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I'm about to embark on much needed, neglected maintenance on my Tacoma. Since I've owned it, I've replaced the oil, gas, air and oil filters, tires/rims and the tranny. Nothing else. I bought it around 90k miles and now it's about 175k. I'm pretty sure everything on it is original.
So, I'm doing a bunch of stuff that should have been done a long time ago. While I'm doing these things, I'm wondering if there are other things that I should *also* do while I'm in there. Also, I'd like your (un)professional opinion about the order of things. I'd like to only take things off once, not twice because my 5th project requires the removal of the thing I replaced in my 1st project.
What I have so far:
* Gasket kit for valve-cover gaskets, including new intake gaskets all the way to the throttle body and IAC valve.
* New IAC valve (cleaned the original one, idle is better, but still randomly high when fully warmed up).
* New water-pump, timing belt, gasket kit ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=1529535416008 )
* Two tubes of FIPG
* Drive-shaft carrier bearing (current one is bad)
Issues that I need/want to fix:
* Leaking oil pan "gasket".
* Extremely squeaky/creaky suspension. It has a spacer lift kit (with a spacer block in the rear) that I'd like to replace with longer coilovers (front) and AAL (rear). The front strut lower bushings are totally blown out as it is. It has a 3" body lift also. I'm not opposed to reducing the amount of suspension lift as long as my 33" tires will still fit. All but one has a lot of life left on them.
* Grinding sound when clutch is depressed, varies with engine speed. I'm pretty sure this is a bad throw-out bearing, but would have assumed that a new one would have been installed with the new transmission. I'm fairly certain that I had a new clutch installed at the time, but memory is foggy about it.
Questions:
* What else should I do when I do these things?
* Valve adjustments?
* Recommendations for coil-over/aal? I'd like to keep this portion under $800 if possible. High-performance is not really needed. I'm looking at the Rancho Lift coilovers.
* Tie-rod ends? Ball joints? Etc.?
Finally, I'm probably going to have this truck for only 2 or 3 more years then sell it. During that time, I'm going to be doing more towing/camping with it than off-roading with it.
I look forward to any and all advice!
Last edited by chromatest; 07-29-2016 at 06:29 AM.
Weird. When I previewed my post, it showed my signature, which has that information in it, but I don't see it in the post...
Anyway.
2000 Tacoma SR5 TRD Off Road
5VZ-FE Engine
Rebuilt standard 5-speed transmission purchased from Marlin Crawler, installed about 50,000 miles ago.
#1 Find grinding sound when clutch is depressed. If you have a drivetrain issue, you need to figure that out before you spend any more money on your squeaks and leaks.
#2 Get down under your front end and have someone steer the truck side to side, out of gear with brake set, while you watch and feel for wear in the front end. Have them shove down on the bumper to simulate suspension travel and try to fine any loose suspension and steering parts. Replace any worn steering parts ASAP. I had one of my semis throw a tie rod end today and nearly put the truck in the ditch with a load of logs behind it. Get those safety issues fixed. If you don't have slack in your ball joints, which you can feel by shaking the wheels with them off the ground, I wouldn't replace them if you intend to sell it in the next few thousand miles. Same goes for the tie rod ends if you don't find anything obviously wrong with them. You should hear your front end squeak when the suspension is depressed. Try and locate that so you know what you need to replace there. You may have worn control arm bushings that will cause a squeak. When it comes to coil-overs, I like any of the ones from Toytec but there are other good ones. I have had spacer lifts on several trucks like yours and had plans to replace them with coilovers later but found them to be suitable for moderate off road use both times and chose to leave them in there.
#3 Carrier bearing. That needs to be done so go ahead with that as soon as you can. A failed one will probably not get you hurt but it will leave you on the side of the road.
#4 Timing belt and other parts behind the timing cover. Depends on when it was done last. If the parts don't have 100,000 miles on them and you don't intend to put 100,000 miles on them before you sell it, I wouldn't fool with it unless you are having problems with any of it. If the timing belt has never been done, I'd probably go ahead and tackle it. I like to see that sticker when I'm looking to buy one and will pay much more for one that has a current belt. If you are having issues with any of the parts behind the timing cover, do it all, and I highly recommend all OEM parts. You don't have to buy them from a local dealer but they are your best bet here even if they cost 20% more.
#5 Oil pan gasket. Follow the factory service manual directions.
#6 Top end gaskets as needed. Go in as deep as you intend to go and work your way back out with all new high quality gaskets.
