Mstudt's SR5 Build & Adventure Thread
- Thread starter MStudt
- Start date
MStudt
official vendor
Yesterday on my way home the steering wheel started shaking violently, and then I heard a loud pop. I was able to limp home, but don't think I should have. When I got home I found a busted passenger CV, and half the ball bearings were missing. I was able to pull the CV, and this is what I found. Note that this picture was taken after I cleaned the shaft, and degreased it.
With having one CV now toast, and I'm sure the other is right behind. I decided to go ahead with the front end rebuild starting today. This is something that I already had planned on doing just not this soon. I had everything on hand that I needed for the complete front end rebuild with the exception of the CV's, and the UBJ's. After a quick trip to Napa I had those parts coming, and they'd be in by 2:00. After getting the passenger side completely pulled apart I found something that I was not happy about.
For everybody that considers replacing LBJ's with something other the OEM you might want to take note. I replaced my LBJ's in July of 2014 with some Napa LBJ's. With about 18 months of being on the vehicle, and about 12,000 miles they were toast. The boots were in perfect condition, and none of the grease had leaked out. However, that LBJ's were dry as a bone. I could hardly move them hand, and when I did you could hear the grinding. That being said I will be running OEM from this point on. I also found that UBJ's, and TRE's were toast. I'm replacing the UBJ's, innner TRE's, and outter TRE's with Senki 555's that I picked up from Low Range.
This is the list of what I'm replacing:
UCA's w/OEM bushings
UBJ's
LCA's w/Whiteline bushings
LBJ's
New Cam Bolts
Inner TRE's
Outter TRE's
Rubber boots
Sway bar links
Spindles w/OEM bearings
CV shafts
Here's the progress so far.
With having one CV now toast, and I'm sure the other is right behind. I decided to go ahead with the front end rebuild starting today. This is something that I already had planned on doing just not this soon. I had everything on hand that I needed for the complete front end rebuild with the exception of the CV's, and the UBJ's. After a quick trip to Napa I had those parts coming, and they'd be in by 2:00. After getting the passenger side completely pulled apart I found something that I was not happy about.
For everybody that considers replacing LBJ's with something other the OEM you might want to take note. I replaced my LBJ's in July of 2014 with some Napa LBJ's. With about 18 months of being on the vehicle, and about 12,000 miles they were toast. The boots were in perfect condition, and none of the grease had leaked out. However, that LBJ's were dry as a bone. I could hardly move them hand, and when I did you could hear the grinding. That being said I will be running OEM from this point on. I also found that UBJ's, and TRE's were toast. I'm replacing the UBJ's, innner TRE's, and outter TRE's with Senki 555's that I picked up from Low Range.
This is the list of what I'm replacing:
UCA's w/OEM bushings
UBJ's
LCA's w/Whiteline bushings
LBJ's
New Cam Bolts
Inner TRE's
Outter TRE's
Rubber boots
Sway bar links
Spindles w/OEM bearings
CV shafts
Here's the progress so far.
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MStudt
official vendor
I wasn't worried about the CV issue, but the LBJ's concerned me. Since we just returned home from a 5k road trip this could have ended a lot worse. I will say that I will never buy LBJ's that are not OEM again. I got those from Napa about 2 years ago, and have less than 15k miles on them. The boots are in great shape, and I couldn't find any grease leaking from them.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Was the broken cv axle oem or aftermarket?
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MStudt
official vendor
I'm pretty sure they're original OEM. I have replaced them since owning it 3 years ago, and I doubt the previous owner did either. Either way these are all things that needed to be addressed. I was hoping to get to this by June, but this weekend will have to do.
This right here haha.:rofl:
MStudt
official vendor
After 4 days I finally have the front end rebuilt. I'm getting the 4runner tower to a shop this evening for an alignment tomorrow. I messed with the cam bolts some, and I couldn't get it feeling comfortable enough to drive on the road. The front end also seems like it's sitting up quite a bit higher than it was before. I'm sure having all the new bushing, control arms, TRE's, and shocks may have something to do with that. The shocks seemed a bit more difficult to get in this versus any other time I've had them out.
Hopefully it's just me being a bit cautious.
Passenger Side
Driver Side
Hopefully it's just me being a bit cautious.
Passenger Side
Driver Side
A.Wilson013
New member
I am pretty sure that my cam bolts are the opposite of how yours are. I think my little lines are facing outboard.
Those fancy spindles and all the new parts make your calipers look awful! haha Are they as bad as they look?
Those fancy spindles and all the new parts make your calipers look awful! haha Are they as bad as they look?
