Ball joint replacement. (1 Viewer)

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spaldam

S.J.'s Adventures
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I think the ball joints on my '00 Tacoma are going out. I checked the service manual to see how difficult it is to do, but would like to here it from some of you.

I looks like it needs a special tool, but do I really? Or is there another way to get it done? Is there a good place to order parts from? What all do I need or a the one part it? Anything that would be easy & cheap to replace while it's apart?

Thanks.
 
Lower or upper balljoint?

The lower you just need a two jaw puller and a hammer and they pop out pretty easily. You will just need to get an alignment afterwards. The upper balljoint is a different kind of fun to remove.
 
If it was the upper I'd probably pay someone to do it and have them do the bearings at the same time. I might still do that anyway depending on cost vs my time doing it myself.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I'll need to figure the cost of a puller into the equation.
 
I was going to change my uppers last year on my '99 because the boots were dryrotted. Ended up changing upper, lower, and tie rod ends in the process. Go to Harbor Freight and buy all the needed presses. You can rent them from the parts house, but you buy them when you break them and they cost more. With all the tools and parts gathered, you can change them all in one day in a garage. The higher end ball joints are greasable, except the uppers for some reason. I broke my driver's side knuckle trying to get the upper out and ended up getting one from a junk yard. Then it need new bearings and I paid someone to press those ball joints and bearings in. Turned into a 2 day ordeal.
 
For starters the rubber boots are cracked and warn enough that I'm sure water is getting in and lubricant has likely seeped out. Then there's the side to side shaking of the truck that occurs when breaking and with rough road conditions.

I plan to upgrade the breaks with Sequoia parts too, but I don't think that will solve all the problems. I've also got new steering rack bushings to put on too. Now I just need to find some time to get it all done.
 
So it's just a thicker rotor, wider calipers, and more surface area on the pads? Not too great of an upgrade, but worth the money spent to do it. What about the Tacomas?
 
raydouble said:
Between the 4Runner and Tacoma though, there is a small and large brake set, both smaller than the Tundra's.

I'd assume it's the difference in 2wd vs. 4wd? Or is it engine size related?
 
Im not sure about your taco wheels, but they should be the same size and offset as mine- if you do tundra brakes make sure you get the right ones.. theres 199mm and 231s the 199s will fit all of em no prob, the 231s will depend on which wheel you have as they are bigger and may come in contact with the wheel itself. you'll also have to trim the dust shield on the rotors as the tundra rotors are bigger.. Its worth even if you go big and have to shave your wheels. My breaks were terrible stock, but theyre awesome now..
 
brakes... yea I can spell.. sometimes...
 

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