#7 Rear end lift. I like add-a-leafs depending on what you are hauling or towing. Keep in mind that the kits often exaggerate how much lift they will give and you don't want a truck that leans back. It will lean back even worse when you are hauling or towing. Spring shackles will give you some lift if you find that the add-a-leafs don't give you enough. Usually, they will lift your truck1/4- 1/2 of the length of the shackles. For example, a 6" shackle will give you between 1.5 and 3" of lift. My 89 4runner uses one extra leaf and a set of 6" shackles to give approximately 4" of lift. This would definitely be my lowest priority in your ride height is adequate. A set of shocks that are designed for your lift height are a good cheap and easy upgrade that will improve your ride especially if you are currently running stock length shocks on a lifted truck.
That's my opinion but feel free to rearrange my order if I'm missing something. If I were going to sell one of mine in the next couple years, I would address the issues that will make it safer and more marketable and leave out anything that will cost you more to repair than the value it will add to the truck.
I was just out taking photos and measuring things. My rear leafs look like they're just about upside down, and I have about 2.5 inches of clearance to the bumpstop. It has a 3" block lift on the back with Rancho 5180 shocks. The passenger side looks like it hit the spring at one point as there's a dent in it right about there.
Since I'll be towing my house for the next while, proper shocks are a safety concern for me. I'm looking at the OME CS046R springs with maybe an extra leaf and/or firestone airbags to keep the truck level when towing.
On the front I have a 1.5" Revtek spacer with the Toyota TRD Bilsteins. The lower bushings are shot in them. I have the part number for the bushing, but do these shocks last this long? They're definitely factory original.
I'll do the tests you recommend in #2 above this weekend.
Without seeing your pictures, I'd say you were describing a worn out set of back springs. If that is the case, I would look at purchasing some new, heaver duty spring packs. My experience is mostly with 4runners but the dented shock might suggest some side to side play in the rear suspension that could be caused by a broken leaf in one of your spring packs or some play in the shackles or other spring mounting hardware. Maybe even your U-bolts. Double check all of that.
If you're going to be towing "your house", you are going to need to beef up that rear suspension. Your shocks don't carry the load. It's your springs, shackles, u-bolts and all your mounting hardware carry that load. Being lifted with those blocks makes the load even more unstable so if you can trade the blocks for additional suspension, that would be the way to go. I manage several logging crews and I need both off road capabilities as well as hauling and towing capabilities out of my crew trucks. 3/4 tons sink in the mud due to the weight of the truck and 1/2 tons don't like the load of 150 gallons of fuel, chain saws, a four man crew and a job trailer so I usually buy 1/2 ton 4WDs and then add a stiff add-a-leaf or sometimes two to the spring packs, put on 10 ply tires and buy the best shocks I can. This setup seems to work pretty well for towing and hauling the heavy loads with a truck that was never designed to handle that kind of abuse. About like towing a camper with a Tacoma. The air bags work well on bigger trucks that just need some added suspension on level ground but they are single point suspension aids and will not make you any more stable when it comes to sway side to side which you will get from towing a vehicle so much bigger than your truck.
Regarding your front shocks, If you did not install the lift spacers yourself, you have a fight ahead of you to replace the lower bushings. You are going to need to take several suspension components loose in order to give you enough room to slip them out, replace the bushings and get them back into place. I've done several so I'm not scared to do it but, if you have located some front end components that you want to replace like sway bar bushings or tie rod ends, that would be the time to do it. As far as the shocks, I have never seen a bad one even after that many miles. The shocks see very little travel due to being captive within the springs which keep them from overextending. I wouldn't change them unless I had to. I have done two sets with autozone spring compressors in my shop and could have been seriously injured but got lucky. Older and wiser, I will not attempt it again. If you do replace them. Find you a shop that will break down the coilovers and replace the shocks for you. Usually costs around $75 for the pair if there is anyone locally who will even do them. Most shops have gotten away from doing them due to safety issues and now only sell new assemblies. I'm serious. They will hurt you.
Post those pics of the rear springs and I'll be able to give you a better idea of what you need,
In my initial inspection, I noticed that the inner boot on the driver's side CV axle is torn about 1/2 around right where it meets the shaft. I guess this needs to be replaced too. Stuff adds up fast doesn't it?
