Well 5 years later and I can't thank you enough. I bought the full replacement but after seeing you do the struts with minimal tools I decided to go get just the struts and a spring compressor tool. It saved me just a little under $100. Well done brother. Well done. Cheers.
This is a great straight forward video, that helped me install Rancho Quicklifts to my 2000 Tundra. It's a real pleasure that folks like Mod Mini (sorry did not get his name) share their knowledge in a video format. Sure takes the mystery and a lot of expense out of these projects.
Thanks for posting. I bought a 2003 sequoia with 230k+ miles and it’s obvious the shocks are shot. I’ve replaced all 4 tires and some brake work on back and both times someone mentioned there is also a bar of some sort is broken. Maybe a stabilizer bar? I don’t know but I’m saving up to have it fixed
Thank you for your this video, I was struggling and after watching your video I was able to see what I was doing wrong. (not installing the washer and cushion on the right place). I was able to finished the job withing 30 minutes.--- I was able to save a lot of money $350-$600 or more perhaps by doing this my self.
You snuck in an 'adapter' where the spring meets the collar on the shock. Is this necessary? 'Adapters' were not included with my new shocks. Where can I get these? Nice video. Thanks
Hard to explain but it's almost like a crunchy/squeaky sound and feeling coming from the front while end going over speed bumps in 02 Sequoia... Shocks, ball joints or bushings?!
I am upgrading to rancho 2" longer strut coil assemblies on my 02 tundra thanks for this it gives me ideas. I'm a little worried about the prying part though considering the additional height. Any advice? We used a bottle jack & c clamp combo when we added extra leaves in the back don't know if we can jimmy something like that on the front though
Good video. I tried this today on my 2004 Tundra Double Cab, 4wd. The lower strut bolt drives right into the front drive axle. In your video the bolt clears the axle easily. Did you do something not seen in the video to get it to clear? Repair manual says to pry the control arm down, but It wouldn't budge. Barely able to pry the strut back up to get the bolt back in so the vehicle is derivable until I figure it out.
It's tight clearance but it goes if you give it a good whack. It's possible that your vehicle has a beefier axle that is interfering. Prying the control arm should help but you might require some serious leverage.
My tundra came with blown Monroes. My local salvage has a sequoia so I was wondering if their coil springs and strut mount works for the tundra? I want to purchase some Bilsteins but don’t have my oem springs.
Any recommendations on getting that bottom strut bolt out? My bolts seems to be rust welded in my 2004 4WD Tundra - also my nut is on the rear side not the front bumper side. Access is impeded by the front CV axles. It is going to be hard to hammer it out. Thinking about an air hammer to get it loose. I also have a 2 inch Revtek leveling kit so I am going to have the find another spring compressor as mine will not fit in between the springs as yours does. I have the same kit but the blocks are too wide. Thanks for the easy to follow video. I was almost there but had to stop until I get the right tools again.
Great video. Thanks! Curious though... How long does it take a pro like yourself to do this? My local mechanic wants 1 hr per front strut. Is that reasonable or is he taking advantage?
Kool vid sir...Question....I did the same to my 05 QX56...Now my front end is raised higher in the front than my rear. Do you think I bought the wrong set ? How can I get that front back to that level i Like??
Hello - Your rears are probably worn as well. I would imagine that changing the rears would level things back out. Or, the front end was too low and now it's back where it should be?
***** they may be but I just bought new rim and tires snd sized them to that level. If I replace the rear it may level it but to a high level. Makes my new tires look too small..what options do you think I have?
Tommy Stewart The level is higher because the shocks are doing their job. The same thing happened for the truck in the video. They may settle a bit over time. If you want a lowered vehicle, you'd probably have to cut the springs or purchase a fully height adjustable coilover suspension (if they make one for your vehicle).
40 Ftlbs on all 4 top nuts? The center 14mm too? Would the reconnection on the bottom be any easier if you waited to tighten down the top center 14mm nut or try and match the exposed thread length before you removed it? Is there some better way to remove/replace the shock without putting visegrips on those threads? Thanks I am about to do this on my tundra.
Probably not. The bottom is tight because of the length of the shock. Might be easier if you pull down or up on the control arm. There is no need to use vise grips on the threads.
follow up - Hi MINI, I ended up having to replace my front axles/CV's and sway bar linkages along with the struts, but went with quick struts to avoid the scary compression business. This Tundra will go another 200k to problemo! Thanks.
