I have read many posts, and I'm not clear on when to rebuild the front end.

2008
Lariat
138K miles (80% highway, daily driver) about 5% towing miles. The only off road is the daily exercise on Chicago Roads, salt, potholes, traffic.

Besides control arms, shocks, wheel bearings and IWE What else should I plan for replacing?

Do you think I need to replace the coil spring? Why?

Do you think I need to / should plan to replace the tie rod end while I'm in there?

The shocks are original, how many miles does one typically get out of them? (are they overdue)

Thanks

 

Go to a reputable alignment shop and get it inspected. They have the specs and the equipment to check it all for wear.

 

I redid my whole front end a little before 100k. Upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, sway bar links and coil overs.

At 138k your front shocks are past their prime.

 

If you don't know how to check the components for wear, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc, get a front end shop to do it and replace what is worn. Springs typically don't need replacing. Shocks tend to last as long as you want to use them too. I replaced my OE Rancho shocks at about 100k to get a softer ride. They were performing just fine and didn't need replacing.

 

I'm in about the same situation (125K, minor towing, mostly DD). My shocks don't have much in the way of noticeable failure, but it's time to replace them. Your springs should be fine unless you discover cracks or major damage upon inspection. Ball joints and tie rods will probably be the other major items. You can do sway bar stuff while you're there, but that would probably be last on my list of importance. I don't know that I'd bother with wheel bearings unless you just want to, as you can probably just repack the old ones.

 

My sway bar end link bushings were completely cracked and useless. A quick inspection will tell you if these need replacement. I bought some Energy Suspension polyurethane end link bushings from Autozone because the bushings were all i needed. Then end links were in good shape since I don't live in a snow belt/rust belt.