2000 Tundra: Donaho coilover w/ blown seals

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
Well one of my Donaho adjustable racing coilovers has finally blown it's seals, I bought them about 7 years ago and they have been a pleasure to drive on the entire time. I will contact ICON and see if I can send them in to have them rebuilt, this would be considerably cheaper then buying a new pair. My truck has 165,000 miles on it and I put the DR coilovers on it at 75,000 miles. I have kept them adjusted to 2.5” the entire time.

I figured that while I ‘m waiting for the strut to be reworked by ICON (assuming they will work on a DR strut) I'll replace the LCA & UCA Bushings, and ball joints. A few years ago I attempted to change out the UCA & LCA bushings with daystar poly bushings but; because, I was also doing the stabilizer bushings and the steering rack bushings the same day, I was only able to replace the UCA bushings before I ran out of time. I'm actually glad I didn't put the Daystar Poly Bushings in the LCA because, after a year the upper bushings started having a real annoying squeak that drives me nuts. So my question is, when I'm shopping for ball joints do you guys think it is better to go OEM or should I consider Moog or Raybestos replacements?

For Anyone who is intrested I'll keep you posted on ICON's responce to my rebuild question.....
 

Owyhee H

Adventurer
OEM. They last long enough and dont make anoying noises. I think more than 150,000 miles is ok for a suspension bushing lifespan. I have used poly bushings and bodymounts in the past an will never use them again. I make sure to get OEM parts though, some aftermarket OE parts do not last nearly as long. YMMV.
 

keezer37

Explorer
You'll be okay as far as dealing with Icon is concerned. I got my Donahoes rebuilt by them last year. Shipping kinda sucked from Ohio but, what can you do. They do/did have a designated rebuild day, Tuesdays I think. So whenever they get them, they may sit for a bit. Sounds like it's no big deal for you though.
Glad I had the original Donahoe box with my OEs in the basement. Made it quick and easy.
 
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Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
You'll be okay as far as dealing with Icon is concerned. I got my Donahoes rebuilt by them last year. Shipping kinda sucked from Ohio but, what can you do. They do/did have a designated rebuild day, Tuesdays I think. So whenever they get them, they may sit for a bit. Sounds like it's no big deal for you though.
Glad I had the original Donahoe box with my OEs in the basement. Made it quick and easy.

Looks like your right. ICON got right back to me and said that rebuilding the DR struts wouldn't be a problem. The basic rebuild is $125 per strut and I could have a reservoir “retro fitted” for an additional $185.00 per shock.
 

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
OEM. They last long enough and dont make anoying noises. I think more than 150,000 miles is ok for a suspension bushing lifespan. I have used poly bushings and bodymounts in the past an will never use them again. I make sure to get OEM parts though, some aftermarket OE parts do not last nearly as long. YMMV.

Thanks, I Just ordered OEM ball joints and bushings!
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
Looks like your right. ICON got right back to me and said that rebuilding the DR struts wouldn't be a problem. The basic rebuild is $125 per strut and I could have a reservoir “retro fitted” for an additional $185.00 per shock.

They were good and quick about rebuilding my Donahoes last year. Of course the shipping from Virginia sucked too, and I had to run my 100,000 miles OE coilovers during the process. Nice folks to deal with.
 

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
LCA Off

For those of you who care, I have boxed up the struts and will be shipping them off to ICON tomorrow; I also was able to pull the LCAs off and will be dropping them off at a shop to press out the old bushings and press in the new ones in. The biggest PITA was having to loosen the steering rack to remove the rear cams. The original LCA ball joints felt ok but both the boots were torn and they were starting to lose grease. The original LCA bushings appeared to be pretty worn-out; I noticed a fair amount of horizontal play in the LCA. Here are some photos of how the truck looks today. Next weekend I will put everything back together with the exception of the struts.
 

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CYi5

Explorer
Seven years without a rebuild, that's impressive. I usually have mine rebuilt every three years or so, mainly due to lower heims wearing out before seals actually blow. I've had mine since 2004 as well (OG DR's).
 

thecriscokid

Explorer
Am I seeing that you had the stock UCA's and coilovers set up to +2.5" ? I had to replace my UCA's with Camburgs because the stock UCA contacted the spring at full drop then would stick a little and "twang" back out. It sounded horrid. I was only +1.5" I guess every truck is a little different. The camburg uni balls wore out in 6-7k
 

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
Am I seeing that you had the stock UCA's and coilovers set up to +2.5" ? I had to replace my UCA's with Camburgs because the stock UCA contacted the spring at full drop then would stick a little and "twang" back out. It sounded horrid. I was only +1.5" I guess every truck is a little different. The camburg uni balls wore out in 6-7k

Yeah, I have never had any issues with using the stock UCA; I also have never installed a diff drop or wheel spacers either, and the only issue I have ever had was a torn CV boot about three years ago which I had a shop replace.
 

Derek24

Explorer
Do you have a pic of your truck on all fours? I think I see an ARB front bumper and I would like to see how it looks on your truck, since we have the same color! Thanks!
 

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
Bumper pics

Do you have a pic of your truck on all fours? I think I see an ARB front bumper and I would like to see how it looks on your truck, since we have the same color! Thanks!

Here you go!
 

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Derek24

Explorer
I should of said "not to show any pictures on all four", now I want that bumper! Looks great thanks for the pics!
 

Verde Rat

Weekend Warrior
Back on the road

Well, the truck is back together and on the road again. I have to say that the folks over at ICON were great to deal with :victory:. They always got right back to me whenever I had a question or just needed a status update.

My biggest gripe about the whole process is that the US Postal Service took three week to deliver the struts from Albuquerque, NM to Riverside, CA.
 

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Danimal

Adventurer
Glad you got it back together. How does it ride with the rebuilt shocks and new bushings/ball joints.

Dan
 

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