So I now have over 207,000 miles on my T and ive recently been looking for the next truck when its time for the T to go. Then I started thinking, what are the normal causes for failure with a truck this old (1998)? In my situation, it might just be more affordable and cost efficient to just fix, replace or upgarde any parts that I need to to counteract teh effects of old age and normal wear and tear. Any ideas on what parts to start at?

Let's see...depending if you have a 4WD and do a lot of off-roading...maybe front suspension and steering parts, timing belt, water pump, tires, belts, hoses, fluids (brake, engine oil, coolant, power steering), filters, ATF (if you have an automatic transmission), sway bar bushings, end links...these are just a few that I can think of right off the bat.

In my case I have 197k and EVERY single bushing went bad (body mounts, motor, trans, swaybar, control arms, leaf springs, bushings that hold the front axle up, etc) and rotted apart. I replaced them all with polyurethane ones except for my control arms since they are a pain.

Before I had a MASSIVE vibration and ALOT of play in all bushings. Now the vibration is very little and im happy. Took me damn near 2 years to figure it out and multiple mechanic friends were clue less.

Toss shocks in with the front end rebuild.

I'm not real sure what you're getting at when you say

Failure of the truck? or just individual items that commonly fail?

In general it sounds to me like you are interested in preventive maintenance, not a "rebuild" as some seem to suggest. I think its kinda dumb to simply start throwing parts at something just because they are a certain age. It would be much better to do a thorough inspection to see what actually needs replacing. A lot of it will depend on how and where you drive it, and how much.

yes, the things listed are some good things to check. Other things would be stuff that is on the 30/60/90k maintenance list in the owner's manual. Its actually pretty thorough. You could also do a compression and leak down check on the engine if you wanted to get a better idea of its overall condition. Search this forum and the FAQ for other common problems like clutch brackets and starter contacts too.

And yes, I'd say its almost always more cost efficient to keep an older vehicle well maintained than to buy another one to replace it. Its just a matter of whether you want to deal with that maintenance or buy something newer that doesn't really need much maintenance. And frankly, I don't really think of a ~10 year old Toyota as very "old," myself, but like I said before, it really depends on what kind of life its lived in that time. California is generally a whole lot more kind to vehicles than a lot of other areas...

You do have a point there Erik.

I had something similar with the TRE's- looked/felt good; had one of the inners fail, and the other shortly behind it. About all I can say to that is thank God I was travelling <30 mph when they failed, or it would've been bad. There wasn't a shimmy, sloppy handling; simply went around a corner, went to straighten, and kept on towards the grass.

I do try and keep some spare stuff on hand, but then I live about 47 miles out of town; nearest NAPA is 36 miles.

Preventative maintenance is something you should take more seriously now. Erik's leakdown/compression check is an excellent suggestion to get the overall health of the engine. We just did that with the roomdawg's Corolla with 291K on it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I edited my post above, but kewlynx is referring to a comment I made about my truck having over 270k and still running the original tie rod ends, and they are still in good shape even though the vast majority of those miles have been with 33" and 35" tires and they've had some off road abuse. But yes, I do inspect them to make sure.

Oh, I don't know about thatCJMT100. I recall you getting advised of this by folks on this board. I know one fella in particular who pointed it out to you some time ago.

ToyT100, there is no generic fix for age. Things wear, and then wear out. Sure, you could rebuild the engine now, or wait until the bearings start tapping. Myself, I'd wait.

Generically, good routine maintenance, particularly of the fluids, will keep things going for a long time.

People said just to check the motor and trans mounts, which I replaced actually.

I have a 96 SR5 with 189K not so nice miles. Just towed 2.5 cords of wet pine down from the Canyon at 7% grades. I routinely maintain my truck, and instead of a $500/mo truck payment, I spend $50-100 every couple of months on maintainence items. Just changed plugs and wires and did an ATF flush on the motor this month. Another thing to keep in mind is the insurance and licensing bills on a new truck. My registration was $87 for 2 years and insurance is $179 for 6 months. I don't need full coverage on a vehicle that is paid for. We have two of the most reliable trucks on the road. It's a no brainer, good luck!