So 235k and my ball joints finally decided they were done.

I've been reading through here and my understanding is that just replacing bushings and ball joints is doable but a PITA. I should have access to a lift and a press.

Obviously I've been reading that replacing the whole LCA is easier and that OEM is best but my pockets can't quite support OEM right now so I've been looking at 1A Auto LCAs.

My big question is what else am I going to need? I know if I go the rebuild route that OEM bushings are the way but they don't sell ball joints separate so I will need to source those, but I know that whether I rebuild or just replace the LCA in total there will be other things that need replaced and I was hoping to get some help determining what those are.

Thank you.

More than likely your LCA adjust bolts/sleeves are seized and you will have to cut them out with Sawzall or cutoff wheels, so be prepared to get new hardware. I would go OEM, but there are aftermarket available. Make sure you grease up the new ones good before install.

honestly it wasn't that bad to do the bushing and ball joint swap in hindsight. If you had a non rusty truck, it would probably be a cake walk for anyone with a press. It took me a bit since it was pretty much my first car project beyond plastidip. I used whiteline polyurethane bushings and Import Direct Ball Joints from Oreilly's. So far have about 30k on the setup of daily driving and weekend wheeling with no complaints. I'm sure the Oreilly's ball joints won't last as long as OEM, but they have been doing well for me in the time being.

Also 4th gen ball joints are in compression, whereas 3rd gen ball joints are in tension, which is why you see the catastrophic failures on them more commonly. While safety is certainly not one to skimp on, the probability of failure from non OEM ball joints is a lot less on 4th gens

Here is a writeup I have on my bushing and ball joint swappero: Whiteline Lower Control Arm Bushing Tutorial (120+ Pictures)

I did mine about two years ago and went with these Dormans for the LCA and then went with this Moog kit. I liked the idea of the Moog's because they're greaseable and after putting in as much effort as I did getting out the seized originals, I thought that was kind of important to me.

The right answer very well might be to stick with OEM, but I haven't had any problems to this point.

SUPERPRO OFFSET LOWER CONTROL ARM PAIR | 03-09 LEXUS GX470 / TOYOTA 4RUNNER, 07-09 FJ | Apache Offroad

I’ve been looking at doing LCA’s on my 04 after looking at all the options of the rebuild and after market I think I’ll just go OEM at $300 a side it really isn’t that expensive of a repair considering they are roughly 18 years old.

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Are you paying shipping on those? Cobb County Toyota here in metro Atlanta has them for $305 shipped (use code FREESHIP). Maybe that saves you a few bucks.

I kind of wish I would’ve seen these before ordering Moogs from Rockauto. I cheaped out and ordered the Moogs instead of OEM but these may have persuaded me otherwise. Very cool product!!

I’m pretty sure it’s free shipping to southern Utah since that’s the nearest dealer to me. But I’m in the middle of getting my stuff for my drivers manifold and rear main seal. I’ll find out then if it is free shipping or not. I just don’t like dealing with the southern Utah dealership I’ve had nothing but bad luck through them. Much better luck through the SLC dealer.

Whatever LCA you go with, eventually you want to get rid of the stock type bushings. Why? Because they are a hindrance to smooth suspension movement. The bushings are clamped tightly and they only move with the suspension by twisting the rubber, so there is significant resistance to movement. Jack your 4Runner up and remove the wheel, loosen the top nut for the shock, even remove it, does your front suspension drop down, hardly, it takes some real effort to get it drop to full droop. Now loosen your LCA adjustment bolts and see the difference. When you install Whiteline, Super Pro or similar bushings they allow the LCA to cycle through the full suspension travel with little resistance. That is one purpose of their design.
I bought new 1Aauto LCAs and installed Super pro bushings before I installed them just for this reason.

I rebuilt mine last year following the write-up posted by @y=mx+b . I also used the Whiteline bushings. Moog ball joint from O’reillys. I rented the press and 4WD cup set also from O’reillys. I didn’t have a hydraulic press and was still able to do this by myself in less than a day. A little heat and a BFH really helped. I didn’t have to deal with much rust as my T4R has lived it’s life in the desert southwest.

If I had it to do over I would have replaced the adjustment bolts/cams too just for peace of mind but mine were still pretty clean.

This is exactly why I would go the super pro route. The bushing bind has the same affect on the upstroke too and fights the shock.
Better bushings, better ball joint, better geometry. Plus you save a lot of labor by using complete assemblies and not having to press anything in or out.