I'm not sure how to add photos here, but here's a link to all the photos I took yesterday. https://goo.gl/photos/q8HjuuygjvFhf6hk7
Sounds like I can leave the revtek spacers in and just replace the bushings. I've ordered the bushings. I've used the autozone spring compressors on my VW Scirocco without any issues, but those are much smaller springs!
Well, you have to have spring packs in the back. I've never seen them that bad on a pickup before. Seen them like that on 1st gen 4runners but not the trucks. You really are hauling some weight. Do some research and ask some of the guys with bigger lifts that mine on what to buy. You are going to need to focus most on the spring packs and not shackles or blocks in your application. In all actuality you may want to look in to those air bag style helpers or an equalizer hitch for your camper or whatever you've been pulling. Whatever you do, go ahead and get started on it. I'd just about bet you that your bottom leaf is broken on both sides whether you can see it right now or not. You do not want one of those things breaking in two and falling out. You'll then have half an inch of slack in the u-bolts on that side and she'll start snapping everything back there that has any wear in it until you get it stopped.
On your CV boot. Replace the axle with aftermarket from a local parts store. I say aftermarket because you are not wheeling and going to sell it at some point. Don't want anybody getting on me for recommending an aftermarket DL component but there is a time and place for everything. They are about $65 and all you have to do is jerk the sucker out. Too easy. 35mm socket for the hub nut. Some folks say 34mm but 35's are commonly found in parts stores so that's what I have and it works well. Do it with your shock bushings. Inspect the seal at the diff while you're at it. Now would be the time to do that as well. If I remember right, the driver's side seal is an easy install ($12). The passenger's side is easy to drive in too far because it doesn't have anything to stop you from tapping it too far in.
On your bushings, should be straight forward. No need for spring compressors and if you get in a bind and think they might help, don't try it. It won't help a bit. Trust me. Before I go giving you instructions on this, since it's been at least a year since I've had mine off, Rough Country sells a lift like this and has a video on their website on how to install it. You can also read detailed instructions on Toytec's website. The only trick I can give you here is, when reinstalling lifted coilovers, I like to make me a short, tapered punch out of some scrap metal or a slightly smaller bolt that I can actually tap into that bottom hole while I'm fighting with it and let the punch tool hold the strut in place while I grab my replacement bolt and just tap in the new bolt while letting it push my little punch tool out the back side. It really isn't bad with two people but i usually don't have a helper.
Oh, I almost forgot. Am I looking at the pictures wrong or do you have a badly bent upper control arm mount on the passenger side. The picture sure does look like it. If your front end is squeaking, that's where it's going to be. I'm guessing the bolt running through the mount with the nut on it is actually a stud. I don't know because I've never had to pull one off. If it is, replace it with an OEM stud and install new bushings in both sides. If it is bent and you do replace it, do it while you are removing the coilover and not later. You don't want to have to fight with that thing again. It may just be the picture. I'm using the starter as a reference and it may just be the angle the photo was taken at.
Yeah, that UCA does look bent in the picture. I didn't notice it when I was in the wheel well. I'll take a closer look.
Upon closer look, the UCA looks fine. I guess that was a trick photo.
I've ordered the Marlin Crawler clutch kit... Might as well do it all when I'm under there.
Sourcing the parts for the rear springs now. I can get the rear springs shipped free (pick up at local 4Wheel Parts, but the extra OME leaf costs nearly twice as much to ship as the part itself!
Funny thing about the weight in my truck, is that other than the camper shell (boring fiberglass shell), I normally don't have any weight. I've towed with it a few times, but nothing too major. Either way, these new springs should take care of that.
Yea, looks fine when you can see both sides. Why not see what the local 4Wheel parts place can get you as far as an extra leaf? I guess I'd have to know what you meant by "towing your house". Here in South Arkansas, that means a 35' double slide out bumper pull camper trailer. If you're talking about something less than 5000 lbs., get your new springs and install them before buying an extra leaf but don't cut off extra u-bolt length for a couple weeks until you are satisfied and everything settles.
Good call on the clutch. Do that swing bearing while you've got the drive shaft loose and also retorque the nuts on the top of your front coilovers. Every spacer kit calls for you to retorque after a few hundred miles but nobody does it. I usually retorque my front two and leave the back one alone because it's a pain to reach and that's coming from a guy who carries two torque wrenches with him everywhere he goes. If you didn't install them, they have not been retorqued.
I have to say, that is a nice looking truck. I don't care what the body looks like. She looks good where it counts. Save my info and let me know when you get ready to sell it.
