of just changing it all out.

But the Moog parts all have less than 5k miles on them and even brand new they didn’t solve the problems.

 

Moog aren't what they used to be. They've gotten so big they've started outsourcing to smaller fish. QA/QC has suffered as a result. If you look at the LBJ recall they had in 2021 for our 1st Gen Tundras, it tells you the name of the company they sub'd the work out to. They didn't even make the actual part that triggered the recall. @KNABORES was saying he's had good luck (4yrs, IIRC) with his Moog lowers. It may just be a hit-or-miss thing on whether they make it or not.

 

I have a few thoughts in no particular order

I don't know anything about how the tuff country lift works, just heard it's hard to go back. The solo stuff is really good. Maybe try calling them and see what they recommend.

Rear locker would be a good compromise instead of full 4wd. Add a winch for the just in case times and you should be pretty solid.

Are you camping in the vehicle and how many kids? Do you need a truck? I feel like I've been on the sequoia band wagon a lot lately, but they are solid overland rigs. 1st gens are still relatively affordable and reliable.

 

yeah, I do truck stuff with it, lots of nasty projects and wet gear and house projects - planning on getting a boat as well.

I have a cap on it for two dogs, and there will be two kids as of august.

The TC drop cradle is apparently a hard no go with the Solo parts. They recommend stripping everything from the TC lift which - not the most surprising thing.

 

Spindles were around 450 a piece iirc. That was after bitching little about the safety aspect. I have the SPC adjustable uppers and icon extended travel coils to eliminate that fucked up spacer up front ( if you haven't read the thread @Shifty linked).
I can dig up the sales guy I dealt with info and add it to here if ya want @Gen 1 Frankentruck, lol I assume that name came from this lift?!
Clunks may be shifting from the "new" drop bracket at stops and starts. Dude, "the other guy" on you tube tracked it down and tack welded it and fixed his problem.

 

I haven’t done the digging yet to read them but thanks. I’ll take a look tomorrow.

and yes, that’s the namesake. Haha. It clunks around, it’s ugly, has few original bits, and yet somehow eternal.

i really appreciate all the feedback from everyone. Got a lot to look at and think about here.

Solo says I need new fiberglass fenders… and I need a new driver side fender anyways so…

 

I also recommend stripping everything Tough Country and starting over. The actual priority of removing the spacers so you don't blow new shocks on a bad hit. I guess you're wanting to keep the 35's? If you can afford new tires and don't mind going 285's (33"), you can fit everything without a spacer. Good articulation, the truck will drive great.

I have Total Chaos upper which move my caster forward (as would Solo) and also required wider fenders, but it was for long travel suspension; I run 33" tires. The functionality of worth more to me than the bit of extra clearance... or parking lot cred... that 35's might offer.

I'd definitely get that timing belt done before throwing any other money at the truck. If that goes, you're done. And yeah, I'd get rid of those 5k Moogs and find OEM LBJ's. Just my ¢.02.

 

Gotcha. I'll help with everything I had to do/ did if ya got questions.

 

For the cost of the solo stuff and half of these upgrades, wouldn’t a stock 4wd truck get you to your desired results faster?

 

Tuff Country lifts are a drop bracket so in this case I'd say it's going to be more work to strip the Tuff Country kit rather than put in the longer spindles which make this kit sturdier.

If OP needs new shocks, he should be able to get longer ones to work with the TC lift like these: https://www.suspensionlifts.com/sho...rear-bilstein-shocks-2000-2006-toyota-tundra/

 

So, here’s the truck finally. Oh that autozone special brush guard has a chunk ripped out of the lower bracket, probably from trying to pull it out of the mud. It’s a high school age redneck mobile and then some.

threw in a picture of the TC spindle bracket- literally nothing about that feels safe, and the drop cradle twists when I turn, and no longer consistently holds my control arm in place. So it’s probably got to go regardless.

As for 33’s, tires are on my list of costs in this whole project. But I’ll likely need new wheels to size down. I had 33x12.5 r20s on my wrangler and that was my only real regret with it. Came from the dealership and it looked good, but it didn’t leave me with much sidewall. Not that that stopped me from anything I ever did, but I definitely messed up those fancy Moto Metal wheels on rocks and stuff - just a note.

The price I paid for this truck is still the cheapest I’ve seen it in the last 3 years since the pandemic made things insane.

Cost isn’t really a huge issue - I was planning 13k down with ~500 a month payments on a 18/19 2500, but that plus 100k miles is like trying to swallow a horse suppository. But I’m also trying to avoid eating a loss on this and then putting another 5k-8k into a truck with the same miles and same year for 4x4 just to be at square one.

So timing belt will be this week for sure and then we’ll get to the other stuff.

 

It looks like those UCAs are SPC which are a nice product. SPC sells replacement upper ball joints if you're looking to refresh those. I don't see a grease zerk on them like mine however. Maybe that's a cause of one of the clunks?

If you're going to get the extended Tuff Country spindles, I believe you'll need an SPC slug adapter for the spindles. It doesn't look like it was installed on that spacer thingy? SPC should be able to sell them to you.

For shocks I would ditch that spacer if you can, but you'll need to get longer shocks made for a 4-6" lift. The Bilsteins I linked above should work, looks like Icon might sell them too. The longer Bilsteins would work in the rear too if you do a custom spring pack to get your rear lifted.

 

All good options here. I used the Icons, another guy with this issue I talked to about what I did went with the Bilsteins I believe.
Doesn't that look like an adjustable UCA? Not factory for sure. Looks like OP may already have SPC's from the picture.

Just fyi @Gen 1 Frankentruck new Tuff country spindles have new Koyo bearings in them already.

 

I do have SPCs. It’s the only thing I wasnt originally planning on replacing. Guess it would have been useful info. Hah, my bad.