Recently purchased a 2001 limited 4x4 with 98k miles and started with taking care of some basic maintenance such as the cv axles in the front/replacing gear oil, spark plugs and wires, transmission and power steering fluid, plenum gasket, valve cover gasket... Had my dad's mechanic take care of that. Timing belt was replaced at 77k miles and the selling dealership had taken care of a few other things such as oil change.

The car came with a rear lift (Rough country) and spacers in the front, and I'm wondering if that's why the cv tore in the first place? If I want to swap out the original lightly rusted struts and get suspension in the front, what do I need to do? Will going from 16's to possibly 17's for wheels/tires alter anything? What parts will I need to have him do the work for me, since (frustratingly) I have very limited knowledge on working on cars.

Should I get UCA done as well as struts and suspension at the same time to save labor efforts? I've read about the front diff for lifted runners as an option but not quite sure what that means. Also... Is it dumb to have a rough country rear lift and something like an OME lift in the front?

I'm not going to be doing serious off roading, just something to make the ride a bit more comfortable in the front and to take on some light trails perhaps.

Apologies in advance if this isn't the right place to ask, but I'm hoping to slowly pick up on skills/information/purchase tools to eventually be able to do some things myself.

Welcome to the forum, your placement is perfect

Depending on how much lift that spacer is giving you, it may have exceeded the operating range of the stock CV axle, which is around 23°

One to two inches of lift you should be okay with stock CV axles. Over 2 inches of lift, 3" and up, most folks are looking at a diff drop OR extended CV axles (the route I went).

If you like the ride quality of your current setup you could just repair the axle boot and monitor it under your normal use conditions.

Which boot tore, in er or outer, and which side, driver or passenger?

PS. look at the stickys at the top of this sub forum for good baseline maintenance and lift threads

PPS. Sounds like you're off to a great start

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Thanks man, I was super excited to get some mods done wheels/tires wise but figured that's dumb if the basic maintenance hasn't been done. As far as the CV, I initially noticed the tear on the driver side about 2-3 days after my trip down from picking it up, might have been the cause. But just went ahead and did both sides to be safe, and hoping I didn't mess it up by going with aftermarket. The spacer is giving probably an inch and a half of lift or so, maybe 2".


Re: the ride comfort, it's honestly a little rough in the front. I dont know if it's the struts/springs that are just worn from being originals or what, but I'd definitely like a smoother ride.

Here are a few reads regarding lift and suspension upgrades I found, and continue to find valuable:

Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum - Powered by vBulletin

Absalom's Cookie Cutter 4runner Builds - New and Updated!

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You picked a good vehicle to learn DIY on. Get those front lower ball joints replaced with new OEM parts ASAP...

Get some tools and start learning! Timmy the Toolman DIY videos on Youtube are a great resource - he really covers everything in detail.

-Charlie

Charlie is right

Get your LBJs on a calendar along with a mileage check on all the regular maintenance items and their related parts
-timing belt
-radiator
-front and rear axle bearings (check for play)

The list goes on, but it's worth it

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Do you know the recommended related parts with LBJs?

I just did TB, now radiator and think I'll get on the LBJ schedule for peace of mind even though there isn't any play (just bought it)

Assuming you have a 2001 based on your user name. You will need:
43340-39465 left lbj
43330-39585 right lbj
90119-10933 x8 lbj bolts for 01-02 4Runners (37 ft/lb torque rating) required if you want to use the lbj dust shield.

If you don't want to use the lbj dust shield then you can use 90080-10066 x8 (59 ft/lb torque rating) instead.

Or you can upgrade to ARP bolts for the LBJs like I did


Stainless Steel is PN 763-1003

I'm not sure if those work with the OEM LBJ dust shield and I have no experience with them so I did not recommend them.

They have a smaller head (12mm) and same size shoulder/flange as factory and lower torque spec (54 lb ft) with higher tensile strength.

I've had zero interference issues with the brake dust shield but I'm not familiar with an OEM LBJ dust shield.

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The bolts for 01-02 that are compatible with the lbj dust shield/cover (90119-10933) have a captured washer instead of a flanged bolt head. Which is the reason the torque value is different. If you use the flanged lower ball joint bolts you will crack and damage the dust cover/shield.

Gotcha, I see the difference now

The different LBJ bolts and why it's important, Prado 90 Series — Mighty 90s Forum

My 99 doesn't have that dust.cover, but the ARB bolts come with non-captive washers which could still potentially work, but I can't/won't attest that they will or wont

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Welcome aboard you got a young'un.

Show Brake Master Cylinder some love do a fluid exchange if color is much off of being clear.
They're expensive to rebuild or replace a lot of threads on them and the ABS Trac module.

The lbj dust covers were 01-02. I haven't seen one in person, but from looking at the photos I can't see how they would help any