Yeah, this is what they call an Arizona Trophy truck. Kinda like a trophy wife. Looks great but never really fully utilized. To my knowledge, it's never been on a salted road. :-)
By "my house", I'm looking at something like a fiberglass Casita:
They're about 3500 lbs fully loaded. Hitch weight about 375 lbs. Plus I'll have my workshop/toolshed/storage in the back of the truck, so more weight there.
On my pictures, I'm wondering what's up with the diff mounting brackets. I see that they have a 1" diff-drop installed, but the brackets themselves look twisted or something. I don't have another 4wd tacoma to compare with though.
I'm assuming on the tie-rod ends and ball-joints that when the boot is cracked, the entire part gets replaced. Is that correct or are they rebuildable?
I haven't done the shake test on the suspension/steering joints, but with the boots cracked on some of them, I'm looking at hitting the truck with a kit like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/95-04-TOYOTA...-/251604153254
Or... should I pay the extra for OEM / Sankei parts?
That's a neat looking little trailer. I have pulled my 19' fiberglass ski boat all over the place with my 4Runner with no trouble other than braking it high speeds. Not sure what it weighs but the boat without motor is listed at 2000 the Yamaha 150 is probably another 750 and the trailer is probably another 1000. As far as your suspension goes you would be looking at the tongue weight plus what you have in the bed. Tongue weight of my rig isn't that much due to most of the weight being in the back.
You don't rebuild those front joints. I like the looks of that kit. Even if you didn't replace it all at one time, you'd have the parts on hand. You are going to be knocking a few of those joints loose in the course of your front end work so I would go ahead and order you a kit like that and replace the ones you knock out. Read some reviews and see what others think of them.
I can't really see the twist you are referring to on the diff drop. Are you talking about how it doesn't sit level or is it something else? It's supposed to angle down to take some of the angle out of the front drive shaft.
This picture, where the metal bracket is sitting at an angle to the mounting hardware and the top bushing looks like it's not in place. It doesn't look right to me, but I don't have a comparison.
I'll order that kit. My shock lower bushings arrived today. Hopefully they're the right ones! I should be getting my rear leaf set today also.
It kind of looks to me like that joint is trying to separate. Check and see if the bolt in the bottom isn't loose. I bought a diff drop kit one time but never installed so I don't know exactly what is under that bottom washer but I would imagine that it's something like a shock bushing in there. It may be work out and not holding the bolt in line correctly anymore. I would say that needs to be addressed one way or another. If the joint is worn out, I would bet you money that the bolt is now bent. You could confirm that by turning it in either direction. I'd sell you my kit for little of nothing but it's just metal parts and they may not be any help to you. Go ahead and inspect that as soon as you can and at least make sure the bolt is tight. Someone who has recently installed a kit like that could tell you a lot more.
I haven't looked at the FSM close enough, but I'm pretty sure that I need to drop the front diff to fix my leaking oil pan, so I'll find out soon enough.
I got my OME rear leafs yesterday. Holy heck those are some industrial beefy looking springs. They make me grin just thinking about them. I think there's 7 leafs total, whereas factory has 4 I think. Which reminds me; I need to call chux and find out where my extra leafs are.
Well, I've run out of sanity on this and will be giving the project over to a local shop. I'm just too pressed for time. I'm selling my house and have to be packed out and have it clean in two weeks. I need to focus on packing and all that stuff.
I got the new clutch (thanks to Marlin Crawler for getting it to me before the weekend!) installed, including the pilot and throw-out bearings. I used the bread trick to get the pilot out. Turns out wheat bread works better than white, especially if you have the kind with seeds on the crust. I took the drive-shaft apart and replaced the center carrier bearing and greased all the Zerks with the moly grease. The first time I pressed down the clutch I thought I forgot to replace the slave cylinder because the pedal went down so easily! After re-checking everything, I sat outside and pressed the clutch pedal down with my right hand while watching the slave/clutch lever, and it does work as expected. Better than expected actually. It turns out that the easiest way to get those top bolts out of the transmission (the two top bolts that mount into the engine) is to have a 3" body lift installed first. With all the lifts on my truck, I could comfortably sit upright under the center of the truck (with driveshaft removed).
