Front Suspension Can Of Worms

[KelOfTheRockies]

Vehicle is 2000 T4R Ltd with about 230,000 miles.

Recently, I had a mishap and slid into a curb/retaining wall and dorked up my alignment. Contact was on the left wheel, fender and bumper.

Once I got stuff taken off and looked over the suspension stuff, I figured that an alignment shop probably wouldn't work on it in the rust/wear condition parts were in.

This kind of a long story, so I'll put my question for all you forum gurus here:

Is ToyotaPartsDeal.com a good place to get parts? If not, can you recommend an affordable source? I'm getting seriously overbudget on this repair.

Here's the story:

My first plan was on the driver side

• Outer tie rod
• Anti Sway Bar Link
• Lower control arm bushings

And while I'm under there, new strut. Got that stuff from Advance Auto

There is a lot of rust, and it took me days and days just to get the above mentioned parts off. Repeated application of PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench over couple of weeks, Frozen bolts, stuck things, torch and hammering stuff, twisted the castle nut and broke off the tie rod. Had to cut through one nut on the strut with a Dremel to get it out. Still haven't gotten the control arm off.

A mechanic friend told me - before the mishap - that I needed wheel bearings and I purchased those for when I had time to put them in.

Now, it's seeming like the time since I'm having to tear lots of stuff apart.

Since I have to completely remove the steering knuckle to replace the bearings, My new plan is for both sides:

Upper and Lower ball joints
New lower ball joint bolts
Outer tie rods
Upper and lower control arm bushings
New eccentric adjusters and bolts
Wheel bearings

Once done, it should be an improvement I would think.

Anyway, vendor suggestions?

Thanks!

- k -

 

[Devbot]

To answer your question directly, yes they are fine to buy from
In regards to your project it should be noted your inner tie rods must be removed in order to get the lower control arms out as they block one of the bolts on each side from coming out/going in. And in doing THIS you'll need some skinny wrenches to do it as regular spanners are too thick for the little bit of space toyota gave (kinda hard to explain but Timmy the Toolman recorded this in his how to video). I know for a fact the steering rack can be moved out of the way without taking out the ITRE's by disconnecting some line and removing it's mounting bolts and perhaps the outer ends too - exactly how escapes me so if this interests you you'll have to look into it some more yourself, but it definitely is possible

 

[gamefreakgc]

Yes, that website works just fine. I can also recommend Rockauto.com as well as partsouq.com. Partsouq sells genuine Toyota parts from the international market (exactly the same as US market parts) and Rockauto.com has a huge selection of aftermarket parts and the occasional OEM part if it wasn't made by Toyota. Parts like sensors and other things made by DENSO and stuff like that. I'm all about saving money when doing repairs. Rockauto.com also posts promotional discounts in our vendor section as they are a forum sponsor.

Wow that sounded a lot like a paid post. It wasn't.

 

[shadow247]

To answer your question directly, yes they are fine to buy from
In regards to your project it should be noted your inner tie rods must be removed in order to get the lower control arms out as they block one of the bolts on each side from coming out/going in. And in doing THIS you'll need some skinny wrenches to do it as regular spanners are too thick for the little bit of space toyota gave (kinda hard to explain but Timmy the Toolman recorded this in his how to video). I know for a fact the steering rack can be moved out of the way without taking out the ITRE's by disconnecting some line and removing it's mounting bolts and perhaps the outer ends too - exactly how escapes me so if this interests you you'll have to look into it some more yourself, but it definitely is possible

Inner Tie Rods do not need to come off, simply unbolt all 4 rack bolts and pry the rack out of the way. We did this 3 months ago on my 3rd Gen when installing the 333 Fab Alignment Cam Delete..

 

[KelOfTheRockies]

Thank you all for your responses! I do appreciate it.

Devbot, good points and good tips. I did discover Timmy on YouTube and have viewed his videos on Wheel Bearings, Lower Control Bushings, Tie Rods, Upper Control Arm Bushings, Lower Ball Joint Replacement and Upper Ball Joint Replacement. I'm feeling like Timmy is kind of a friend now. And he even drives the very same T4R I do...YAY!

gamefreak, Thanks for the input. I would use RockAuto, but they won't sell to Colorado residents anymore due to the convoluted tax regs our lefty legislature recently passed. So, they're out. I'll have a look at partsouq.com and see what they have. THX!

Shadow, thanks for the simplification. I seem to recall Timmy's video getting the LCA off with that method; I'll start there.

