Torque Specs for Front End and Parts Feedback (1 Viewer)

[Goose17]

Hello, I just bought a 2002 LX470 salvage. It runs great and has a great maintenance history. I took it to an honest shop here in PHX for an alignment and they said it needs both lower ball joints and the right inner tie rod replaced. It has 170k miles and I think I am just going to do the whole front end while I have it taken apart: Upper and Lower control Arms, Tie rods inner and outer and sway bar linkage. Does anyone have torque specs for these? Also, I was looking at using Mevotech Supreme. Any thoughts on those over Moog? Or any other parts? It's mostly just going to stay on pavement.
Thank you

 

[AlpineAccess]

Hello, I just bought a 2002 LX470 salvage. It runs great and has a great maintenance history. I took it to an honest shop here in PHX for an alignment and they said it needs both lower ball joints and the right inner tie rod replaced. It has 170k miles and I think I am just going to do the whole front end while I have it taken apart: Upper and Lower control Arms, Tie rods inner and outer and sway bar linkage. Does anyone have torque specs for these? Also, I was looking at using Mevotech Supreme. Any thoughts on those over Moog? Or any other parts? It's mostly just going to stay on pavement.
Thank you

Definitely have some thoughts:

Check with @cruiseroutfit for front end parts; go OEM or as close to OEM as possible (555/Sankei units from Japan). The cheap ball joints, tie rods, control arm bushings, etc. have not been lasting. TRE's and BJ's are critical components; a failure can be catastrophic and factory units obviously go a very, very long time. THAT BEING SAID, some folks including myself have found NAPA carrying real Sankei 555 ball joints under their NAPA brand, but its hit or miss and they weren't a better price than Cruiser Outfitters had.

On Torque Specs and the forum as a resource; search is a good starting point but be forewarned unless you click "advanced search, then go to "Search Threads" and then click "100 series" as the forum you want to search - you're going to get crap results. But use that roadmap and you'll find just about everything you want. Here are some threads I found for you that cover your questions:

Lower Ball Joint Replacement Instructions

I just replaced the LCA ball joints with some Triple 5's sourced through AutoZone sold as DuraLast. Since there was not a thread with pictures of the actual pressing in and out process I thought I throw something together along with the tricks and tools I used to make the actual pressing...

forum.ih8mud.com

Correct Tie Rod End Torque

I am in the process of replacement of front end ball joint and track rod end rubber boots on my LC 100. I checked the FSM (2004) and noticed that two different torque settings are given for the tie rod end castle nuts. The one from the "Steering" section (SR-48 Page:2257) is 72 Nm or 53 ftlbf...

forum.ih8mud.com

Install How-To: Factory Upper Control Arms

Forgive me for the condition of my truck. It's dirty. I was out in the woods last week and did nothing more than hose it off after coming back. All that redness is good ole Arkie clay, not rust. I hope it didn't mess up the photos too badly. -----------------------------------------------...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Mike NXP]

Hello, I just bought a 2002 LX470 salvage. It runs great and has a great maintenance history. I took it to an honest shop here in PHX for an alignment and they said it needs both lower ball joints and the right inner tie rod replaced. It has 170k miles and I think I am just going to do the whole front end while I have it taken apart: Upper and Lower control Arms, Tie rods inner and outer and sway bar linkage. Does anyone have torque specs for these? Also, I was looking at using Mevotech Supreme. Any thoughts on those over Moog? Or any other parts? It's mostly just going to stay on pavement.
Thank you

Stick with OEM parts whenever your wallet allows. If you can't afford it, save up and get OEM so you never have to replace it again.

As for torque specs, not sure, I would worry about buying the parts first and the mechanic should have that info available.

You may also not need to rush into these repairs if you think it rides good and isn't clunky. Maybe focus on other critical maintenance to get the truck to it's happy place and then switch gears to steering and suspension parts.

You can also try to enter the VIN into Lexus website and if you're lucky it will have a laundry list of previous maintenance done.

 

[nissanh]

Any non OEM part will last 1/100 of the time or even less of an OEM part and would cost you again and again for parts and labor.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Any non OEM part will last 1/100 of the time or even less of an OEM part and would cost you again and again for parts and labor.

