High Mileage 200 Series Suspension Refresh? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 5, 2008
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Location
Orange County, CA
Long time lurker, first time poster. Hoping the experts here can help guide me on what I should look to replace on a high mileage 200 series.

I am getting ready to (hopefully) pick up my first 200 series and found a local one that seems to fit the bill, but it is definitely up there in mileage (250k). The current owner used it for many years to commute about 35,000 miles a year, so "highway miles" is pretty accurate. Drove it today and everything seems fine, but it doesn't seem to drive quite as smoothly as the other 200's I have driven before. I am guessing that everything is just tired after over a quarter million miles.

Overall the car is very well maintained and has a stack of service history from mostly Toyota dealers. It seems like anything the car needed/the dealer recommended the current owner did, but it was limited to normal scheduled maintenance and the normal items (batteries, brakes, radiator, starter, TPMS, etc...). A very big detail is the 200 also received a new (used) motor within the past 5,000 miles. The one thing I don't see is any sort of work done to the suspension at all.

What sort of items would you recommend replacing on something like this? Really looking to ensure it has that 200 series ride and drive you would expect. I would rather do it right the first time if I am in there. Below is a list of what I am thinking, but I want to see if there is anything else I may be missing (suspension or otherwise).
  • Front/Rear Shocks
  • Front/Rear Springs
  • Front Upper Control Arms
  • Front Lower Control Arms (any good aftermarket options?)
  • Front Sway Bar Bushings (on frame)
  • Front Sway Bar Links
Thanks in advance!
 
I'd do shocks for sure if they haven't been done before. You may find low-mileage take-offs from this board from people that upgraded their new 2020 or 2021 years. They will bolt on.

Springs depend on whether it has a noticeable lean, or seems like it is sitting lower than a comparable vehicle. This has less to do with mileage than age.. after all even a 30k mile vehicle will have the same time suspending the vehicle on those springs if the build date is the same.

Control arms would depend on bushing and ball joint condition. My ball joints are still drum tight at 170k miles. Toyota uses very high quality, very large hardware on these trucks. A good shop could check ball joint condition. But, if you need bushings, you might as well do the whole arm which will come with new BJs. Even my arm bushings are acceptable at 170k. That says a lot.

I would only go OEM on the LCAs. The difference in quality with aftermarket will not be acceptable, IMO.

Frame end sway bar bushings should be fine.

My sway bar links have noticeable dry rot on the arm-side bushings. I'd strongly consider doing these, even if I don't notice a real performance impact. They are on my list to do, even if they are pretty expensive.

IMO if you want to keep OEM quality and life span you should be checking OEM parts sourcing. Some of this stuff is surprisingly affordable through the discount parts sites.


If the rig has any rust you should look into KDSS valve condition. That can present a serious headache if rust is there.

Otherwise I hope you get a great rig out of it.. pretty exciting time to start down a path of such an awesome vehicle.
 
Why did it need a new engine and why is the owner selling? That’s a red flag for me……don’t buy someone’s problems just to get into a 200 because the price is right.
That’s a great point. Low chances a well cared for 200 would need an engine that soon. I’d want a solid story for why that was necessary.
 
This->What bloc said: You may find low-mileage take-offs from this board from people that upgraded their new 2020 or 2021 years. They will bolt on.

I'd just throw on front/rear shocks springs (the fronts should still be assembled with good top mounts) and call it a day, unless you have a specific reason to replace other components, or are super eager to spend a lot on preventative maintenance.
 
If the rig has any rust you should look into KDSS valve condition. That can present a serious headache if rust is there.

Otherwise I hope you get a great rig out of it.. pretty exciting time to start down a path of such an awesome vehicle.

Great call on takeoffs. Have already started browsing locally and it looks like there are some right in my area.

Thankfully not a spec of rust on the LC that I can find. It lived its entire life in CA so it seems like it has fared well there.

Why did it need a new engine and why is the owner selling? That’s a red flag for me……don’t buy someone’s problems just to get into a 200 because the price is right.

100% agree on this in most cases. Originally I wasn't considering it but decided to reach out and learn a little more about the car for the heck of it. It looks like a few years ago this 200 blew a head gasket. Fast forward a few years it blew a second head gasket and the owner was presented with the option of doing it again or spending over twice that for a new (used) motor. The went back and forth and landed on a used motor with 50k instead of the keeping the 250k motor.

