ebay balljoints kit
#1
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ebay balljoints kit
Hello,
I have a 93 runner & it is 20 years old now so I would like to rejuvenate my suspension. While I drive, it goes straight but my steering wheel is like 20-25° offset to the left. While I brake the steering wheel shakes violently. Even when I turn there's a lot of play. So I'm guessing my suspension is toasted. I've decided to replace the upper & lower ball joints, pitman arm, idler arm, & tie rod ends. I've priced all these parts from Toyota & just in parts it comes out to $1000. So my question is have any of you guys had any luck with eBay parts? I've seen a kit that includes all these parts for $160. I do plan on a sas in the future so I don't want to drop a g to just remove and discard these parts in a year or so. I just want to get my rig ready for huntin season. I will also be insatlling a bj spacer kit front and rear, new springs, & new shocks. I would like to do all this @ the same time. Any help or replies are greatly appreciated.
I have a 93 runner & it is 20 years old now so I would like to rejuvenate my suspension. While I drive, it goes straight but my steering wheel is like 20-25° offset to the left. While I brake the steering wheel shakes violently. Even when I turn there's a lot of play. So I'm guessing my suspension is toasted. I've decided to replace the upper & lower ball joints, pitman arm, idler arm, & tie rod ends. I've priced all these parts from Toyota & just in parts it comes out to $1000. So my question is have any of you guys had any luck with eBay parts? I've seen a kit that includes all these parts for $160. I do plan on a sas in the future so I don't want to drop a g to just remove and discard these parts in a year or so. I just want to get my rig ready for huntin season. I will also be insatlling a bj spacer kit front and rear, new springs, & new shocks. I would like to do all this @ the same time. Any help or replies are greatly appreciated.
#2
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I can't comment on the ebay kits, but I just did the exact same thing you did (plus steering stabilizer and shocks) and got most of my stuff from amazon.com. Off the top of my head, I think I spend in the neighborhood of $450. I used the beck arnley brand and it seems pretty good quality.
I only have 100 miles or so on the new stuff, but so far so good. It's more than the ebay kit, but might be a nice compromise between quality and price.
I only have 100 miles or so on the new stuff, but so far so good. It's more than the ebay kit, but might be a nice compromise between quality and price.
#3
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I bought from eBay once. They will tell ya that there MOOG products or something good like that. However there not. There just some knock off brand trying to sell a mock off.
I bought a complete kit.
2 inner tierods
2 outer tierods
2 upper BJ
2 lower BJ
1 idler arm
Out of all those parts I could only use the top balljoints. The everything appears to be the exact replacement however they weren't. Lower BJ's were larger, idler was made for 2wd or something, tierods had different thread pattern.
That was my experience. The seller of eBay was.
ACCars2009
I bought a complete kit.
2 inner tierods
2 outer tierods
2 upper BJ
2 lower BJ
1 idler arm
Out of all those parts I could only use the top balljoints. The everything appears to be the exact replacement however they weren't. Lower BJ's were larger, idler was made for 2wd or something, tierods had different thread pattern.
That was my experience. The seller of eBay was.
ACCars2009
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I can't comment on the ebay kits, but I just did the exact same thing you did (plus steering stabilizer and shocks) and got most of my stuff from amazon.com. Off the top of my head, I think I spend in the neighborhood of $450. I used the beck arnley brand and it seems pretty good quality.
I only have 100 miles or so on the new stuff, but so far so good. It's more than the ebay kit, but might be a nice compromise between quality and price.
I only have 100 miles or so on the new stuff, but so far so good. It's more than the ebay kit, but might be a nice compromise between quality and price.
#5
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Here's what I got for my 1993 4runner:
- $52.00
- $22.17 x 2
- $27.41 x 2
- $25.63 x 2
- $36.40 x 2
- $32.80
- $41.26 x 2
I actually got my idler arm from napa (didn't want to wait for shipping), but I Probably would have bought this:
- $65.31
Grand total (with idler arm from above): $455.85
I'm signed up for amazon prime so I get free shipping, even up here in Alaska. They also have a thing like napa where you enter your truck's info and they tell you if it fits or not.
- $52.00
- $22.17 x 2
- $27.41 x 2
- $25.63 x 2
- $36.40 x 2
- $32.80
- $41.26 x 2
I actually got my idler arm from napa (didn't want to wait for shipping), but I Probably would have bought this:
- $65.31
Grand total (with idler arm from above): $455.85
I'm signed up for amazon prime so I get free shipping, even up here in Alaska. They also have a thing like napa where you enter your truck's info and they tell you if it fits or not.
#6
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Thanks, I'll be ordering up those parts this weekend. Did you install all those parts yourself? If so how long did it take? I have a good amount of tools & impact gun. I'm pretty mechanically inclined as well
#7
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It probably took me about 12-15 hours over the course of a few days because of a couple screw ups and runs to NAPA for tools and stuff. If I had to do it out again, I'd guess it would take me 6-8 hours.
It really wasn't hard though, you'll be able to do it. Between the FSM, these forums and this video:
My screw up was that I torqued down on the upper ball joint nuts on top too hard and sheared one off. That led to me trying to "fix it" and destroying the ball joint. So I had to get a replacement, etc etc. Lesson learned: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE TORQUE SPECS WRITTEN DOWN AND HANDY. I "remembered" it was 30 ft-lbs instead of the actual 25 and it broke!