We pulled the front diff out to drop the pan. I spent about 3 hours cleaning the pan and the bottom of the block. I used plastic scrapers first, then brake cleaner on a rag until that came back clean. Finally, I went over it all with electronics cleaner so it would dry super fast and leave no residue. I applied new FIPG (toyota black) and reinstalled the pan. I followed another user's advice and put a thin layer of FIPG on the entire block mounting surface, then did the 1/4" bead on the pan, going around both sides of the bolt holes. I went around in a random star pattern snugging everything up a little at a time and followed by torquing them to about 6ft-lbf. I let that sit overnight and filled with oil about 20hours after installation. I then ran the engine for about 3 minutes and shut it down and went about doing the ball joints. Yesterday I checked the pan and it's leaking again in at least one spot. There is no oil above the leak, only right where the fipg and the pan/block meet.
So frustrating.
With that needing to be done again (diff's still out at least), and the ball joints not being right, and me being out of time, the shop will get the pleasure of doing this now.
I bought the GES ball joint kit from eBay. I'd say that it's junk. I'm no car-parts professional (my first "real" job was a parts guy in a chain auto store in the early 90s) but they are clearly inferior to the stock parts.
The plus: They come with Zerk fittings! The minus: The Zerk fittings on the LBJ are a one-time-fill and then you have to take it back off.
As you can see, the Zerk fitting is on the top of the LBJ, which puts it right where the shaft sits in the bearing. Also, the two "pegs" don't line up with the larger holes in the knuckle. They're close, but no cigar. I thought about using the BFH to get it started, but why bother when that Zerk fitting is in the wrong place.
Here are some comparison pics between factory and the GES LBJs:
It's pretty obvious that the stock is *MUCH* beefier.
The stock "angle part" is reinforced and is over an inch thick. Closer to 1.5" at its max. This weighs about 6 pounds.
The GES is about an inch thick at its max. This one weighs about 5 pounds.
Also, the bump stop at the corner of the mount is at an angle on the stock, which puts the top of it about 1/4" back from the edge of the bolt hole, while the GES has the bump stop vertical, which puts it about 1/8" inside the bolt hole. I didn't grab pictures of that discrepancy.
I thought about hitting the two of them with my BFH to see what happens. I felt like I could hammer on the stock all day with only dents and sweat to show for it, while I felt like I could probably snap the GES in under 6 hits. This is just conjecture and I could be totally wrong. I didn't try it because I'm going to try to return the GES kit. If anybody wants me to try it out, take up a collection for my $100 that I paid and I'll gladly see how many hits it takes to snap it. Actually, I'll throw in the first $20, just need $80 more and I'll give it my worst.
The Upper Ball Joints are slightly oversized in the area that presses into the knuckle. Using my press, my big vise, my BFH, and lots of dirty words, I was able to press it into the knuckle by about 3/32 of an inch. Maybe 1/8". The UBJ was skinning back. I didn't grab a picture of it, but the knuckle was actually shaving metal off all the way around the UBJ.
I didn't even bother taking a close look at the inner and outer tie-rod ends.
I picked up some house brand "duralast" LBJs from Autozone and they fit and look like stock. The left and right appear to be made by different manufacturers. One has a Zerk fitting (in a useful location) and the other does not. I had him check the other boxes for a matching LBJ with Zerk, but no luck. I bought the only UBJ they had (also duralast) and got the full-on balljoint press. After lashing it together, I was able to install the duralast UBJ, and one of the ebay UBJs. I had to install two washers under the castle nut to get to torque on the duralast. Two washers got me "close" to torque on the ebay. It wasn't spinning, but I was running out of space for the cotter pin to still be useful with the castle nut.
When things settle down in life, I think I'm going to replace the UCAs with Icons or some other similar uniball UCA. I've read that if the UBJ is fitting too far into the UCA that it's an indicator that the UCAs are shot, or maybe I just have garbage UBJs... I figure that if I need to press UBJs in again, I might as well do the uniball and know it's solid.
07-29-2016, 06:27 AM
I took the drive-shaft apart and replaced the center carrier bearing and greased all the Zerks with the moly grease. The first time I pressed down the clutch I thought I forgot to replace the slave cylinder because the pedal went down so easily! After re-checking everything, I sat outside and pressed the clutch pedal down with my right hand while watching the slave/clutch lever, and it does work as expected. Better than expected actually. It turns out that the easiest way to get those top bolts out of the transmission (the two top bolts that mount into the engine) is to have a 3" body lift installed first. With all the lifts on my truck, I could comfortably sit upright under the center of the truck (with driveshaft removed).
