Bought Gen 1 - Question

Bought my dad’s 2001 Tundra SR5 230,000 miles. He thinks the water pump and belt he changed only once around 100,000 miles.

My question is, what would you replace first? Timing belt and water pump, or ball joints?

 

Yes

 

Yes, definitely!

But seriously, you should get to them both ASAP at 200+.

 

Haha you beat me to it! Dad jokes are the best.

 

Another thing. Should I buy the parts oem and go to dealership service dept or is it better to do a local shop?

 

Yes

Depends. There are about an equal amount who will install themselves / go to dealer / go to a shop. The answer to that is, what are you comfortable with?

 

OEM for timing belt, water pump, and lower ball joints. Where you get em done or do em yourself is up to you.

 

I’m really a newbie when it comes to working on vehicles. Something I would like to start doing myself more but not sure I would trust my work at this point

 

Both and depending on your location, do you have a Shop you can TRUST to do the work ??? Problem is there will be a "Ton of I can do it" and

those that actually know how too....

Do your homework correctly and that Tundra will treat you well for at least another 100000 ..

 

OEM lower ball joints or you will make the forum angry at you.

 

Because we're adverse to death?

 

This part for a 2001 is what I am finding. Is this a replacement for one or all ? And I need to buy the hardware and bolts still o believe

https://parts.olathetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-joint-assembly-lower-ball-400504134

 

This is where I would source the parts. https://www.1stgenoffroad.com/store/p1099/ToyotaOELowerBallJointsPair.html#/

 

I actually laughed out loud

 

@shifty` has written just a few posts on this topic, including the exact part numbers by manufacture date. There is a kit that includes 2 LBJs that is cheaper than buying separately. And definitely replace all 8 (4x2)bolts with both LBJs.

Also, a failed LBJ can definitely kill you whereas a broken timing belt is much much less likely to kill you. Plan accordingly

 

Well, here's a sad fact in the auto repair industry:

• Most non-dealership and even some specialty shops won't use OEM parts. They'll use whatever their parts supplier gets them the cheapest, so they can then turn around and hit you with the highest markup possible.
• Most shops aren't aware this is what happens when you use aftermarket lower balljoints on 1st gen Tundras and some Tacomas because of the design, and frankly, aftermarket probably won't fail until 10k-20k miles later so you'll be long gone.
• It's kinda stupid considering it's not that much more $$$ for OEM which will last 100k+ miles.
• A lot of folks have challenged this assertion that "aftermarket can't be that bad..." and, well, that thread I just linked is full of the proof ... as of today, it's 20 pages worth of photos of just the tiny fraction we know about. The Facebook groups, which I don't recommend visiting because they're rife with misinformation, has hundreds, if not thousands more examples.

If you can find a shop that will let you bring your own parts, and you don't do something stupid, like, buy your parts on scAmazon, fleaBay, WallyMart, or similar, then go for it. Just know you need new OEM joints, 4 bolts per joint, and a castle nut. Buying individual joints comes with castle nut and cotter. Regardless if you get the OEM recall kit or buy joints individually, you still need 8 bolts total.

LBJ aren't overly-hard to change, though. I'd put it at a 5 on a 10-point difficulty scale for a newbie just because separating the tie rod from the LBJ, and separating the LBJ from the lower control arm may be off-putting for some people. It's maybe a 3 for someone that's been wrenching for 5-10 years. If you tell us roundabout where you live - you don't need to give a street address, maybe a zip code or a nearby major city - someone knowledgable on here may be able/willing to help. You'd be amazed, there are some extremely high-quality men and women on this forum. It's truly a good place.

That said, on your original question:

You're thinking about this wrong. Timing belt/water pump is overdue, if it fails, it can kill your engine. Lower ball joints are probably overdue, if one fails, it can kill you. If you kill the engine, you're looking at $3k-5k to replace it. If you kill an LBJ, you may do $1k-3k in damage on the low end. One may be less to repair, but it's higher risk to your life. Both can leave your truck undriveable.

Learn more about your new truck here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

Everything you need to know about LBJ: https://www.tundras.com/threads/lower-ball-joints-part-numbers.97100/

Stick around. Ask some questions. That truck will last you 100s of thousands of miles. We have at least one younger member on here that's probably up around 900k miles on his at this point, and I think his transmission was finally starting to slip a little bit? Otherwise all original.

Anyway, welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks a bunch

 

So he claims he changed the LBJs at 170,000 miles. He doesn’t know if it was oem. Is there a way to tell oem from aftermarket while it’s attached to the car?

 

Based on that aftermarket shock,.I'm going to say it's likely safe to assume the LBJ is also aftermarket

 

Crap, probably will plan on changing them out then

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/spiker-engineering-lower-ball-joint-bolt-test-1st-gen.111746/

 

Not sure if your year had OEM dust cover, but the grease boot looks more round, and the casting looks definitely different than OEM.

Do they have grease zerks?

 

Save yourself some cash and do the ball joints yourself. Easy Peasy.

 

RockAuto has a good deal on the MOOG complete lowers right now.

 

Agree with all of the above, but at the end, it comes down to you and what you expect from your truck. I bought mine last year and did a huge chunk of work to it. I swapped out items that may not have been failing...most with OEM parts. Why, because... I daily my truck, but it also serves as my long distance overland and hunting vehicle. I'm 50, and have been stranded in a large number of states over a number of years with a variety of cars breaking down. The LAST thing I want...is to have that issue on my way to a camp or hunt. The few extra bucks that most parts (not all...I concede that) aftermarket vs OEM parts cost...cry once. My time is worth money, especially my time lost, being broken down in the middle of god forsaken Kansas at 2am (no offense ) when an OEM part would likely not have failed.

Some things I've done where I immediately went OEM were LBJs, LCAs, CV axles, wheel bearings, coil packs, any seals, certain fluids (WS ATF), belts, radiator, etc.

At the end of the day, especially since I was new to Tundras, I tend to take the advice from the folks on here who have been there and done that. I consistently see people trying to talk themselves into going a route against what the consensus on here says.

With regard to LCAs, this made me easily go OEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6lgyhA3nA

 

Please STOP

 

Do you advise to change only the lower ball joints and just leave the top alone?

 

If the uppers aren't leaking grease and the rubber boots are intact, there's no reason to change them out. If you do, it's probably easiest to change the whole UCA. The ball joints are a PITA to get in and out. Show some pics if you want solid advice on whether or not to change.

 

@Jack McCarthy got any feedback on your Moog lowers? Rubber bushings still intact, or rotten? I know the Mevotech LCA you got died in short order.

I'd buy OEM. I think it was @FirstGenVol who picked up new OEM lowers for like $215/ea or something during one of the national sale events. We should have another event happening probably mid-May leading up to Memorial day.