A slight sag. Newbie here.

I have a 2005 Tundra and I know some about cars. I've done the usual engine rebuilds etc. but I have done very limited work on this truck. I've noticed a slight sag in the back and I was trying to figure out if it was the leaf springs or the struts. It's pretty much stock as far as I can tell. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

How many miles? Leafs are probably worn out, or does it have a level kit in front? Those often go overboard and make older trucks look squatted.

Add a leaf would likely be the cheapest easiest way to address it. Or new leaf springs

 

Welcome aboard sir. You’ve got some kind of lift hardware going in the front. Inspect and report back or shoot us some pics and we can help sort that. Likely they “lift/leveled” the front and the rear got left behind. A leaf pack with some lift could even the score, or an add a leaf, or RAS, or airbags or *gasp* lift blocks. If you’re not wanting as much lift in the front, you can bring it down to level by changing up the hardware up front.

 

What is RAS?

 

Road active suspension

https://activesuspension.com/

 

Putin had a son….

 

Welcome from NY.

 

I think I'm gonna start with the add a leaf. The truck only goes off-road a few times a month, so I'll be able to test it then. I watched a couple of videos, and it seems pretty basic of an install.

 

Before you do that read Shifty’s megathread and the suspension thread. Take some measurements and post some pics of your front and rear suspensions. Also when we’re your timing belt and LBJs changed?

 

I bought the truck about 3 years ago, so I just had them do the timing belt, water pump, and radiator, and write the mileage on them. As far as I know, they are telling me the LBJs are fine, but I think I may go ahead and do those. I'm not sure if it's needed. I don't know how to tell. They also did the transmission fluid just for the heck of it.

 

You need to start by figuring out what’s going on in the front. Because your front is 100% not stock. I suspect they used strut spacers or aftermarket struts to raise it, or it’s also possible the made the stupid mistake of mixing both strut spacers and lifted struts.

These trucks had a pretty hard forward rake from the factory which only gets more noticeable with age. Please take some pics of the top of the front strut tower for us, and some pics of the LBJ, and the strut assembly. It’s super easy to upload pics here.

You also need to figure out if the LBJ are OEM or not. Many aftermarket don’t even last 2-3 years and when they fail, you can total your truck at best, or yourself at worst. It seems more often than not, with all the load on that LBJ, they fail without much (if any) warning. We’ve seen more than one sob story on here of, “My mechanic told me there was no play! A week later and $3,000 in repairs, I’m back on the road after it failed abruptly …”

LBJ are a wear part. They should be proactively changed every 100k-125k miles max.

You CANNOT trust aftermarket parts with LBJ. This is not an exaggeration. This is not me being “elitist”. We’ve seen it time and time again on here, even as quickly as 1k-2k miles after install, abrupt failure with aftermarket. There’s a thread 10 pages long in the forum with pics upon pics of failures.

Id also recommend replacing all four bolts per side at the same time as the joint. And know you can get OEM parts on discount ordering direct from Toyota. We have the instructions right here on the forum for you.

Meanwhile, listen to @bfunke - read the first two replies in our community mega thread here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

That thread contains our collective knowledge, all the warnings we can possibly give you, maintenance info, service manuals, you name it. The 2nd reply in particular has a helpful bullet section that will help you get up to snuff on maintenance you and your previous owner may not have done yet.

 

Yeah no doubt you've got some lift in the front. Unlike my pickups and Tacoma of the past, the Tundras seem to very rarely have sag, because of how high the rear end is from the factory. My rear leaf springs were completely shot, and all it did was level my truck. No sag. I'd go out on a limb and say almost the only way you can end up with a sagging rear on a first gen Tundra is if the front is lifted.

And yes, no test of lower ball joints would make me feel safe. Replace them every 100k with OEM, regardless of how tight they feel.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!