Part 2: I paid the stupid money for the 22 yr old Tacoma

[PathFinder]

Definitely do ball joints, Sankei 555 are what you want.
Factory ones went 225k, Duralast ones only made it 25k. Any kind of tire size and hard driving kills them fast. My buddy and I both have 255/85-16 and tend to change them around 50k to be safe.

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[Jesse Jaymes]

Can anyone help w rear seat delete? That micro Crawl Space is useless. I’d prefer to let a dog sit there. But needs to be level and flat. I’ve seen thousands of pics of Goose Gear? But nothing for this Gen extra cab. Everything is for dual cab or the ones w mini side doors.

 

[Rob5589]

Not everything on a Toyota lasts forever? What's next, a Tikka that won't shoot 1/4 moa? A NF scope that won't track? A MH meal that won't give you the shits? It's a crazy world we live in

 

[Fatcamp]

Everything fails at some point when you neglect the warning signs. Point is, theu don't just spontaneously combust and throw a tire across the freeway. Regular checks of any vehicle's components are smart. Replacing parts that don't need replacing just because they "could" go bad, is a waste of $.

Ya, but these LBJ are a real hassle to check and for no longer than they take to replace might as well just do it.

I did mine as soon as I got it home from Colorado.

 

[WRO]

Its pretty well known.
They way the ball joint is the shock pushes the suspension apart. So when the bj fails it comes apart rather then sloppy and weight of the vehicle being on it..

Huh? I've never heard of it literally until this thread and I've owned tacomas most of my adult life, a couple that went 250k in stock ball joints and were ran very hard.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Can anyone help w rear seat delete? That micro Crawl Space is useless. I’d prefer to let a dog sit there. But needs to be level and flat. I’ve seen thousands of pics of Goose Gear? But nothing for this Gen extra cab. Everything is for dual cab or the ones w mini side doors.

I think most just build a plywood platform. Couple flip up doors to store gear.
Speaker carpet.

 

[flyinsquirel]

I think most just build a plywood platform. Couple flip up doors to store gear.
Speaker carpet.

Yep. Unbolt those silly flip up seats and toss em. You may be able to use their brackets to bolt your plywood to if I remember correctly.

 

[5MilesBack]

View attachment 286715

Last summer I was doing my Baja thing with my '89 on a "middle of nowhere" dirt road, going way too fast when coming to the top of a rise the road suddenly had a 90 degree right turn. Well, I didn't make the turn. The truck flew right off the road catching air before landing in a rock pile that stopped the truck cold. Your picture is what I expected to find when I got out of the truck to assess the situation. I was quite surprised to find everything intact and solid as far as I could tell. It definitely needed an alignment when I got home, but other than a new "tick" that I hear it appears to have survived it all.

 

[dieselchessy]

Really suppressed so many here are unaware of the lower ball joint concerns with 1st gen Tacoma's and 3rd gen4 runners.

Easy enough, replace them with factory Toyota ball joints, replace the mounting bolts at the time, use a torque wrench for the install. If your lifted with bigger tires check and change more often. If your factory suspension angles then there is less concern.

 

[Billy Goat]

Friend of mine lost his ball joint in his driveway a few years ago. Thought I had a picture. I fixed it where it sat, it was blocking everything and in the teens that day with high winds. Pretty miserable but was able to fix it where it was easier than getting it moved. He hadn't noticed any of the usual symptoms of a bad ball joint. Luckily it happened at less than ten mph rather than on the 3 hour drive he was making the following day to hunt. 31 inch tires on a factory truck. Probably had 130-140k on it. Thinking it an early 2000's truck.

Another friend went a state away and purchased a mid 90's taco. About two months later he was putting a new motor in it.


They are good trucks, but they aren't bullet proof. Seems some people think they only ever need gas and oil. They still take regular maintenance, things still wear out on them. Certain advantages to birfield joints and cv's. They really don't make much power, and are lightweight, all that lends itself to not breaking as much stuff.

Only you can determine if they are really worth the cost. What's the price of breaking down? They are likely the best for reliability on the small truck/suv market. However you can get something for 1/3 the money that isn't much less reliable.

