Over time, rubber bushings wear out and need to be replaced. This happened for me recently when I Replaced All the Bushings on my Tacoma, and I figured that others could benefit from a quick little guide that shows the entire process and lists all the necessary parts. Before getting started, I should note that when replacing the Lower Control Arm (LCA) bushings, one must remove the steering rack from its mounts. As such, this is also a good time to refresh the bushings that secure it as well, which is not a difficult process: Step-by-Step Steering Rack Bushing Replacement on a…
54 CommentsTag: suspension
Shocks, leaf springs, bump stops, and more.
I've replaced the spherical bearings on my ADS coilovers several times now. I only really mentioned it the first and second times, but its become regular maintenance every 10,000 miles or so - generally about 3-4 trips and ~2 oil changes. I chalked it up to normal maintenance required on higher end shock components, but that doesn't mean it's an enjoyable process or that I like dropping the extra $60 or so each time I do it. After talking to quite a few folks, it seems that there are several experiences and opinions as to their longevity and the right…
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TL;DR - I'm trying something new. I've installed stainless steel spherical bearings this time, hopefully to prolong their life.
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I've done a lot of work to the suspension on the Tacoma - with good reason since it is what helps to make our trips more comfortable, and what helps to isolate most of the truck from the harsh terrain over which we travel. In doing that work, one of the things I knew that I needed - at least technically - was a good set of limit straps. But - as with many who focus on the bling of a new shock, and less on completely finishing the job - I never installed any. Not on the back, and…
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TL;DR - The spherical bearings were completely shot again. And, it happened after only 10,000 miles this time.
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TL;DR - why didn't I install limit straps earlier. These things make the suspension so much more enjoyable.
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It seems like just a few weeks ago that I replaced the spherical bearings on my ADS coilovers for the first time, though it turns out, it was actually a few (4) months ago. Prior to that, I'd put some 27K miles on the new ADS suspension (see installation) - miles that really proved to me that it was a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, on our last trip down to the Eastern Mojave, the coilovers had been squeaking again. Well, really they'd been squeaking before we even left - but with only 7K miles on the odometer since the previous change,…
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TL;DR - I think I need to replace the spherical bearings again. Already. They are squeaky and I've only put 14K miles on the new set.
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Today was going to be an easy day working on the truck. I knew what I had to do and it wasn't hard. I'd gathered the parts I needed - twice really, since the first time I tried to do this work, I found that I needed some additional bits that I thought I wasn't going to be replacing. And unlike some of my more advanced projects, I had all the tools for this one already. After 27K miles on the ADS coilovers that I installed earlier this year, it was time to replace the spherical bearings. Well - the…
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TL;DR - Replacing the spherical bearings, misalignment spacers, and lower shock bolts is done and things are working correctly as far as I can tell.
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TL;DR - it's been about a year and my spherical bearings are getting squeaky; time to replace them.
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TL;DR - Moving the resis to the top of the frame means there is no more rubbing and I have my turning radius back.
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April 2, 2019. I like to think that I live and learn. I'm also a creature of habit, and I wonder if I'm starting down the same road I've been down before. See, with the Tacoma, I thought long and hard about the first set of aftermarket suspension that I put on it. Originally I wanted to spend a couple hundred dollars. Luckily - and before I spent any money - I realized that I didn't want a block lift, I wanted a suspension lift. So then I did a bunch of research and came up with Toytec BOSS coilovers as…
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If you own a Toyota Tacoma - and especially if you drive it off-road or with any kind of lift - you're likely to have a CV axle boot crack or split at some point, flinging grease everywhere and making a royal mess. I was lucky enough to have it happen on the first day of a two week trip to Anza-Borrego. Winning! Once this happens, you essentially have three options: Do nothing. This is the route a lot of people take, sometimes because they don't even notice the problem. For me of course, it wasn't an option. Buy an…
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I recently installed SPC Performance upper control arms (25460) on my 2000 Tacoma, and it went great. In addition to the story of the install, I figured a detailed set of instructions for anyone wanting to tackle this themselves would be nice to put together, since it's hard to find that written down in one concise place with a list of everything you need to do the job. So let's get started. Gathering the parts and tools Replacing the upper control arms (UCAs) is a relatively straight forward process, and nearly all the parts you'll need are included from SPC when…
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January 15, 2019. What can I say? It's the end of an era, sort of. Really, it's the end of a transition period for the Tacoma - a time when it was transitioning from daily driver and home renovation hauler to a more dedicated exploration vehicle. It was nearly three years ago that this transition started, one of my first modifications being a new Toytec BOSS lift in order to support the Relentless armor I was soon to install. Over the last three years, that @Toytec Lifts setup has done everything I could have asked of it. No, that's not right…
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Not only functional, but they look good too!
TL;DR - the ADS setup is working great. We didn't do much dirt travel this time, but what little we did do was no problem at all. More to come in the future.
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I recently relocated the rear shock mounts on my 2000 Toyota Tacoma, and it didn't go so well...at least the first time. I didn't get the mounts in quite the right position (you can read the whole story here) and that meant cutting them off and doing everything a second time, the right way. Learn from my mistake. Here, I'll outline the proper steps (in a printable format - check out the story above for photos of the process) to relocating rear shock mounts on a 1st gen Toyota Tacoma - though, the steps are the same for any truck…
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December 17, 2018. I'm generally pretty good at building things with my hands, but in relocating the rear shocks on my first gen Toyota Tacoma, I'd royally screwed up. If you haven't read about that, I'd recommend checking out the previous post in this series - Rear Shock Relocation - Fabrication and Failure, where after I'd permanently welded a bunch of stuff to my truck, I'd discovered that I couldn't go over bumps taller than about 2-inches. Not good for adventuring out on dirt roads. But, failure is a great learning tool, and I'd spent some time figuring out why…
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