Gen 1 Suspension Refresh

I had a lower ball joint go on me (thankfully parking and not at 70) and I’m looking to refresh the suspension for both sides. The answer is probably just as simple as “OEM” but I was wondering if there were any after-market options worth exploring. Budget is low at around $1500

 

Oem. Or you could be a ginuea pig for the uniball conversion.

https://www.chaosfab.com/product/2000-2003-Toyota-Tundra-Lower-Uniball-Conversion-OE-Tie-Rod

 

Depends on what your intent is. Title of post says “refresh”. If you just want it to drive like newer, go OEM. 100% OEM for the LBJs and cam sleeves and bolts, highly recommended for the LCAs and UCAs if the bushings are shot, tie rods and sway bar links, check the “hall of shame” thread in 1st Gen forum for aftermarket wins/losses. I’d refresh your steering rack bushings too, if never done and the original rack. Mine are showing signs of play at 18yr/77k miles.

If you want to lift (upgrade) and refresh, we need a budget, and an idea of what you’re hunting for, what your intended use will be. Lifting an inch, upsizing tires a little? Lifting two inches, upsizing the tires more? Towing? Offroad?

 

And depends on what you mean by suspension. Shocks & coils too? And how much work will you do on your own? I'm assuming all of it, if you plan to refresh things for $1,500. A local shop quoted me $1,000 just to do the UBJs.

U & LBJs aren't expensive, and though it adds up fast neither are rubber bushings. Energy Suspension (is that right?) makes good poly lower control arm bushings, they're what I used on my Tacoma. From what I've heard, everything else makes sense to go OEM.

 

What I need to replace due to the Ball Joint failure is the following: CV Axle, Hub Assembly, Speed Sensor, and Ball Joint. Since the ball joint went on my drivers side I want to replace the one on my passengers side. From the dealer (unless there are other ways to get OEM parts, which I’m sure there are I’m just new to working on vehicles) that’s $1900. I guess suggestion wise; I’m looking for advice on what other stuff I should be replacing in order to avoid a lop-sided wear schedule. If that makes sense; which it may not because like I said, I’m new to this. The shop is asking for $700 in labor, which doesn’t seem crazy considering the price of parts, but people have suggested that it isn’t the hardest thing to do on your own in a weekend.

I use the truck in the snow a lot; going to ski mountains, and navigating my county’s shitting plowing practices. I live on a (short) dirt road but that has the tendency to get rough. I don’t think I’m looking for a lift but I wouldn’t rule it out. Doing the work myself definitely increases the budget.

I’d say the top of my budget is $2500. If this makes what I’m asking for unattainable, I totally get it.

 

I wouldnt call the job difficult, but definately something worth taking your time on. Need a couple of special tools like torque wrench & bj press, bj remover/picklefork... without knowing the damage its hard to gauge how deep you'll have to dig in, like did the carnage mangle the sway bar links or tie rods? But i was able to do all that & more on both sides, by myself, over a weekend.

If you need a spindle, thats probably gonna be a JY part.

 

I work at a boat yard and I have a coworker who said if I bring the controls arms in he’ll show me how to press the joints in. I’d still need a torque wrench and a pickle fork but with what I’d save on labor at a shop I feel like getting those tools is definitely worth it. I should probably also buy a floor jack and some jack stands. The shop didn’t mention any damage to the sway bars or the tie rods. What do you mean by a “JY” part?

 

Ah I see. That helps. Pressing joints in is just a matter of tightening a bolt to torque. The upper is a little more tricky but the lower is just that simple. Pressing them out is the tougher thing, but still easy. I'd say you could save significant cash by going with NAPA CVs. At least in the Tacoma world, those are considered the one aftermarket CV worth buying, unless you're the type willing to buy Autozone crap with a lifetime warranty and replace them for free every year or so.

I have a NAPA CV on my Tacoma and it's held up with no issues for ~3 years a 30,000 miles.

 

Jy= junkyard

 

Thank you all,

I’ve seen those NAPA CV’s mentioned a few times and they’re also considerably easier to find than the OEM ones. I’ve also seen Remanufactured CV’s mentioned? But those seem elusive… honesty the NAPA ones are definitely tempting considering they’re like half the price.

 

Remanufactured CVs are really easy to find if you have an OEM rebuildable one to send in. I can't remember the name of the company right now, but there's a trusted business that does OEM rebuilds. I couldn't afford it at the time, but when I replaced mine with a NAPA CV, I held onto my failing OEM CV in case the NAPA one didn't turn out well. Or in case I just decided to have it rebuilt sometime later. Technically you order a CV from them, and you send yours in for a "core" refund, essentially. So you don't need to wait while they rebuild yours.

And Whiteline was who I was thinking of for lower control arm bushings, not Energy.

Anyway yeah, if you're on any kind of budget, there's no reason to go OEM with CVs. The NAPAs seem totally adequate. That'll drop your total price by a few hundred.

 

My Advanced Auto lifetime axles are solid. The axles themselves have never failed. This is despite the boots being trash. The boots don’t last more than 3-4 years for some reason. So I’ve swapped the axles once already for new ones no questions asked. This time around I’ll be slathering the boots in something to try to prolong their lives.