The ball joints on my 89 pickup are totally shot. I am planning on replacing them along with the shocks, brake rotors and pads. I was just curious if anyone can recommend anything else to get done while I have the wheels off? Tie rods are actually looking acceptable at this point. Possibly I should repack the bearing with grease? I have never done that and have no idea how easy or difficult it may be. Any other things to check or do along with this job would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Repacking the bearings and rebuilding the hubs would be good. It's not difficult and you'll have everything apart to do the brake rotors anyway. Have you looked into upgrading the front brakes to the V6 calipers and rotors? Also check your CV axles. If you need to replace the boots or maybe a rebuild it would be a good time to do that too.

One thing you definitely should do is pull the CV axles anyway and get rid of the pressed in studs that bolt them to the front diff and replace them with some grade 8 bolts. It'll make it a lot easier later on if you need to drop the front diff without having to take the hubs apart to get the CV axles out of the way.

 

Yup, yup

 

Awesome. Thanks for the good info. I have a little time off work and was looking for a small project!

 

Haha, you bought a Toyota, man. That's a never ending project!

 

Hey Sparks what's up bro? I bought a 4.56 third from Sparky but can't remember if front or rear. Good dude to buy from - Sparks is giving good advice. I am going to be rebuilding my CVs and bought the kits from the dealer. When I do, I am going to do a CV rebuild thread as I found a link that shows how to separate the outers which are essentially like birchfields found in the SFAs. The kits from the dealer are the way to go because it comes with two tubes of grease, one black grease and the other brown grease. So I just have to find out which is used for the inner and which is used for the outer. I will post pics and part numbers as well.

And Sparks is right about the pressed in bolts but you don't have to buy new bolts/nuts. You put the nut back on the bolt and hit it out with a hammer - they will come out. It helps to spray with penetrating fluid if rusty...once the bolts are out, grind away the serrations on the bolts and test fit them to make sure they slide in the holes...you are good to go to reuse them.

And yes, once you buy a Toyota...the project never stops. My current project started with a bad radiator but is now a Timing chain w new oil pump and water pump, gear swap, 31" tires, new Downey 1.5" rear coils and ProComp es9000 shocks, LSPV removal with manual valve by master, ADD removal/swap with 1st gen IFS axle tube, 170 amp GM alternator swap and Big Three upgrade with 2 gauge wire left over from my F350, power steering pump rebuild, CV rebuild, headlight harness and relays, Autozone FA5040 idler arm - adding my own grease zerk..and what else...??? I plan on doing a build up thread once I am done...hopefully soon...or will I start the thread before the truck is done...

 

Hey Bruinpilot, check out ProForged ball joints. I was going to go with the Moog Problem Solvers but I am going to go with ProForged next year when I install my ball joint spacers. Summit racing sells them which is where I will probably buy them. Been doing my research and they seem to have great reviews and be a quality part. They do have grease fittings on them. Just FYI...

 

I wish I had gotten your recommendation sooner. I did all this stuff and the truck is riding great. I just threw on some mevotech ball joints I got off of rock auto and for the price they are some pretty solid good quality joints. We'll see how long they hold up, but feels like a new truck right now. Especially with the new shocks. I went with kybs. I didn't want the super cheap ones and couldn't afford ranchos or billsteins. I have had great luck with the kybs on my car again will see how they go on the old yota...

 

Yea I like Rock Auto also. They are great to buy from. Just keep those ball joints well greased and you should be good to go for awhile. I've heard good things about KYBs also as well as Bilsteins. I put on ProComp ES9000's from Summit on the rear because they seem to be liked by alot of guys here and a friend of mind also gave me the thumbs up. And they were only around 40 bucks each. The truck isn't done yet so I can't tell you about the ride yet.

What did you go with for brakes and rotors? What else did you do?

 

Wow $40 each isn't much more than the kybs. I think I paid somewhere in the mid 30s for them, so if they are really good, that's a great price.

