Busy weekend

This weekend I replaced the front strut assemblies. I went with the Unity brand struts sold on eBay and Amazon. The struts were easy to replace and fit very well. The old struts had perished. The boots were just rings of rubber. I saw no leaks, but the entire strut assemblies were easy to compress.

I also did inner and outer tie rods. For the inner tie rod, buy the Harbor Freight tool. The only tricky part of the inner tie rod was staking the claw washer - and there is very little room on the drivers side. The outer tie rod is easy.

I did the stabilizer (anti-sway bar) links. Again an easy procedure. All of the DRZ parts fits perfectly and were actually stouter than the OEM.

But then I hit the lower ball joints. The castle nuts on the top of both the drivers and passenger side ball joints seemed to be welded on. I was able to finally loosen the nut on the passenger side. But on the driver side, nothing would work. I tried PB Blaster, longer wrenches, heat, and nothing would budge it. Finally I took a cut off grinder and ground down enough of the castle nut to get it spinning. After that it was simple.

The ride has improved on the front greatly. I no longer hear clunks when going over bumps. It's not going to float over the road like a Cadillac, but it's far better than the trashed strut assemblies that were on it.

The only thing I notice now, is when I'm traveling at low speeds with the windows down I can hear a slight scraping on the brake shield, almost like I left a cotter pin too long. I'm going to do the rear shocks later this week as they look far easier to do, and at that time I will recheck the torque values and cotter pins on the front.

 

Thanks Brian!

I’m probably going to take it to Brakes Plus up in Chandler where I work. I had them align it when I bought it and they did a good job. I drove it on I-10 today. No pulling. Steering wheel was a little off center. So I was pretty close.

If I don’t take it there, I will take to BrakeMax near me on Oracle. I’m going to get the back struts installed tomorrow or Wednesday night and then get it aligned. Work in the cool of the evening. Need to get it done, wife is tired of seeing me grimy. And suspension work is filthy!

Brian, if you need any help or tools, don’t hesitate to contact me.

 

The price was very good. And the struts seem pretty nice. Don't start talking Porsche right now, every part on that car costs a fortune, although I find as many places as I can to buy parts inexpensively.

My control arms and bushings still looked ok. I probably could have gone another 50k on the tie rods and sway bar links as well, but they were simple to replace. I only have 117000 miles on this car. But if you have the part in hand, and the car is up in the air, put them on. The struts only take a couple of hours. The linkage and inner tie rods take the most time.

 

Finished installing the back strut assemblies last night. Today at lunch, I'll get the alignment. The car rides very good now.

The back strut assemblies were very simple to install, but you must remove the back seat completely. And find a magnetized 14mm socket. The nuts for the top two strut bolts on the driver's side really require it. I placed some magnets in my socket to perform it.

I started my Prius journey here reading who should and shouldn't own a Gen 1 Prius. I have pretty much followed the recommendations for service. To update on everything I have done to this little car so far since purchasing:

1. Installed new inverter coolant pump and changed out all of the coolant.
2. New tires.
3. New windshield.
4. Found a brand new 3 volume set of Toyota service manuals on eBay.
5. Replaced spark plugs.
6. Changed engine oil and filter (Mobil 1 5w30. Why? Mfg recommended weight and because I had it on hand).
7. Replaced wiper blades.
8. Replaced cabin air filter.
9. Changed transaxle fluid - dropped pan, cleaned, installed new gasket. Used Toyota WS-ATF.
10. Replaced front and rear strut assemblies.
11. Replaced inner and outer tie rod links, lower ball joints, and sway bar links.

I think the only thing I need to do still is change out the engine coolant, clean the MAF and throttle body, and install a new PCV valve. I think I'm also going to get a Fumoto easy oil drain valve. I see a lot of oil changes coming in the future and this will make it easier.

 

I have the T-IV as well, but after reading debate after debate on ATF, I went with WS-ATF. On the next change, I'll probably just use up the T-IV.

For coolant in the inverter pump, I used the remainder of the Toyota Red that I have on hand. My wife drives an '08 Sienna that uses it as well. But I've also had good luck with Zerex Dex-Cool for Asian cars. Looks identical to the Toyota coolant. I've used it in the van before successfully.

As for the synthetic oil, I buy it where it is cheapest. If it's Mobil 1 on sale at Costco or just a Castrol or Pennzoil on sale at the auto parts store or Walmart, I go with that. I buy my OEM oil filters in quantity on Amazon ($40 for 10 filters). I'm putting about 900 miles on this car a week right now, so I'll stick with the synthetic but limit my cost as much as possible.

 

I saw this a few days ago on Facebook marketplace. I’d love to get it to have a spare drive train and play with the battery, but there is no way my wife will allow another dead car on our property.

 

My garage is a toasty 90° right now with the door closed. Yes, the cornering and ride improved 100%. I can now go over bumps without a heavy thud sound and it corners basically like a new car. No real body roll. I did compare the old strut height to the new ones. The old one’s springs had sagged about 3/4” and I think it was hitting bump stops over the large potholes and bumps here in Tucson. Wait until evening or early morning to do this. A lot of breaker bar work and sweating.