Skid plate dent removal AND would like input on my lower ball joint.

[troyboy162]

i think we all have blown seals on joints. my 1 year old lower ball joints are already showing cracks int he rubber. they guys couldnt understand why i didnt want to blast through the big puddles last weekend...haha most of my joints are leaking grease, in need of grease, or just plain 12 years old.

[Seanz0rz]

i replaced all 4 BJ's and the outer TRE in jan 08. they are all still in good shape, but havnet seen ALOT of dirt. the inner TRE are worn out and need to be replaced soon.

[slomatt]

Both Ken and I were having noises and we thought it was coming from the front. On both of ours it ended up being the driver side nut and bolt on the panhard bar. He has the SS adjustable one and mine is stock. I basically took it out, greased it up and put my impact gun on it.

Ah, haven't checked that one out yet. Did it cause a squeak for you or some other kind of noise? I'll check it out this weekend, thanks for the tip.

- Matt

[4x4mike]

The squeak I had was the metal end of my radiator rubbing on the inside side of my front skid plate. The loose panhard bar caused a bit of clunking. I think I made a post about it. I kind of thought it was something up front and had heard of similar issues from folks after they lifted their 3rd gens. I think Ken had more of a clunk than a squeak but I think he also had some front shock issues. Just on a fire road his junk would sound like a jeep just driving along. I've toyed with the idea of making an adjustable panhard bar and if so I'd upgrade that mounting nut to a nylock.

Your bar may not seem loose by just grabbing it, although ours did. Put a wrench to the nut and bolt to check. I have no idea what the torque spec is but I'm certain my 700+ ft-pound impact exceeded it and it's still going strong.

[slomatt]

I ended up purchasing the Lil' Skip's offroad gas tank skidplate and have been very happy with it so far. The skid is very well built and easy to install.



- Matt

[Bighead]

I ended up purchasing the Lil' Skip's offroad gas tank skidplate and have been very happy with it so far. The skid is very well built and easy to install.

- Matt

Looks good. One of these days I'll get mine installed.

[Obi..]

Did you ever throw on a control-arm drop or put on an adjustable one? This is a 4Runner right when you lift more than 2" without adjusting the control arm it pulls the differential and driveshaft that way making the driveshaft hit the skid plate. Just so you know in case you didn't already..

In case anyone else searches the topic the other fix for the tank is you run it as low as possible, then pop out the fuel sending unit and using a 2x2 or other wood beam and a small mallet on it to bang out the dent as best possible. Just be sure the wood doesn't splinter up on either end and that you have an assistant helping you so you don't crease or tear the tank itself.

[4x4mike]

An adjustable panhard bar centers the axle and helps reduce the contact. He's got an SS lift with the taller rear coils.

[Obi..]

Gotcha.