I ended up keeping the stock calipers since I found some beck arnley rotors on clearance for $8 a piece. I couldn't walk away from that. The beck arnley stuff has been pretty decent in my experience. The rotors are nice and thick. Those ball joints seem good, but they sure took a lot of grease. I think it took about a full tube between the four of them to get a little bulge in the boot. Besides that I didn't do much. I wanted to do more but the wife and baby were getting a little impatient this time of year with Christmas and New Years... Hopefully I'll get more done next time, but just this little bit and the truck is driving great. I'll throw on some new tires next week and it will be awesome. Good luck with the project!

 

Thanks. I just gotta get out there and finish this thing off. Pretty much have the rear 4.56 third in and filled, New Downey Off Road 1.5" lift coils in, rear brakes done, just have to connect up the new braided line in rear and attach to the bracket that once held the load sensing proportioning valve (LSPV); manual proportioning valve from Summit by the master under hood. New shocks in and waiting for the tires to go on so I can drop it on the ground and tighten up the shock mounts. I don't want to preload the bushings. Need to figure out how long an extension to buy from 4Crawler for the pan hard bar with taller coils on. Gonna be running 31" tires on stock 15" rims.

The valve cover off and engine is ready for the timing cover to come off and do the R&R of the chain, water pump and oil pump. New radiator going in. I pulled off the oil pan because the driver side chain guide was broke - a lot of crap in pan from it. That means the front diff is out and center link out so I could pull the pan out. The 4.56 ADD diff I bought here will go in its place with a 1st gen axle tube; getting rid of all the ADD vacuum stuff on the front end. Rebuilt the power steering pump because it was leaking before I bought the truck...The pan had some rust spots on it not bad - going to take care of that.

Bought a new oil pressure sensor because I thought it was bad but was a broken wire to connector; probably gonna replace the coolant temperature sensor for ECM I believe on front of intake. I bought CV rebuild kits from the dealer and going to rebuild those because one of the boots was cracked but not all the through - I found a video that show's how to pull apart the outside CV's (they are like birchfields in the SFAs). I have the link at home which I will post up later. Since I have to pull the Aisins off to totally remove the shafts, I am thinking about checking the bearings myself. Since the center link is off, I bought a FA5040 idler arm (the strongest one there is and you can buy brass bushing for it here. Not going to now but I am going to take it apart and add a grease fitting.

I'm adding a GM alternator from here because I want to run a winch in the future. Upgrading the big 3 with 2 gauge AWG cable left over from my now sold F350. Also going to relay the headlights with parts from here and install my old Hella 500s on frt bumper. Also had to install a front parking brake cable to replace the broken one.

All this started out as a bad radiator and mushroomed from there. The trucks been in the garage since late July and thank God the wife is a patient and level headed woman (sometimes). She gives me a ride to work when she needs her 09 Escape. And I know abt the baby thing also...I have a new 15 month old boy - addition to the family. Wife stays home and I work all the OT possible. So I hear ya on the family thing with a running vehicle...

Next year I want to add these to the front end along with new ball joints and what ever is needed. When brakes and rotors are needed, I want to give these a try because the reviews seem to good and for the $126 price, you can't beat them. For tires , I like the new Cooper AT3 design. Ran them on my wife's Escape and need a new set for the spring. Also had them on my 94 in the 235/75 flavor. Good tires. For more mud use, I have used the Cooper STs. I like the Coopers because they are good tires, they last and I can get them at whole sale price from my friend.

I know I'm missing a few odds and ends, but I want to start a build up thread so you can check it. Sorry I got so long winded but I like to rap about this stuff. Any questions on things, just PM me and I will help you out. If I think of anything else, I'll post up later.

Happy New Year!!!

 

Thanks! Happy New Year and you are living proof of one thing leading to another! The truck will be slick when your done with her though...

 

Oh yea I am...thank God my wife doesn't understand this stuff or she would be like..."what the..."

Here's that link I promised for taking apart a CV shaft fully the old school way...