New Member /w 2001 Tundra

Message to say hello, I have had my truck sometime. I'm older 60 and dont do much on the web but my son said maybe sign up and ask some questions for the projects I have planned on the truck.
2001 Tundra Regular Cab 8' bed in black/ tan interior. 4.7L 4wd super clean and I am the 2nd owner. Has Rancho suspension components and 17" Mamba wheels with 265/70/17 tires.

Ready to go thru the front suspension would like to ask for help on kits / parts something for a DIY'er

 

Welcome aboard!
We're happy to have you. Regarding front suspension, various parts/brands are available depending on what you want to do. Are you trying to lift the front of your truck, or upgrade to more performance-centric suspension, or replace it with high-quality OE/OE equivalent components?

Also, As for ball joints, it's OEM or bust (Literally).
Here are the correct OE Part numbers for your front lower ball joints.

• Passenger Lower Ball Joint Assy. - 43330-39466
• Driver Lower Ball Joint Assy. - 43340-39356

I would also purchase new OEM Toyota hardware to go alongside your ball joints, as they can fatigue over time and cause failure. There are actually a handful of different part numbers for the hardware, and some part numbers are stronger than others. There was a thread posted some time ago (I believe on TacomaWorld.com) where someone did some independent testing/torquing of the different fasteners and found that some were weaker than others.

EDIT: FOUND THE THREAD/WEBSITE
Also, these are the bolts you want to be using for your ball joints.
90119-10933 x8 (4 per side), Torqued with a dab of blue threadlocker to 37 ft-lbs.

 

What are you looking to do specifically?The Ranchero is a leveling strut kit if I’m not mistaken. Are you looking at the same or maybe going to a Bilstein 5100 setup with OME springs? Replacing worn out LCAs, UCAs, tie rods, suspension links?

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Welcome! Post some pics?

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome from NY.

 

I would recommend checking out the 'Suspension, wheel and tires...' section of this post: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

It'll set you up with a lot of answers to your questions, and also make you aware of things you should know, but probably won't come up in natural chatter here.

 

Welcome from NC

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

The rancho leveling setup is only 2 years old so I am going to keep it for now. Intent is to replace worn front suspension parts with new. Ball joints tie rods control arms, brakes. I was looking at the Moog brand parts the reviews I read were favorable. Truck never goes off road really. The truck just turned 100K miles, I purchased from the original owner /w 77K 7 years ago. no real rust to speak of, they had already replaced the frame. I will check into OEM parts.

 

Truck looks great!

Several folks here have found within 1-2 years that the Rancho kits tend to blow out the bushings at the base of the strut. The kits for our trucks seem poorly made, not built to handle the force that's generated from the design Toyota used, which is reportedly the same reason aftermarket lower balljoints snap in half so easily - they're engineered to look the same, but lack the extra over-engineered reinforcement Toyota rolls into their OEM part.

Moog isn't the same company they used to be. Folks around here have reported good experience with Moog tie rod ends (inner and outer), but complained about other parts made for our truck. Important to note they had a major recall roughly two years ago on the lower balljoints for our trucks specifically - based on the NHTSA report, it would appear the company they outsourced the work to screwed something up.

You may want to consider going with OEM lower control arms also. Uppers? If you don't plan to lift any higher, and they're not rusting through, you can stick with what's there, verify the bushings are OK. If you need to swap out bushings, I personally prefer the feel of rubber but poly is easier to install.

For LBJ, can't hurt to get new hardware, this is a good read: https://www.tundras.com/threads/spiker-engineering-lower-ball-joint-bolt-test-1st-gen.111746/

Swaybar links ... OEM is fine, Suspension MAXX makes both OEM length and one for lifted trucks, the OEM length part number ends in "6", lifted in "7".

If you intend to replace calipers, you may want to consider upgrading to the WL calipers that came on later model trucks like mine. Direct swap, there's a thread on here that talks about it (I think?) some trimming of the dust shield up front is required. It's a popular upgrade. Most important part on brakes with these trucks is that the e-brake is working properly and the rears are adjusted correctly, which the e-brake will help keep up with if functioning properly.

 

Your gonna possibly need a few carbide tip or diamond cut blades for a reciprocating saw to get through the potentially frozen CAM adjustment sleeves on the LCAs, especially if it’s never been done.

Looks like you have a fun weekend ahead. Make sure to keep cold beer or water on tap when you’re done, you’ll need it.