Randy’s mod day

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For 1st gen Tacos/ 3rd gen T4R’s, Moog are literally the last ball joints I would use. They have had numerous documented failures within 10-20k miles after install. Plenty of threads on T4R if you look around.

The Sankei 555 brand (made in Japan) from Napa were a popular choice for people that didn’t want to pay OEM prices or needed them same day, but “OEM only” is preached a lot on T4R. I tend to agree that with the design of the LBJ for these vehicles, OEM is the safest bet for a quality part. Since it’s a safety issue, I have no problem paying a little extra for a better product. I ran the Sankei 555 after a LBJ failure on my old ‘96 T4R for about 50k miles before selling it when I picked up my 2000 4WD T4R, so I can vouch for them being a decent option to OEM. Unfortunately, they were within $10 each of OEM when I bought them because I couldn’t wait for Camelback Toyota or whoever else had them for under MSRP to be delivered since the ‘96 was my DD and I needed it to get to work and felt that since the part was Japanese made, it was probably the best non OEM option I had at the time. My local Toyota Carlsbad/ Toyota of Escondido wouldn’t price match anyone except local dealerships, who were all over MSRP. Buncha crooks. The cost difference between the Napa Sankei 555’s and local Toyota dealerships was around $25 a side and I just couldn’t swing it at the time.

All that being said, I replaced my LBJ’s in my 2000 runner with OEM in late 2018 and never looked back. The peace of mind for a wheeler makes OEM an easy decision for me, personally.
DAMN, SWEET DEAL OF INFORMATION!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:

I've never had issues with MOOG parts in the past. I was more worried about the Duralast because of my recent radiator bracket fitment issue, HAHAHAHA. :noidea: Again, it wasn't too big of a deal because I was able to reuse my old brackets, but to be off-center by roughly 1/16in was pretty bad. I KNOW I ordered the right part number, but I'm now thinking that it is a "gen issue". Meaning, I know there are slight differences between the 95/96-97 Tacoma's vs the 98-2004 Tacoma's regarding certain parts and such. I'm now starting to think that some company's that make replacement parts don't take into account certain generation differences and clump the generations as a whole, if you get my meaning?

Anyways, good to know this... :thumbsup::beerscheers:
 

4runner DOA

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For 1st gen Tacos/ 3rd gen T4R’s, Moog are literally the last ball joints I would use. They have had numerous documented failures within 10-20k miles after install. Plenty of threads on T4R if you look around.

The Sankei 555 brand (made in Japan) from Napa were a popular choice for people that didn’t want to pay OEM prices or needed them same day, but “OEM only” is preached a lot on T4R. I tend to agree that with the design of the LBJ for these vehicles, OEM is the safest bet for a quality part. Since it’s a safety issue, I have no problem paying a little extra for a better product. I ran the Sankei 555 after a LBJ failure on my old ‘96 T4R for about 50k miles before selling it when I picked up my 2000 4WD T4R, so I can vouch for them being a decent option to OEM. Unfortunately, they were within $10 each of OEM when I bought them because I couldn’t wait for Camelback Toyota or whoever else had them for under MSRP to be delivered since the ‘96 was my DD and I needed it to get to work and felt that since the part was Japanese made, it was probably the best non OEM option I had at the time. My local Toyota Carlsbad/ Toyota of Escondido wouldn’t price match anyone except local dealerships, who were all over MSRP. Buncha crooks. The cost difference between the Napa Sankei 555’s and local Toyota dealerships was around $25 a side and I just couldn’t swing it at the time.

All that being said, I replaced my LBJ’s in my 2000 runner with OEM in late 2018 and never looked back. The peace of mind for a wheeler makes OEM an easy decision for me, personally.

Next question, since I've seen this a lot on modified vehicles, is do we replace the bolts as well? I know a few of the guys here have had bolts failures, but they're heavily modified. @WileECoyote has a fairly mellow build and stays on mild trails in comparison to those guys.
 

Dezert4Runner

Pineapples belong on pizza
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I replaced my LBJ bolts with OEM as well while I was in there this last time around and used Loc-Tite. Mostly due to seeing the amount of bolts being sheared ir backing out as the cause of failure as opposed to the ball pulling though like most of the failures.
 

Dezert4Runner

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Next question, since I've seen this a lot on modified vehicles, is do we replace the bolts as well? I know a few of the guys here have had bolts failures, but they're heavily modified. @WileECoyote has a fairly mellow build and stays on mild trails in comparison to those guys.
ALL of what Danny says is spot on!!! :thumbsup: My build is, what I like to describe as, stock, but a little more capable than stock, if that makes any sense?

The "hardest trail(s)" I've ever done are/were:
Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road (near Independence, CA)
Heartbreak Ridge (Big Bear, CA)

It will likely never go beyond those rated trails. I was telling Danny today that I've gotten more interested in "exploring" and such, but NOT to be confused with the wannabe overlanding crowd. I don't splatter expensive very useful, but yet useless shi* on my truck. If you have the money, then it's all good because it is ones own money to spend, but don't go around pretending shi* either is what always gets me?