Another hiccup was getting one of the shocks off. I was monkeying with it for a long time, but ended up grinding the upper nut off. I should have done that a lot sooner.
Let's see, make sure you put something between the upper bump stop and the frame to give yourself some space when trying to expand the control arm to get them onto the BJs. It doesn't seem like it's giving you a lot of room, but oh man do it.
Pittman arm was also a PITA. I bent a puller on my first go; that thing is on there. I ended up using a dremel with a cutting wheel to put a notch on the outside of the pitman arm.. like 1.5mm or so deep; make sure not to cut too deep! I found that technique on a thread somewhere on here. Then I put on the puller, a C-Clamp on the puller to keep it from bending open and cranked down on it. worked like a charm.
Finally, I wish I had a proper torque wrench.. I have a digital thing that goes between the wrench and the socket. It works well, but has a tendency to fall off and won't fit into tight spaces... so i had to guestimate a few of the bolts. The engineer in me was not happy with that =)
I'm really glad I did it and understand the suspension/steering system way better. So that's my experience with all this. I'm sure there are guys here that could bang it out in a few hours but that's not me.
[edit]
Getting a tie rod end puller and a pittman arm puller are a must from my perspective. About $15 each and made life waaay easier.
Last edited by adahlin; 06-05-2013 at 10:23 AM. Reason: clarification
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#8
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If you are getting violent shaking in your steering wheel during braking, you probably have warped brake rotors. Might as well replace them while you have the front end torn apart.
My 89 did the same thing, found my rotors were warped and rusted. Replaced them and problem solved.
My 89 did the same thing, found my rotors were warped and rusted. Replaced them and problem solved.
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Blacktail is right about the rotors. I've found that replacing the steering stabilizer will really help with steering shaking too, so its good that you are planning to do that.
I just bought Moog balljoints and some new CV axles from RockAuto.com. I ordered them yesterday, and they are already waiting for me at home. Apparently they shipped from San Bernadino.
I just bought Moog balljoints and some new CV axles from RockAuto.com. I ordered them yesterday, and they are already waiting for me at home. Apparently they shipped from San Bernadino.
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Yea you guys are right might as well get some brake rotors & pads while it's all tooken apart. Maybe a rear disc conversion as well :-P have any of you guys done it?
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#14
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NO! NO! NO! NO! Do not buy ebay ball joints. Last year I bought a kit from ebay that had ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends and a new pitman arm. The pitman arm and rod ends are still fine, but the ball joints started squealing horribly only after a month or so. They had no grease fittings, so the only option was to take the boot off and try to put in grease by hand. Even greased, they still squeaked. I eventually replaced them with Moogs from Rock Auto and couldn't be happier:http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,10070
Don't waste your time and money. Just go with OEM or Moog and never look back.
I also see that you're looking into a ball joint spacer kit. I recommend this one, as this is the one I'm using now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-IFS-Pickup-4Runner-2-5-Front-Lift-Kit-4WD-/270441652053?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1993%7CMake%3AToyota&hash=item3ef7941f55
It is only $90 and it comes with sway bar drop brackets, differential drop brackets AND grade 12.9 hardware. It's not some cheap chinese kit. It comes from Fat Bob's Garage in Utah. WabFab or 4Crawler sells just the ball joint spacers for over $110.
As for shocks, I used Skyjacker Hydro 7000s. They're good for the money.
Don't waste your time and money. Just go with OEM or Moog and never look back.
I also see that you're looking into a ball joint spacer kit. I recommend this one, as this is the one I'm using now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-IFS-Pickup-4Runner-2-5-Front-Lift-Kit-4WD-/270441652053?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1993%7CMake%3AToyota&hash=item3ef7941f55
It is only $90 and it comes with sway bar drop brackets, differential drop brackets AND grade 12.9 hardware. It's not some cheap chinese kit. It comes from Fat Bob's Garage in Utah. WabFab or 4Crawler sells just the ball joint spacers for over $110.
As for shocks, I used Skyjacker Hydro 7000s. They're good for the money.
Last edited by 93Xtra-Cab; 06-06-2013 at 12:02 PM.
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The latest issue of 4wd Toyota Owner covers this topic. They bought everything from moog.com for 360 minus the idler arm. For the idler arm the got bought an Autozone unit and beefed it up with bronze bushings and a reinforcement arm. all of that was less than 100 dollars.... check it out
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Yes, I read that article. It makes me cringe. Moog parts are not the way to go if you ask me. Their parts are not nearly as good as OEM, this is mainly attributed to the boots they use. Here's another video I made explaining exactly why you should fork out the cash for OEM parts.
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I just got my bj spacer kit in the mail today but there are no instructions. The bj spacer video is really informative, but the kit I got comes with a diff drop. I'm lost on how it works, and how it goes on. Can anyone point me in the right direction please.
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I have a video about BJ spacer installs as well. Just search my channel for it. I don't have a video about diff drop installation yet, so here is 4Crawler's write up.
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation
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I have a video about BJ spacer installs as well. Just search my channel for it. I don't have a video about diff drop installation yet, so here is 4Crawler's write up.
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation