2001 tacoma 2.4 base model lower control arms

Hello every one
New to the forum, Name is Edgar, currently from San Diego Ca.
Im in need of some forum help. My repair started with a broken ball joint on the passenger side. No biggie , i went to the dealer ship as many online pages said that was the way to go. So i did and replaced them, weeeelllllll as i was under the wheel well i started noticing that the entire suspension needed some TLC. I have just purchased this truck about 3 months ago and well this will be my first dive into getting it to where it needs to be. This is a 2.4 base model manual transmision, daily driver, grocery getter, home depot run kind of truck. No off road nothing crazy mostly street driving. I bought everything from MOOG for the suspension with the exception of the lower control arm. On their website it shows their LCA for up to a 1995-2000 tacoma. The body changed on the 2001-2004 years. Now i only have 3 options for LCA, Dealership, Mevotech and well MOOG (sorta). Never heard of mevotech and well MOOG seems to have some what of a good reputation. The million dollar question is would the 2000 tacoma lower control arm fit and be ok to install them on my 2001 tacoma. I took my calipper and all seems to be preety close to exact measurements. Any body on the forum run the MOOG lower control arms on their 2001-2004 tacoma with outh any issues even thought the website only run them on 1995-2000 models. I alrady rolled the dice and purchased the MOOG ones and will try to install them next week. Mevo tech does carry the 2001-2004 but the pictures dont differ and well dont know the quality of mevothec. Any help will be greatly apprecieated. For those that have upgraded their upper and lower control arms on their 5 lug tacoma can you shoot me over a message with what parts you used. Thanks.

 

Well, it's the 2.4L (5-lug) so I wouldn't imagine you'd be doing an off-roading with it... THe reason to go OEM on the lower balljoints is specific to the 6-lug trucks (the 4x4 and pre-runners). The 5 lugs don't have that same design and aren't prone to catastrophic failure like the 6-lug ones are. Moog and Mevotech are "decent" brands, but they are often times the only non-OEM alternative unless you get the crap from Amazon or fleabay.

But honestly, unless the control arms are bent or rusted out, there's no real reason to replace the arms. All you need are the bushings. It's a little more labor to replace the bushings, but if you have a press, or know someone with one, or have a good relationship with a shop, it's an easy job.

I'm not 100% about the 5-lugs, but I know for the 6 lugs you can get energy suspension polyurethane bushings as well.

 

The control arms are not bend or rusted. I guess you can say its more peace of mind when the ball joint broke literally when i was pulling into a parking spot. 15 minutes earlier i had taken a drive to the seven eleven and the day before i had given a friend a ride to his house from work and well we took the free way . Thank fully the ballpoint did not give out while on the free way. The end result could of been far worse.
Again more for peace of mind and knowing all suspension is good or as good as i can get it. I noticed that the strut rod rubber starting to show dry cracks and starting to separate from the metal. The top control arm looks fairly good just showing its age, cant really see the condition of the rubber, the lower control arm i can see some dry cracks.

I dont have the space to take both sides of the suspension apart and take them to a machine shop to get them pressed. I live in an apartment complex and lets just say people lurk. if i take everything apart on a saturday its fair to say i wont get to it until the following weekend. for what it is i got all the moog parts for fairly good price. my plan is once the OEM parts are out, buy the bushings from toyota for in the near future if i have to replace them again i have them ready to go and fair to say would be the last time i have to replace them for the time i have the truck.

my only question is that MOOG only sells lower control arms for the 1995-2000 tacoma it does not carry anyting for the 2001-2004 tacoma but all in all the 95-00 looks exactly the same. In the other hand Mevotech carries the lower control arm for the 95-00 and the 01-04 but honestly i cant tell the difference . I rolled the dice and ordered the 95-00 moog lower control arms with the hopes its the exact same thing. Comparing it to my stock oem one in the truck all the specs look to be the same as i took measurements with my caliper.

Million dollar question is has anybody used the 95-00 LCA on a 01-04 tacoma. I guess ill report back next week when i replace them and let the forum know if they lined up lol.

 

If they're not bent or anything, honestly the moog will be a down grade. There aren't any moving parts you need to worry about. Replace the balljoints with the nicest quality you can, but IMO don't waste your money on the control arms. Maybe just take them off and clean them up real good.

I completely understand about living in an apartment. That does complicate things.

As for the bushings, when I did my energy suspension ones, you burn out the rubber, leaving the outer OEM sleeve, and the poly bushing slides inside that. Of course, you may get just as weird looks from your apartment neighbors when they see this, lol...

 

thanks for the tip. i just checked ES website and unfortunately they dont have a bushing kit compatible for my 5 lug tacoma. Word on the street is most suppliers and or vendors dont stock much after market stuff for the 5 lug. Looked promising though lol. Your control arm that you posted pic is exactly like my 2004 tacoma V6. on my 01 5 lug the upper control arm has a non adjustable support rod that supports the left and right side of the upper control arm. Its not like the v6 which each side is independent of each other. Maybe this is why there is a low market and or forum for the 5 lug lol. you kinda do with what you got haahahhaha. I also have a double cab tacoma which is my weekend and or special occasion truck lol. The 5 lug is 90 percent my daily driver.