3rd Gen Front IFS check

[danielsprague]

Hi

I've recently bought a 3rd Gen Surf (2.7 petrol manual) and I'm going over it very thoroughly to get it in really good condition.

I'm a long term Hilux pickup owner, a MK3 with solid axles and leaves all round, so the coil springs and IFS on the Surf are new to me. It felt OK to drive, but I want to check the front balljoints on the upper and lower wishbones... how do I check them for excessive play??

Also, if the balljoints are knackered (and just abut every other suspension component I've come across is...) will they 'wear' the wishbones? Or is it pretty much just the bushes which go in the wishbones?

Any tips appreciated!

Daniel

[tashtego]

Hi,

The only way I know to check the lower ball joints is to remove them and check for vertical play. In a 3rd Gen surf they can snap off as you are driving along, check some of the ball joints failure threads on the US 4runner forum.
I suggest you change both the lower and upper ball joints and most of the other suspension parts before your trip. RT do aftermarket ball joints, tie rod ends etc.I got the lower ball joints from Toyota and cost me a fortune.

I wrote a thread on preparing an expedition 3rd Gen on the cheap in the off road/overland section on here. Maybe some of the info in there might be relevant to you. It won't be much different from preparing the MK 3 bakkie.

Spend now to avoid problems later. The amount of miles the average surf travels in 5 or 6 years you will probably cover in a few weeks or months, so all wear and tear will be much accelerated. If something is not 100% as you leave, it will fail on the way.

Cheers

[danielsprague]

Thanks a lot for your reply, I missed it somehow so apologies for the late reply.

I had actually read through your posts, mostly because you're using a 3rd Gen in tough conditions, but also because Malawi is somewhere I'd love to go!

Thanks for the tip on the lower ball joint, will definitely do all the ball joints now, probably the wishbones too. Hopefully the knuckle is OK! My philosophy is also to do things before they break as it's so much more of a hassle when you're on a trip, especially now as I have only work holidays. I also only buy genuine parts, in my experience there is no saving in aftermarket stuff, as you end up replacing it after a year or two with genuine stuff which lasts for ages.

So far every suspension component is shagged from rust or age, but I don't think the truck has ever really been used off road.

For getting the ball joints out, I guess it's hammer time, then to a shop to press out the upper ball join from the knuckle?? Are they really hard to do?

Cheers!

[danielsprague]

...check some of the ball joints failure threads on the US 4runner forum...

THANKS for that! Mine are well overdue for replacement, could have been a disaster waiting to happen! Will put 2x new lower ball joints, 8x locating bolts, 2x nuts and 2x cotter pins onto the huge list of parts I need to replace...

[tashtego]

Thanks a lot for your reply, I missed it somehow so apologies for the late reply.

I had actually read through your posts, mostly because you're using a 3rd Gen in tough conditions, but also because Malawi is somewhere I'd love to go!

Thanks for the tip on the lower ball joint, will definitely do all the ball joints now, probably the wishbones too. Hopefully the knuckle is OK! My philosophy is also to do things before they break as it's so much more of a hassle when you're on a trip, especially now as I have only work holidays. I also only buy genuine parts, in my experience there is no saving in aftermarket stuff, as you end up replacing it after a year or two with genuine stuff which lasts for ages.

So far every suspension component is shagged from rust or age, but I don't think the truck has ever really been used off road.

For getting the ball joints out, I guess it's hammer time, then to a shop to press out the upper ball join from the knuckle?? Are they really hard to do?

Cheers!

Hi,

Removing the upper BJs is quite a pain, I drove the car to a mechanic friend and we then followed this:

http://www.bajataco.com/tech/control_arms_03.html


It's for a US Toyota Tacoma but it's the same procedure. Just follow the text and the very good pics. We hammered the side of the upper control arm to free the stud, as mentioned in the write up. There are tools like ball joint splitters etc that I think you can use but we didn't have them. The side of the control arms where quite badly bashed so I put on some primer and gave them a coat of black paint from an old can I had lying around,as I felt a bit guilty!
Then I took the arms to a workshop for the new ball joints to be pressed in.

Good luck