Suspension Conundrum
Greetings,
So, about 13,000 miles ago I decided to do a major upgrade to my front end. My ‘Runner had just turned over 200k, and it was time for some original parts to be replaced. So I did the following: New Fox 2.0 coilovers New OEM Toyota Lower Ball joints New Lower Control Arms New inner and outer tie rods Lately I’ve been having some issues... A few months ago I replaced the bushings and grommets on the front sway bar, I decided to upgrade to poly bushings (which I sufficiently greased). About a month later I drove thru some serious mud, and deep puddles. Shortly after that a squeak developed on the left (driver side) suspension. I assumed the grease from the poly bushings washed away. I wasn’t in a particular hurry, and over the course of a few weeks I not only re greased, but replaced the bushings, still a squeak. So I went back to rubber for the end link grommets, still a squeak. The steering rack had some play, so I replaced the rack and pump. I also felt the end links with the rack off, no problem. So, it had to be the upper ball joints, as they were original, and the boot was torn. Nope, a day later the squeak came back... So after almost $1k in parts and labor, I brought it to my suspension guy, he said the only time the a squeak is that loud, is with a Lower Ball Joint. But It couldn’t be, I just replaced them with OEM Toyota parts 13,000 miles ago. So as a test my suspension guy put a needle end on a grease gun, and squirted some grease under the LBJ boot. After one complete stop to stop rotation of the steering, the squeak is gone... So my steering guy said the LBJ was just dry, don’t worry about it. That it was probably a part that had been sitting for years and the grease dried out. I’m not as optimistic. As I’m sort of obsessive, and a ball joint failure will surly total my rig (and maybe kill me), I’m replacing the left LBJ with a part from the dealer. I’ve decided to leave the right one alone since it’s not giving me issues at the moment, and has no play... Question: Am I being too cautious about this? Would the simple replacement of the grease be good enough? Should I still replace both even though the right one only has 13k miles? Did my coilovers contribute to my LBJ issue? Thank you for listing to me ramble, and I’ve lurked here for a long time, but this is my first post. Rig: 2001 4Runner Limited 4WD Fox 2.0 Coilovers in front Bilstien 5100 w/ OME 2906 springs in rear |
Poly bushings are truly not a bush to absorb impacts. I saw a well respected offroad channel 4wd247 said not to use poly-(bushings) on suspension as that can cause the ears in suspension arms/axles to flex and crack.
Where did you buy the OEM LBJ's? I recently replaced all front and rear bushings OEM and the truck rides like my brand new tacoma. |
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With Toyota packaging and labels... I actually like the stiffer feeling the poly bushes give with the sway bar and steering rack. I’ve been told since the sway bar doesn’t bear vehicle weight, it’s not an actual suspension component... On other suspension components I’m sticking with rubber... |
If that fixes the issue then it fixes the issue. When i first replaced my LBJs I had a persistent squeak for like 2 weeks before it suddenly stopped. If you don't detect any play I'd hold off on it for now. However you might be interested in these which will be available for preorder soon. They utilize the same uni-ball Total Chaos puts in their UCAs, and will make an LBJ change a $75-100 expense instead of $200+. Expected to cost around $600
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my $0.02, if one of your LBJs was messed-up, replace both. one simply can't know without careful examination. as you correctly state, an LBJ failure can result in catastrophe. i like to replace all paired components in pairs. i realize that's more expense than everyone can manage all the time, but generally it produces more predictable behavior, not only with alignments, for instance, but also the wear tends to progress evenly and thus in a few years (?) when it's time to replace again, you don't have to remember which one is the most recent or whatever.
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With no symptoms on the right, and only 13k on it, I feel as that would be a waste. I don’t feel it’s had enough mileage on it to replace it solely for “even wear”... (Edit: sorry to sound like a jerk, since I know I asked the question. Ironically defending the suggestion of replacement helped me come up with an answer that I’m comfortable which, so thanks ;-) Quote:
But uniballs for my situation are a bit overkil. Since my rig is a daily driver first, and an off road rig second, although I’d like it to do both relatively well. If I trailered it, and it was only for off road, this is definitely something I’d think about... |
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i contacted total chaos last year, or maybe it was 2019, and asked if they have uniballs for my '99, and at that time they didn't. since then, i have learned through disassembly and testing that their uniballs i've had on my '95 pickup for many years are the source of the truck's irritating squeaking. at this point i don't really think i'd go for them in my 4R. i do need to order more for the truck, since putting them in entails boring out the holes larger, so once i've done that, the knuckle is altered and i'm forever a total chaos customer :-) |
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Looks like imitators have gotten very good at replicating Toyota packaging/labeling. I thought I had bought real RayBans off ebay and they looked very legit. I started to have suspicions so I bought a real pair from RayBan directly. The Ebay variant was super close and you'd never know unless you had the two, brand new, side by side. Looks like auto distributors are playing the same game. I'm now only ordering parts from Toyota dealers, including online ones.... First world problems... Fitting comment that is sad but true: I can't believe I just head someone say, "if you don't want to get ripped off go to the dealership." |
Ok, who is the seller?
Recently I wanted to replace O2 sensors in my 4Runner and found densoaftermarket has a universal sensor for $47 while the same thing is on ebay for $27 shipped! I noted two differences: Longer wire length and gasket (cheap aluminum) on ebay seller while denso site shows short wire length and factory like gasket. These made me to spend a bit and get it from a reputed seller. Vital parts buy it from the dealer: partsouq or a dealer on ebay. Just call them to verify that they are real. |
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Personally, this issue would bother me until I bought one from a Toyota dealer to ensure the best possible outcome. Buying sunglasses, which do not have a failure mode leading to potential death, made me question enough to buy them from a reputable source and the cheaper ones proved to be fake. You're right that fake parts aren't a 3rd gen specific issue. However, a potential fake LBJ on a 3rd gen has a lot more consequence than a potential fake air filter for a Toyota Camry. I'm not disagreeing with your idea to make a new post with a useful title, but I am curious why you posted this to a random thread that has nothing to do with Public Service Announcements. |
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While I’m not in the counterfeit business, I don’t see much point in copying low volume, relatively low price parts such as a ball joint. However something like oil filters makes sense. They move a lot of them, and it would seem to be worth setting up all the tooling and printing to produce fake oil filters. You could also slip them into the logistics chain overseas and it not be noticed, just my $0.02... Quote:
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I would strongly suggest doing some simple tests before you go and blow lots of money on work for a mystery squeak. The LCA bushings are a very common culprit for the same thing you are talking about. When I am off work I'll give you a list of things you can do to easily test separate components without taking the vehicle apart if you would like.
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