Muchas Gracias everyone!

- k -

 

[FD7683]

McGeorge Toyota Online Parts is also a great website to buy parts from and is often a little bit cheaper than other areas.

 

[Devbot]

I would use RockAuto, but they won't sell to Colorado residents anymore due to the convoluted tax regs our lefty legislature recently passed. So, they're out.

Funny, I noticed the same thing in Washington this year with some other vendors - used to always buy from McGeorge then suddenly as of 2021 they no longer ship to Washington or Rhode Island. When I asked them why they couldn't give me any reasoning beyond "new tax related reasons" despite nothing about it in the media :fish:

 

[KelOfTheRockies]

It appears that some states are requiring online vendors to comply with and collect taxes for every municipality and precinct with their own teeny fraction of a cent in sales tax.

Companies like RockAuto don't have the resources to get all that information and put the myriad calculations into their online sales platforms so they just quit selling there.

f*****g politicians.

- k -

 

[Brian.]

Anyway, vendor suggestions?

Thanks!

- k -

I started like you, thinking online and shipped was probably going to be the cheapest. turned out I was wrong and my Local dealer (through their online portal) as just as cheap, if not cheaper, than Every other place. Still had to pay tax, but no shipping and I got my parts a lot faster in most all cases (simple logistics, these other dealers don't have the parts on hand, they have to order them and wait till they arrive before shipping to you).

So, don't skip your local dealer just because of an assumption. I had a Camelback order (back when they were pushed more than others) that didn't go very smoothly which is what got me looking ~ you should at least take a look, might turn out that without shipping costs it's a good option.

 

[Skulking]

I started like you, thinking online and shipped was probably going to be the cheapest. turned out I was wrong and my Local dealer (through their online portal) as just as cheap, if not cheaper, than Every other place. Still had to pay tax, but no shipping and I got my parts a lot faster in most all cases (simple logistics, these other dealers don't have the parts on hand, they have to order them and wait till they arrive before shipping to you).

So, don't skip your local dealer just because of an assumption. I had a Camelback order (back when they were pushed more than others) that didn't go very smoothly which is what got me looking ~ you should at least take a look, might turn out that without shipping costs it's a good option.

To further clarify this, a lot of dealerships have two prices. One higher price when you order in person or over the phone, and one lower price when you order through their online portal. Many will allow you to choose pickup rather than shipping when you order online.

 

[clearock]

rockauto still ships to Colorado, it just depends on the county tax laws, I have to have parts sent to a friends place when i order from them.

Another get site for parts is MegaZip - Genuine OEM Parts From Japan, USA, UAE | Online Store, yes u have to pay shipping and it takes longer, about 2-3wks has been my average, but the saving can be huge depending on the items even with shipping, saved over 800 when I rebuilt 2 tundra rear diffs even with shipping.

My local Toyota dealer gives me discounts when I go in person all the time, 15-25% on a regular basis

 

[Romeo1]

My local dealer is awesome. They give me the jobber or good guy or whatever the best list price name if it is. I have bought a lot from them parts wise. I also run 3 Toyotas, and buy tires there, so that helps obviously. Super fast freight also. Cheapest place in town to mount tires also.

They’ve helped me so much. Especially chasing down hard to find numbers part numbers and superseded numbers. They even loaned me their entire shim kit when I did my valve project.

I know there’s a lot of craptastic dealers out there. But it’s worth a shot.

 

[gamefreakgc]

rockauto still ships to Colorado, it just depends on the county tax laws, I have to have parts sent to a friends place when i order from them.

Another get site for parts is MegaZip - Genuine OEM Parts From Japan, USA, UAE | Online Store, yes u have to pay shipping and it takes longer, about 2-3wks has been my average, but the saving can be huge depending on the items even with shipping, saved over 800 when I rebuilt 2 tundra rear diffs even with shipping.

My local Toyota dealer gives me discounts when I go in person all the time, 15-25% on a regular basis

That sounds a lot like partsouq.com, almost all the parts are from UAE. Some basic maintenance sort of things are about the same price as a dealership in the US but those hard to get sensors and discontinued parts are WAY cheaper!

 

[blarchitect]

McGeorge Toyota Online Parts is also a great website to buy parts from and is often a little bit cheaper than other areas.

Second this. They ship very fast. Cameltoe Toyota (sic) took days just to process an order and I ended up having to cancel my order. So shabby.