Anyways, Danny is right. My trails are much more tame than quite a bit of the trails I see you guys post. :hail: HAHAHAHA, the pucker factor moments must be pretty intense at times!!!??? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 

Itaro

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ALL of what Danny says is spot on!!! :thumbsup: My build is, what I like to describe as, stock, but a little more capable than stock, if that makes any sense?

The "hardest trail(s)" I've ever done are/were:
Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road (near Independence, CA)
Heartbreak Ridge (Big Bear, CA)

It will likely never go beyond those rated trails. I was telling Danny today that I've gotten more interested in "exploring" and such, but NOT to be confused with the wannabe overlanding crowd. I don't splatter expensive very useful, but yet useless shi* on my truck. If you have the money, then it's all good because it is ones own money to spend, but don't go around pretending shi* either is what always gets me?

Anyways, Danny is right. My trails are much more tame than quite a bit of the trails I see you guys post. :hail: HAHAHAHA, the pucker factor moments must be pretty intense at times!!!??? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
Well we need to change that then
 
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Well we need to change that then
I was telling Danny today that I would like to do Mojave one of these days and... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... White Mountain!!! Jesus H, White Mountain seems like a never ending planning stage??? This time might be very doable now. Just gotta get the rest of my truck fixed up.

VERY PLEASED with the new radiator. I've been monitoring the temps with my scantool and without the heater core "engaged", my temps are typically around 186*-190*, which is pretty good.

I finally did the last vacuum hose changes (I showed Danny today) and the gas smell and idling is doing REALLY GOOD. No more gas smell and no more Harley Davidson idling at stop lights.

Now, just gotta change my ball joints and I'm good for now.

I do still have my key tumbler issues still, but will be addressing that later as that is the least of my things to take care of right now.
 

Itaro

Seriously, FJB
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I was telling Danny today that I would like to do Mojave one of these days and... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... White Mountain!!! Jesus H, White Mountain seems like a never ending planning stage??? This time might be very doable now. Just gotta get the rest of my truck fixed up.

VERY PLEASED with the new radiator. I've been monitoring the temps with my scantool and without the heater core "engaged", my temps are typically around 186*-190*, which is pretty good.

I finally did the last vacuum hose changes (I showed Danny today) and the gas smell and idling is doing REALLY GOOD. No more gas smell and no more Harley Davidson idling at stop lights.

Now, just gotta change my ball joints and I'm good for now.

I do still have my key tumbler issues still, but will be addressing that later as that is the least of my things to take care of right now.
white mountain doesn’t take planning it’s wether or not we’re camping afterwards that takes planning
 
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white mountain doesn’t take planning it’s wether or not we’re camping afterwards that takes planning
No, what "I" meant about planning is the DOING!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA :rofl::rofl::rofl::doh:

I must have made like 3x so called attempts going with Danny and it just never worked out for one reason or another.

Well, as of recent most of you know some of those reasons, but there were still other times that I still had the chance, but just stupid shi* keeps cropping up!!!

But yeah, I feel pretty confident on the next time, but now it is just a when is the best time for everyone that wants to go. I just need to get these ball joints changed out. Danny was giving his input about my lowers today and I agree. Especially when I was under the truck about a week ago, I'm looking at the lower ball joints and they're just toast regarding the grease boots. Likely a lot of play as well? Not even going to bother checking the play in them just because.
 

4runner DOA

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Well we need to change that then

So we need to go do holcolmb? Your rig is capable. :anon:

white mountain doesn’t take planning it’s wether or not we’re camping afterwards that takes planning

White mountain can be a day trip. Long day trip, but it's more than doable. If we really wanted to have fun, we could do white, eat lunch somewhere, then hit gold, then camp.
 
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So we need to go do holcolmb? Your rig is capable. :anon:



White mountain can be a day trip. Long day trip, but it's more than doable. If we really wanted to have fun, we could do white, eat lunch somewhere, then hit gold, then camp.
Damn, I SHOULD be able to do Gold also??? That would be pretty sweet!!! :thumbsup:
 
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That’s right, you were on that same White Mtn trip too. I haven’t done any Big Bear trials since then. Mostly SD co. trails.
If you haven't yet, you gotta try Oriflamme Canyon in Anza Borrego. I've never done the "north end" (i.e. Rodriguez Truck Trail) though. There is supposedly a boulder crop that is pretty hardcore, but just in a fairly small section on that part of the trail. Other than that, the trail is fairly tame, but REALLY fun at the same time... in my humble opinion.

I've always gone from top to bottom. I've heard that going from bottom to top is a bit more challenging, especially if you're only 2wd? It's the loose dirt/rock that will get you and yeah, I can see that happening.

But yeah, check it out if you haven't done it yet? :thumbsup:
 
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