Hmmm, that is quite the statistic. There are many non-OEM parts that last much more than 1% that of the OEM

 

[Goose17]

Thank you for your responses. I don't mind going with quality aftermarket, but I'll look into OEM/Sankei as well. I'll be doing the work to save money, so maybe I'll have the budget for OEM. The maintenance history on it is solid and I checked CarFax,AutoCheck and MyLexus. I even emailed one of the previous owners whose email address was on a tire receipt that was folded up in the manual. I was trying to track down the third row seats because they are missing from the vehicle. He was cool and gave me a run down of the some of the maintence he had performed that didn't show up on the reports. He said he only used Denso and "none of that cheap crap." It looks like the previous owner (not the one I emailed) just had a new ABS/Traction ECU installed by the dealership before they wrecked it. They probably paid more for that service than I did for the vehicle. The biggest issue is the alignment is way off, and the alignment shop I use, said they won't touch it until both lower ball joints and right inner tie rod is addressed. So as of right now that is my top priority. I was actually happy with that news, I was worried about frame damage.
After that will be timing belt kit, radiator, thermostat. Then subwoofer repair and lock actuator motors. Then PDR and paint. Then SEMA!

 

[AlpineAccess]

Thank you for your responses. I don't mind going with quality aftermarket, but I'll look into OEM/Sankei as well. I'll be doing the work to save money, so maybe I'll have the budget for OEM. The maintenance history on it is solid and I checked CarFax,AutoCheck and MyLexus. I even emailed one of the previous owners whose email address was on a tire receipt that was folded up in the manual. I was trying to track down the third row seats because they are missing from the vehicle. He was cool and gave me a run down of the some of the maintence he had performed that didn't show up on the reports. He said he only used Denso and "none of that cheap crap." It looks like the previous owner (not the one I emailed) just had a new ABS/Traction ECU installed by the dealership before they wrecked it. They probably paid more for that service than I did for the vehicle. The biggest issue is the alignment is way off, and the alignment shop I use, said they won't touch it until both lower ball joints and right inner tie rod is addressed. So as of right now that is my top priority. I was actually happy with that news, I was worried about frame damage.
After that will be timing belt kit, radiator, thermostat. Then subwoofer repair and lock actuator motors. Then PDR and paint. Then SEMA!

That shop that said they won't align it until those parts are replaced is great! Evidence of them being stand up folks.

So many shops out there that will use worn out suspension to be able to fudge the alignment into spec on the rack, charge the customer, and then point out the bad parts when you come back to put to onus on you.

They then will offer to do the work, mark it up, and bill you for another alignment. It just seems completely rampant. I've heard from people a common phrase in that segment of the auto repair industry is "set toe and let go".

 

[Goose17]

So this is what I have discovered:

Napa sells two lower ball joints for my vehicle. The 555s and a MAS (which is now owned by Dorman).
Out the door, two 555s are $106.18 with a AAA discount and I have to pick them up. From Cruiser Outfitters, no AAA discount and they have to be shipped, they are $144.53. The 555s come with only a 12 month/12k warranty.
The MAS ball joint is considered the premium offering at NAPA and with discount and pick up, they are $228.58. These ones come with a limited lifetime warranty.
So the 555s are better, but are less expensive and only have a 12 month warranty? Anyone have experience with MAS?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

So this is what I have discovered:

Napa sells two lower ball joints for my vehicle. The 555s and a MAS (which is now owned by Dorman).
Out the door, two 555s are $106.18 with a AAA discount and I have to pick them up. From Cruiser Outfitters, no AAA discount and they have to be shipped, they are $144.53. The 555s come with only a 12 month/12k warranty.
The MAS ball joint is considered the premium offering at NAPA and with discount and pick up, they are $228.58. These ones come with a limited lifetime warranty.
So the 555s are better, but are less expensive and only have a 12 month warranty? Anyone have experience with MAS?

The SUS43340 are $42.50/each @ Cruiser Outfitters. With shipping to PHX you should be ~$100 for a pair of authentic Japan made 555’s.

I’m assuming you were pricing the 4pc upper and lower set @ $130.