I will give you some feed back that might help to answer your questions for your use as I have thought about a similar MX plan for my truck. Coming from an aviation background that replaces things at set intervals, and not willing to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, I try to keep everything in good shape and replace it before it breaks or is significantly worn out. I probably do about the same type of driving as you do from your description, though my truck is seeing less “expeditions” now that I am in CA, but it is also seeing less street driving now that I also have a daily driver. First I will echo the comments about "it will vary", even though we both might drive between your 2 and 3, I will probably see less snow than you will, and my driving habits are probably faster than most on two tracks as I have limited time and usually in a hurry to get somewhere—i.e. If I were to slow down I bet my suspension would last a lot longer!
By the way, the lack of recommended mx from manufactures does not surprise me as much as the lack on installation directions I have received from some.
I have almost the same set up except camburg arms and my truck is the previous generation Tacoma, but I am also about 5000lbs when loaded with camping gear.
I installed the aftermarket suspension at 25,000 miles 4 years ago and rebuilt the entire front end at 105,000 miles last month. I had just replaced the inner and outer tie rods 10,000 miles ago, so I did not replace those, but replaced lower control arms and ball joints, replaced the uniballs, replaced the bushings in upper control arms where it mounts to the frame, had the Icon coilovers rebuild by Icon, and while not suspension, also replaced wheel bearings, seals, and cv shafts.
I had to replace the uniballs once before due to wear. As far as mx on them, I let them tell me when they need it—basically as soon as they start squeaking. When I was in the desert and the truck was regularly seeing dry dusty roads it was weekly, driving on pavement in CA it is every 1 to 2 months. All I do is spray them out good with water while the truck is sitting on the ground, then I jack the truck up and let front tires droop and spray the uniballs again. I have followed a lot of threads and have learned that you do not want to lube the uniballs (one Air Force mechanic said all they do is the high-pressure water treatment to uniballs on aircraft) as the lube will attract dirt if it leaves any residue behind, and anything petroleum based will attack the Teflon. You can use Teflon based lubes (if they do not leave a residue that will attract dirt) since the uniball is impregnated with Teflon to begin with. I am currently using DuPont Teflon Multi-Use dry wax Lubricant (
http://www.amazon.com/FINISH-TECHNOL...m/B00030BFEM/2 ) and it seems to work well. It also comes in a spay can, but I found it does not go on well from the can or seep in as good as the liquid. I had previously tried dry graphite powder, but it takes about half a dozen applications to get the graphite to work in, and by that time there is just as much dirt that has worked in, it is time to wash out the unballs with a hose again--- way to much work.
Also I initially had Bilsteins shocks in the rear, but upgraded to the Icon remote reservoir shocks about 10,000 miles ago. The first few sets of Icons shocks I received were “flat” --no nitrogen in them, it had leaked out. Unless you have a high-pressure nitrogen system handy, there is no way to check the shocks without pulling them off the vehicle and compressing them by hand. Even if you have a high pressure air gage (off the top of my head I think they are supposed to be 250 psi) just checking the pressure will lower the charge in the shock too much. Personally, even with my highspeed washboard driving in desert I did not notice a difference—maybe if I was doing the Baja 1000, but for the money, next time I am going back to Bilsteins. Plus I always have that nagging question of if the nitrogen has leaked out gain from my Icons.
Since my truck is now seeing less miles per year and a higher percentage of the miles it will see will be more off road, I do not expect to reach another 80,000 miles before rebuild. In another 50,000 I will give it a good inspection and decided then if I am going to do it then or wait another 10,000. Also I totally expect to replace the uniball sometime before that, but that will be a matter of as soon as it starts to show any play.
Besides keeping the uniball and the outside of the other components clean there is not much maintenance you can do—just inspection. Almost forgot—and lube the zerks for the upper control arm bushings. (I do a detailed inspection every 5000 miles or before/after a hard trip).
Hope this helps for your plan. Currently I am wondering how far I can go before the u-joints or center bearing needs replacing.
Maintenance schedule for suspension needed
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Originally Posted by keezer36
