Alignment Results and Suggested Maintenance

[shamading]

Hi All, hoping for some advice and interpretation regarding my recent alignment. Questions at end of post. Background first.

Three weeks ago I had new rear coils, UCA's, LCA's, and End Links installed as I described here. My shop told me I needed to get an alignment ASAP after that work.

The snowboarding season is coming to an end here but there is still some nice powder to be found so I drove to the mountains a couple times to snowboard and put another 1k miles on my T4R before going into Firestone this weekend and purchasing their Lifetime Alignment Service.

When I picked it up they told me I had too much play in the front end to do a proper alignment but they "got close" and handed me a quote to replace one inner left tie rod and to remove/replace Rack & Pinion Steering Gear Bushing.

Here are the techs notes:

Here is the repair quote (needed before I can get a proper alignment):

And finally the Alignment Report:

I use a shop that let's me source my own parts and has an owner and mechanics that repeatedly do right by me so I jumped onto RockAuto to compare part prices. The part descriptions match to a $8.32 UltraPower Front Inner Tie Rod End (PN EV433) which they want $80.99 for and a $9.17 MOOG Rack and Pinion Bushing (PN K200769) they want $92.99 for. Figuring if one is bad the rest are not far behind I went ahead and ordered:
2x Raybestos Professional Grade Inner Tie Rod Ends (PN 4011883)
1x Raybestos Professional Grade Right Outer Tie Rod End (PN 4011803)
1x Raybestos Professional Grade Left Outer Tie Rod End (PN 4011802)
1x Raybestos Professional Grade Rack and Pinion Bushing (PN 5777060)


Questions:
1. Am I correct in my assumption that I should replace all the front tie rod ends at once, with better components (I intend to drive this rig for another 100k+)?
2. Do my parts look like good substitutes for the ones suggested by Firestone?
3. While they are under there, does it make sense, labor wise, to have any of the following replaced as was recommended a few months back:
Sway Bar Bushings
Sway Bar Links
Sway Bar Bracket
Ball Joints
Control Arms
4. After the tie rods and bushings, there should be no problem getting my alignment report back in spec and "all green" right?
5. My steering feels "loose". Will this tighten it up?
6 (and last!). Am I in danger safety or tire wear wise with the alignment as is?

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on these!

 

[JayRolla]

Questions:
1. Am I correct in my assumption that I should replace all the front tie rod ends at once, with better components (I intend to drive this rig for another 100k+)?
2. Do my parts look like good substitutes for the ones suggested by Firestone?
3. While they are under there, does it make sense, labor wise, to have any of the following replaced as was recommended a few months back:
Sway Bar Bushings
Sway Bar Links
Sway Bar Bracket
Ball Joints
Control Arms
4. After the tie rods and bushings, there should be no problem getting my alignment report back in spec and "all green" right?
5. My steering feels "loose". Will this tighten it up?
6 (and last!). Am I in danger safety or tire wear wise with the alignment as is?

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on these!

1. If it was me I would only buy OEM genuine toyota parts. They will last you 200k miles.
2. I would go with both front outer tie rod ends, lower ball joints and poly urethane bushing mounts for the rack. Sway bar stuff will stiffen body up but not needed for alignment.
3. The tie rod ends are the main reason it wont align along with teh rack bushings since the rack moves when you turn.
4. It will tighten it up a lot. As long as the rack is working right it should be night and day difference when you get it all fixed.
5. The tires will wear until you fix all the issues.

If you can do the work your self you will save tons of money, its really not that tough as long as you have some experience.

 

[shamading]

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback JayRolla.

I was under the impression that the "Raybestos Professional Grade" parts were essentially OEM or the closest thing on RockAuto.

Does anyone know if the Poly mounts are included in the Rabestos 5777060 "Complete Kit"? I cant tell from the picture. If not, I don't see them on RockAuto.

I've read some LBJ horror stories on here. I know to stay away from MOOG and ADELCO. But what about these Raybestos Professional Grade LBJs? I guess Im still stuck on the Raybestos Pro = OEM thing. Toyota of Dallas seems to be well recommended and I can get both Toyota OEM LBJ's shipped from them for a little over $200. Almost twice the price as the Raybestos but worth it I guess?

 

[toyoKühl]

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback JayRolla.

I was under the impression that the "Raybestos Professional Grade" parts were essentially OEM or the closest thing on RockAuto.

Does anyone know if the Poly mounts are included in the Rabestos 5777060 "Complete Kit"? I cant tell from the picture. If not, I don't see them on RockAuto.

I've read some LBJ horror stories on here. I know to stay away from MOOG and ADELCO. But what about these Raybestos Professional Grade LBJs? I guess Im still stuck on the Raybestos Pro = OEM thing. Toyota of Dallas seems to be well recommended and I can get both Toyota OEM LBJ's shipped from them for a little over $200. Almost twice the price as the Raybestos but worth it I guess?

i just installed a 3 inch lift 2 weeks ago. went to get the alignment and was told my inner passenger tie rod end was shot. they ordered me a raybestos and its currently being installed. iwas told it is not the same as OEM but this is a part that i could get by without it being OEM seeing as my truck has 220k. im paying 350 for this and 2 other things to be done. if it wasnt those other issues i would be paying 200. also this is somehting i would be doing my self if i had a garage or ZERO snow on the ground. i would try to do this yourself but raybestos is good enough for the girls we roll with.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback JayRolla.

I was under the impression that the "Raybestos Professional Grade" parts were essentially OEM or the closest thing on RockAuto.

Does anyone know if the Poly mounts are included in the Rabestos 5777060 "Complete Kit"? I cant tell from the picture. If not, I don't see them on RockAuto.

I've read some LBJ horror stories on here. I know to stay away from MOOG and ADELCO. But what about these Raybestos Professional Grade LBJs? I guess Im still stuck on the Raybestos Pro = OEM thing. Toyota of Dallas seems to be well recommended and I can get both Toyota OEM LBJ's shipped from them for a little over $200. Almost twice the price as the Raybestos but worth it I guess?

The closest thing in a junkyard to a Ferrari is still a piece of junk.

The poly mounts likely don't come with the rack kit. It will come with rubber bushings in the left 2 mounts, but it probably won't come with the third bushing (the one that goes around the rack). My rack had kinda crappy rubber bushings in it. I left them in because I was too tired and frustrated to press them out.

I don't know that much about raybestos pro, they might be decent. For a TRE I'd be willing to give it a try since they aren't THAT painful to replace, though it will cost you another alignment.

 

[TheDurk]

$350 to do the rack bushings is highway robbery. Get the poly kit from Wheeler's:

Steering Rack Bushing Kit for 95-00 Tacoma and 96-02 4Runner

Follow this DIY:

Steering rack bushing replacement | IH8MUD Forum

Total Cost: $21.50 plus shipping.

and tell these guys to shove it. Makes a WORLD of difference. Sort of a pain, but can be done in an afternoon even for a first-timer. Those labor hours in the estimate are ridiculous.

 

[shamading]

Re: LBJ's. After some more digging around the forum I've trashed the Raybestos idear and am ordering 2 OEM LBJ's from Camelback for $171 shipped.

Raybestos Tie Rod Ends and Bushing have already shipped so they will go in with the OEM LBJ's.

Like toyoKühl, I don't have a garage either but the weather is getting nicer here in Seattle so soon I'll be able to do some work on her outside in the parking lot. The to do list is growing.

Firestone will only be doing "free" alignments on my rig (bought the lifetime alignment for $159 this past weekend). I agree their labor is estimate high and I am not a fan of the parts they were suggesting.