I have: 1990, 2WD, 3.0, Pain in the ass.


Turns out I need new ball joints, bushings, a pitman arm, and I think that is all...


Ideally I would just like to throw the whole front end away and buy a total chaos long travel kit. Realistically and unfortunately, I do not have $3000.


Anyway, anyone know of a website where they offer these parts at a reasonable price?

From what I have looked at so far, Marlin Crawler, Trail Gear, Just Differentials, Addicted Offroad, Dave's Offroad Performance do not carry any of these... Downey has some 'mega travel' ball joints that don't appear to work with stock A-Arms. Meh. LCE does have a lot of these parts but as you all probably know they're are pretty pricey.

Thank you in advance for anyhelp!!!

-Nate

 

looks like pretty common parts i would try a local parts stores first.

 

ok here is my story. I just replaced my lower ball joints last july with ones i got from the local parts store. They lasted less than 8000 miles and were completely blown. My upper ball joints are the original toyota ones and they have damn near 170000 miles. I bought my lowers again this week from toyota. They are a little less than twice as much as cheap, crappy stereotypical auto parts store pieces. I figure if the stock ones last 160000 miles i should bite the bullet and just pay up and they will last another 160000 miles. Get OEM, they are better and will last longer than any over the counter store parts.

I too want to do the Total Chaos LT suspension, but i am going to go ball joint for the ease of replacing parts. I am also planning on using FOA shocks as they are built more towards the recreational user and their cost reflects that. http://f-o-a.com/

Good luck, but i still believe that you should go OEM if you want the parts to last as long as the stock ones have.

 

Yeah, I'm going to do that in a minute. I was just checking around to see if anyone was familiar with a website that carried these sorts of parts at a discount.

Every penny counts!

 

Alex: Thanks for the tip! After replacing these I sure as hell don't want to do it again anytime soon.

 

You welcome! I feel the same way and i thought I was getting good parts! How many miles does your truck have?

 

Hmm, like 170xxx.

Might be off though, since I haven't re-geared for the larger tires. I'm not sure how much of a discrepancy it makes though :p

What did you pay for your ball joints, Alex?

 

the lowers and uppers cost the same even though they are different parts. I think they were 64 bucks a piece. Pricey, but when you think about it, they lasted 170 000 miles, unlike the ones that were 35 bucks which for me only lasted about 8000 miles. Most of those miles were freeway though! only about 300 off road. those things wore out way too fast.

edit: the cost is also for 4wd ball joints, don't know if that will make a difference though.

 

Yeah, the dealer is quoting me around that area for ball joints. I know you can work the the dealer prices down, too. Just ask for discounts

 

I have another question:

When purchasing ball joints do they usually already come with bushings? Or are they purchased separately?

 

rockauto.com

 

Thanks! Found this place right before I noticed your response!

 

ebay....entire front end kits for like 160 bucks, but like said above may not last as long, but thats 4 BJ's left and right tie rod's pitman arm and idler arm, yours might be alil dif, 2wd and 4wd but its worth a look

 

The cheap ebay packages are a waste .... unless you are planning on selling the vehicle in the next few months. I had an ebay package and it lasted one year of light driving, now I have replaced "again" with OEM parts. Toyota balljoints are the best and they are pre-greased.

Try toyotapartsales.com

 

right there with you. you get what you pay for in most cases!