It's like green paint on a tractor, some pay a lot of money for it.

 

[three5x5s]

I do like my Green paint, but my Toyota is tan.

 

[JeffRaines]

Friend of mine lost his ball joint in his driveway a few years ago. Thought I had a picture. I fixed it where it sat, it was blocking everything and in the teens that day with high winds. Pretty miserable but was able to fix it where it was easier than getting it moved. He hadn't noticed any of the usual symptoms of a bad ball joint. Luckily it happened at less than ten mph rather than on the 3 hour drive he was making the following day to hunt. 31 inch tires on a factory truck. Probably had 130-140k on it. Thinking it an early 2000's truck.

Another friend went a state away and purchased a mid 90's taco. About two months later he was putting a new motor in it.


They are good trucks, but they aren't bullet proof. Seems some people think they only ever need gas and oil. They still take regular maintenance, things still wear out on them. Certain advantages to birfield joints and cv's. They really don't make much power, and are lightweight, all that lends itself to not breaking as much stuff.

Only you can determine if they are really worth the cost. What's the price of breaking down? They are likely the best for reliability on the small truck/suv market. However you can get something for 1/3 the money that isn't much less reliable.

It's like green paint on a tractor, some pay a lot of money for it.

Better watch out, according to some guys on this forum these things never break down and only need gas and oil.

In all seriousness, I agree with you completely. They didn’t get their reputation for nothing, but to act as if they never break and everything else on the market is constantly on the side of the road is laughable. A lot of the guys on this forum must be spending a lot of time in the shop and on the side of the road then since I’m sure a lot of them don’t drive Toyota’s. Maybe that’s why some guys post a lot.

 

[204guy]

Count me in as one that doesn't understand the emotional attachment to 25 year old $10k truck that fits in a very small niche. (Fills that niche very, very well.)

Hope you get 200k trouble free mi. out of it Jesse.

 

[ewade07]

"Well known"? Source?

I've never seen a Toyota on the side of the road, let alone missing a front wheel.

i actually had a upper/lower failure on my 02 tundra a couple years ago. wheel was clean off the vehicle. scary shit, thank god i was only goin 30 when it happened.

 

[Shaw]

Mine went at just over 378k miles.

 

[Michael Rankin]

See the argument against Toyota’s being as reliable as most think is the ball joints go out somewhere between 180k miles and 400k miles.

Seem like some pretty good rigs

 

[Michael Rankin]

Most half ton or smaller Chevys, fords, nissans, dodges, or nearly any other brand would be in a scrap yard by then.

The gm half ton stuff was really good up till 2006. After 2007 it went downhill fast.

 

[hobbes]

I replaced the lower ball joints on our 07 Sequoia about a month ago. It has around 189,000 miles. I probably let it go longer than I should because I don't drive it often and didn't realize they were going out. When I did drive it, I noticed quite a bit of play and asked my wife how long it had felt that way. She wasn't sure, but it had been long enough that it had worn the inside of the tire tread more than I liked.

I did them myself but had never done one before. The first one took me a lot longer than the second. It sure as heck didn't come apart as easy as the YouTube mechanics showed.

I had them replaced in a 99 Chevy Tahoe when it had around 120,000 miles. It felt like it cost me an arm and a leg in about 2007.

 

[TFrank]

Lol ohhh the Tacoma

 

[Rob5589]

I replaced the lower ball joints on our 07 Sequoia about a month ago. It has around 189,000 miles. I probably let it go longer than I should because I don't drive it often and didn't realize they were going out. When I did drive it, I noticed quite a bit of play and asked my wife how long it had felt that way. She wasn't sure, but it had been long enough that it had worn the inside of the tire tread more than I liked.

I did them myself but had never done one before. The first one took me a lot longer than the second. It sure as heck didn't come apart as easy as the YouTube mechanics showed.

I had them replaced in a 99 Chevy Tahoe when it had around 120,000 miles. It felt like it cost me an arm and a leg in about 2007.

Labor costs are often the majority of the price of a repair. You can save significant cash if you DIY.