The big reason they decided to spend more and do a motor instead of just a HG is they had planned on keeping it another five or ten years. After it was given to their high school son it became clear after a few months that he wasn't caring for it like they wanted (it does unfortunately have a few marks on the outside to prove this) and they took it from him and made him buy his own car so he had more ownership of it.

I have always been a huge believer in the idea that you are "buying the seller" and after talking to the owner (and checking all the documentation) it helped me feel better about the red flags. I am not 100% on pulling the trigger yet, but am close.
 
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Great call on takeoffs. Have already started browsing locally and it looks like there are some right in my area.

Thankfully not a spec of rust on the LC that I can find. It lived its entire life in CA so it seems like it has fared well there.



100% agree on this in most cases. Originally I wasn't considering it but decided to reach out and learn a little more about the car for the heck of it. It looks like a few years ago this 200 blew a head gasket. Fast forward a few years it blew a second head gasket and the owner was presented with the option of doing it again or spending over twice that for a new (used) motor. The went back and forth and landed on a used motor with 50k instead of the keeping the 250k motor.

The big reason they did a motor instead of just a HG is they had planned on keeping it another five or ten years. After it was given to their high school son it became clear after a few months that he wasn't caring for it like they wanted (it does unfortunately have a few marks on the outside to prove this) and they took it from him and made him buy his own car so he had more ownership of it.

I have always been a huge believer in the idea that you are "buying the seller" and after talking to the owner (and checking all the documentation) it helped me feel better about the red flags.
Still a red flag for me as 5.7s are not really known for head gasket issues and 5,000 miles isn’t that long after the complete replacement.

Looking at the multi-thousand dollar list of things you want to replace on this truck, my suggestion would be to use those funds to find a lower mileage one. Just my $.02.
 
Still a red flag for me as 5.7s are not really known for head gasket issues and 5,000 miles isn’t that long after the complete replacement.

Looking at the multi-thousand dollar list of things you want to replace on this truck, my suggestion would be to use those funds to find a lower mileage one. Just my $.02.

Agree on it being odd to see and not being too long since it got a new motor. My only guess is the radiator failure they saw at about 190k ultimately cooked the motor and led to the first HG issue. That is the main reason I haven't decided to move forward yet.
 
Pics and price? Follow your gut. One thing is for sure if you don't buy it someone else will. Good luck
 
Hopefully not breaking any rules with an advertisement, but I have some takeoffs you would be interested in. PM me if you want some more info.
 
Partsouq.com is a discount site to start with
 
Pics and price? Follow your gut. One thing is for sure if you don't buy it someone else will. Good luck
Ended up pulling the trigger on it today and got it for $18,500 which seems hard to beat in the current market. Interior is in great shape and I would say the exterior is in "fair" shape. Paint is great but it needs a new grill, bumper skin and some time with the paintless dent removal guy. Put 50 miles or so on it today and everything is far less tired than I initially was concerned with. Very very happy with it so far!

IJmORv5l.jpg


gBI4wK1l.jpg


Hopefully not breaking any rules with an advertisement, but I have some takeoffs you would be interested in. PM me if you want some more info.
Thanks! I am between keeping OEM and adding the OEM spacer or going for some sort of 2" lift. If I stick OEM I will definitely reach out!

Partsouq.com is a discount site to start with
Thanks!
 
it doesn’t look to be sagging too much or aesthetically different than newer cruisers. My vote is shocks first, baseline everything, handle your cosmetic issues that bug you.

Shocks and the OEM spacers might be the right play. Congrats on the buy and enjoy it!
 
Ended up pulling the trigger on it today and got it for $18,500 which seems hard to beat in the current market. Interior is in great shape and I would say the exterior is in "fair" shape. Paint is great but it needs a new grill, bumper skin and some time with the paintless dent removal guy. Put 50 miles or so on it today and everything is far less tired than I initially was concerned with. Very very happy with it so far!

IJmORv5l.jpg


gBI4wK1l.jpg



Thanks! I am between keeping OEM and adding the OEM spacer or going for some sort of 2" lift. If I stick OEM I will definitely reach out!


Thanks!
Congratulations bro.
 

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