Why do standard front shocks for the 2001 2007 Sequoia Limited 4X not fit veh w/ factory rear leveling suspension and no one I've talked to actually knows the right shocks even auto parts stores. Just only that veh w/rear self leveling suspension need some mystery shock that is nowhere specified that I can find. Any help with this?
www.summitracing.com/parts/bsn-24-261425/year/2005/make/toyota/model/sequoia This is the updated Bilstein front shock for those with rear self leveling. Yep still a mystery but this is it.
@@JIMMIETW I'm running into the same issue. Toyota dealership has 2 separate parts, 1 for self leveling and 1 for not. Some auto parts stores have it in there system as no difference. I ended up here to try and figure out why air suspension in the back makes a difference in the front?
Asael Medina I'm not an expert on lift kits, but for a mild lift of a few inches, I'd guess stiffer springs/shocks would work fine. If you want to go sky high you'd need additional modified parts, such as brake lines, tie rod ends, end links, axles, etc.
nice video Thankyou! I'm about to put fabtec adjustable racing coil overs (& camberge upper A-ARMS /CONTROL ARM'S & SPACERS BY SPYDERTRAX IF ANYONE WANTS TO SEE THAT) ON A 2002 TOYOTA TUNDRA 4X4 OVER THE WEEKEND!
Great video. It gives me the confidence to try this myself. I have a couple questions as follows: 1) were the safety keepers on the spring compressors used? In the video it does not appear that they were inserted fully. 2) I believe there is a rubber pad between the top of the spring and the strut mounting plate. Doesn't this pad become hard and cracked with age and shouldn't it be replaced as well?.
+D000D M000R I don't remember. It's possible that not all the stoppers were able to engage. That's fairly common especially on a large spring. I wouldn't expect rubber to be cracked except on a very old car, more than 15 years or so.
+Mod MINI Thanks for the extremely fast reply. My Tundra is an '03, so it's getting close to 15 years old. When checking the front end I did notice that the lower shock bushings are cracking and the sway bar bushings are also cracking. It doesn't look like the front strut isolators (rubber between the spring and the mount plate) has started cracking yet, but just to be safe I think I will go ahead and replace the strut mounts and isolators. I found KYB strut mount plates with isolators for $31 each online; seems like cheap insurance to me. Thanks again.
+D000D M000R I had been putting this job off for 3 years because there were no good videos on RU-vid of our 4x4s strut replacement until now. Great video D000D M000R!!! I have the 03 tundra with 4x4. I don't remember seeing any "keeper" but it has been a few months. The Monroe quick strut came with all the required bushings and new upper nuts. Used a $20 4' digging bar from harbor freight for leverage to install the new strut. just wedged it between the lower control arm and the steering linkage and pushed down. You will need a helper unless you are very heavy and sit on the digging bar during installation. Be careful with the hammer so you don't mess up the threads on the lower bolt. It was surprisingly easy to do once I saw this video. Only took me 45mins per side to remove and install once the tires were off. I had already done the sway bar links as they rusted out a few years ago. Took a while to grind the old bolts out but it wasn't difficult.
+I'm Dillon Any time you remove suspension bolts there is possibility of affecting the alignment. Some bolts are more likely to cause issue than others. For this job, you can probably get away without an alignment if steering wheel is still centered and car tracks straight. For some other cars such as those with Macpherson struts, you can affect the caster/camber when changing the strut which also affects toe.
That’s great but what do you do when the top three nuts are rusted to the point that no wrench will fit it.? Welcome to the north where cars live in salt half the year
Why Monroe struts given that their quality has been on the slide for years now? I would have gone with KYB struts which are much better quality than Monroe and will last much longer. Great video other than that.
+Luciano Tapia I don't recall, I think they are just tube shocks with a bolt at the top and bottom. Remove the two bolts and pull strut off, squish the new strut and slide on.
How do you determine, on a 14 year old Sequoia, whether the springs need to be replaced at the same time as the strut, or not? I understand the cost difference. But, after 14 years, should the springs be replaced?
+Tom Henderson I don't know that there is a way to confirm without taking the car apart and comparing an old spring to a new spring. The struts are not hard to replace - I'd probably just put it back together with the new struts and then consider replacing the springs if the front end is sagging.
+Mod MINI At 5:04...I wondered about this too. Are you lifting the vehicle? Also, do you need to re-align the front end after replacing the front shocks? Thanks--great video though...
+Peter Nelson This is just to replace worn shocks. This is a soccer mom car. No alignment should be needed, unless old shocks caused front end to sag and there was an alignment performed in this condition.
+Peter Nelson You need to put the adapter or the spring will have nothing to rest on. This is just there to allow the aftermarket manufacturer to use the same shock body parts for different vehicle application.
