I'll be replacing pitman, idler, and both inner tierod ends. I'm gonna go with MOOG parts.

A mechanic told me that Toyota's will need new steering parts about every two years unless I add a steering stabilizer. I am running 31x10.50 tires and stock suspension. Do I need a stabilizer since I'm stock?

I've never replaced steering parts so any advice would be appreciated. I dread the pitman. Read too many horror stories on here.

 

Find a new mechanic. You don't need to add a steering stabilizer. Both of your trucks already have one from the TOYOTA factory. Whether they are worn out and not working is another story. But you don't need to add anything. Replace yes, add no unless the previous owner removed it.

 

x2. As far as I know i have the factory pitman, idler, and tierods. It just recently passed inspection and drives straight as an arrow.

 

That's what I was hoping for. It has the factory "steering damper" which I guess is sometimes called a stabilizer. Any way to check this thing or should I go ahead and replace? It looks like the original part. Yeah...I know...just quit whining and keep the wallet open.

 

Our front suspension should last a long time. I have had to replace quite a few idler arms on my 86-95 trucks though. Never really had a problem with any of the balljoints or pitman arm in trucks with well over 200K miles. The steering stabilizer could be worn out and you might benefit from an aftermarket one, what problems are you having exactly that made you take it to the mechanic in the first place?

 

A friend at work that knows toyotas drove it and told me my steering was sloppy. Said I needed to have it repaired soon since it was safety related. We don't have state inspections here in TN. I took it to a local mechanic who pointed out the worn components causing the play. He gave me a $635 repair estimate and told a few stories about folks that waited too long to repair their steering components...not pretty. I can see the slop in all the steering joints mentioned when someone moves the steering back and forth.

I've never had a vehicle that needed steering components replaced. This is my first Toyota and first 4WD. I just thought the slop in the steering was normal for a truck with big tires. Anyhows, I can't swing that repair bill, so I'll try and tackle it. I'm just waiting on parts from partsgeek.

 

I just got my parts from partsgeek. I ordered two inner TREs (MOOG ES3003RL). One TRE came totally assembled, greased, and ready to install. The other is not exactly the same looking part plus it came without the grease fitting installed. The grease fitting they sent is threaded. The TRE receptacle is smooth. If the fitting is threaded, shouldn't the receptacle be threaded as well? Oh yeah, one TRE has a 7/8" castle nut, the other has a 13/16" castle. I guess quality control was out to lunch when my order showed up. Another thing (which I didn't read before I ordered): They don't pay for shipping even if they messed up and sent the wrong thing. More waiting...

 

Where in TN are you? Also, I buy most of my parts from rockauto.com. Very rarely do I get an incorrect part (once in the past 2 years) and they paid for return shipping

 

I buy lots of stuff from rock auto, and never had a problem, good parts and service.

 

X2 on rockauto.com.

I recently did my upper ball joints, at around 280,000 miles or so. They needed it and it was worth it, it made a huge difference in how tight the truck drives. Then I took it in for the service bulletin (better late than never haha) for the center steering link. The dealer gave me new TRE's along with it, for no charge! Mighty nice of them.

Anyway, the truck drives and steers a lot tighter now, so I would say it is possible you need parts, and it can be worth the work. It's easy to DIY.

I'm not sure about your mismatched parts. I would guess they should match and they got your order wrong somehow.

 

Thanks for the rockauto tip; their site is slick. I was able to replace one TRE and the pitman this weekend. Turns out my damper is solid. I didn't get my steering wheel straight like I wanted, so more work on aligning the pitman. DANG IT!