[ForceFed4g63]

Hey guys, my '04 CC 4x4 is about to hit 165k miles, and it needs some love. I bought it with 120k miles a few years ago and haven't done anything other than brake pads and oil changes. It's never given me any issues at all, other than changing a battery and of course it has the dreaded cracked manifolds. I want to give it some love and make sure it keeps running for a long time to come.

I've looked in the owner's manual but it stops at the 120k mile interval. Should I just get most of that done? Anything missing that I should do? I'm also on the original Ranchos so I'd like to replace those while I'm at it. What do you guys recommend? I'm also going to get a leveling kit and new wheels and tires, can anybody recommend a good combo that looks aggressive but has good tire wear and isn't crazy loud?

Looking forward to hearing some advice, thanks guys!

 

[carbonduc27]

I guess the list could get a little long if you want to go full recondition.

I was at the same mileage as you and do a big refresh when I bought my truck.

easy:
belt
fluids (power steering and front and rear diffs)
air filter
cabin filters

mid level:
brake fluid
transmission filter and fluid
spark plugs
egr valves

pain in the a**
water pump/fan clutch/thermostat/coolant


I also swapped my shocks for bilstein 5301s. my OG pro comp shocks were not terrible but the new ones provide a lot more control.

I have BF Goodrich KO2s on and they seem to be wearing well. Nice tread with some teeth on the side but not loud on the road. I think they are a good compromise I just wish they were cheaper.....

I would also check bushings and cv boots. I found one boot totally torn and a sway bar bushing almost all the way out of the bracket.

Good luck

 

[ForceFed4g63]

This is great, thank you!

 

[ForceFed4g63]

When you say Bilstein 5301's, I don't see those, do you mean the 5100's?

 

[HRTKD]

I would be surprised if your wheel bearings aren't on their way out. I see a lot of those being replaced around 100K.

The Bilstein 5100's are a very good shock. Great bang for the buck. Unless you're off-roading a lot then spending more than Bilsteins cost is a waste of money.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

I would be surprised if your wheel bearings aren't on their way out. I see a lot of those being replaced around 100K.

The Bilstein 5100's are a very good shock. Great bang for the buck. Unless you're off-roading a lot then spending more than Bilsteins cost is a waste of money.

That's a good item to replace too, any particular brand you guys would recommend? They seem to vary in price.

 

[Blackbeauty]

Don't putz around... Get the Timken bearings. Do NOT go eBay on this. Ask LSturbointeg about that...

When I did mine, I got the Timkens from Rockauto.com. Good price and dependable.

Nice thing... if you have ever done a brake rotor replacement, it's just 3 more bolts besides that.... so it's not hard to do at all. :thumbsup:

 

[ArmAir1]

X2 on the hubs- definitely a good idea....and if you doing hubs it's a good time to upgrade to the '08 and up hubs and get all the parts to convert to the bigger '08 and up brakes if it's in the budget.

 

[ArmAir1]

Rock Auto for everything- use the discount code.

 

[HRTKD]

That's a good item to replace too, any particular brand you guys would recommend? They seem to vary in price.

While replacing the hubs aren't on the level of doing the exhaust manifolds, you don't want to have to do the job twice. Go OEM from the dealer or Timken.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

Thanks guys!

 

[ForceFed4g63]

So found out today my upper ball joints are shot. Is it worth it to just go ahead and replace the Upper Control Arms? How hard of a job is that? Also, I see some aftermarket ones are extremely expensive, but I see the 1aauto ones are very affordable, are those any good? Any and all suggestions are welcome, thanks guys!

 

[HRTKD]

So found out today my upper ball joints are shot. Is it worth it to just go ahead and replace the Upper Control Arms? How hard of a job is that? Also, I see some aftermarket ones are extremely expensive, but I see the 1aauto ones are very affordable, are those any good? Any and all suggestions are welcome, thanks guys!

You don't want to have to do this job twice. Spend some money on better known, brand name upper control arms. I could be wrong but it may be challenging to try and replace just the ball joints while the UCA is on the vehicle. If that's the case, replace the whole unit. Less time involved and you know that everything will be brand new. Consider replacing the coilovers at the same time. As long as you're in there already, might as well if the status of the strut is unknown or its been on there for a long time. A friend of mine has 170K miles on the OEM coilovers on his Armada. They are completely toast and probably have been for a long time.

Replacement of the UCA isn't hard, it just takes a while and a ratcheting end wrench on the driver side may make it easier to do. It's been 9 years since I did mine and I replaced the coilovers at the same time. Look for coilover install threads and that will walk you through the UCA replacement too.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

What would a better known brand name be? I've already pretty much maxed out my budget on this already. So far I have Bilstein 5100's all around, Timken wheel bearings, and a 2" lift kit all waiting to be installed. I figure I'll just do it all at the same time since I'll be in there.

 

[HRTKD]

I put on UCA from PRG but that would be overkill for you. Check out the ones from Moog. If I had kept my Titan, I was going to use Moog.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

Thanks for the suggestion, just ordered Moog UCA's, the price was definitely more affordable than some of the other options out there. I also ordered new Moog springs, figured that would be an added precaution since my stock springs have 165k miles on them. If I take them to a shop to get the springs installed on the shocks, are there any special instructions they need or is it pretty self explanatory?

 

[HRTKD]

Auto parts stores will loan you spring compressors that will help you do the entire job yourself. I don't know which shops to tell you to go to for them to do the springs for you. Hopefully someone here can chime in with a suggestion.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

I'm not asking which shops to take it to or where to rent a compressor from (none of my local stores have HD compressors), I'm just asking if there's any special instructions I need to give a shop as far as installing the springs onto the shock.

 

[jdmartin]

I'm not asking which shops to take it to or where to rent a compressor from (none of my local stores have HD compressors), I'm just asking if there's any special instructions I need to give a shop as far as installing the springs onto the shock.

Not that I can see. I looked through the manual and it's a pretty simple job. I don't know that I wouldn't just order the spring/shock combo unless I wanted some special kind of shock that didn't come with a spring, as the price difference is virtually nil, and maybe even cheaper, compared to having the ones you have changed. Probably what I would do - will do, since I want to change mine after 150k miles and 13 years - is get the assembly, then save the springs so that if I wanted to do it again I could just load them up on my own time with a spring compressor.

 

[ForceFed4g63]

Not that I can see. I looked through the manual and it's a pretty simple job. I don't know that I wouldn't just order the spring/shock combo unless I wanted some special kind of shock that didn't come with a spring, as the price difference is virtually nil, and maybe even cheaper, compared to having the ones you have changed. Probably what I would do - will do, since I want to change mine after 150k miles and 13 years - is get the assembly, then save the springs so that if I wanted to do it again I could just load them up on my own time with a spring compressor.

As far as I can see Bilstein 5100's don't come pre-assembled with springs.