Lower control arm bushings

[Rexsname]

My wife was involved in an accident last week, She was not hurt and the truck was not damaged.

When we had the truck inspected, they let me know that they would not be able to align it because the lower control arm bushings and lower ball joints were worn beyon specs. The truck has about 201,000 miles on it.

I have received quotes ranging from $775 plus alignment to $1375 including alignment.

Do these quotes sound reasonable? Would it be better or cheaper to purchase complete lower control arms as an assembley?

REX

[BLKNBLU]

With those quotes, yes, that could quite possibly be your best bet. Toyota Parts Sales (TRDParts4U) lists LCA's for $169 and the description clearly states lower ball joints included. The illustration gives the impression that they will come with bushings as well. Check with them to verify. They are very helpful.

I did a rebuild on my front end and they quoted me CA's that included bushings. I didn't get them and in the long run it was a good thing as I'm now straight axled 3 yrs later, BUT if I had kept the IFS I'd be kicking myself now. The bushing swap was a PITA, and the aftermarket poly bushings were stiff and SQUEAKY and awful. It was on an '86 so something of a different animal but for this situation I would bet similar enough. Did I mention the poly bushings were squeaky?

TRDParts4U was excellent. Linky:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getJointLocator&siteid=214074&chapter=&Sectionids=19,2512&groupid=61005&subgroupid=0&componentid=0&make=34&model=Tacoma&year=2001&graphicID=F809182&callout=11&catalogid=1&displayCatalogid=0

[JJackson]

Those lower bushings can go bad, we had some fun aligning my truck in the garage after the lift. Been thinking of replacing them at the time I crank up the CO's for a little more lift.

[Rexsname]

I guess I should be thankful that they have lasted as long as they have. 201,000 miles is a long, long ways. Thank you for the link to the control arms, I think that will be the way to go. I would rather have factory new parts anyways


REX

[Rexsname]

Bump

[peekay]

The LCA are a pain in the butt to replace. I replaced mine with poly ones on my old truck (01 Taco Dcab). It involves basically tearing the entire front suspension apart, as well as loosening the steering rack. Took me a full day (8+ hours) and I was pretty familiar with the Taco suspension.

Even if you were to get new arms, you'd still have to loosen the steering rack. But I'd rather have fresh arms with the factory bushings than the poly ones.

[Rexsname]

I ordered the complete lower control arms this afternoon. I will have them installed rather than tear the truck apart myself.

REX

[Rexsname]

Parts arrived today

REX

[Verde Rat]

I know I’m bringing back an old thread. But, this seems like an appropriate place to talk about control arm bushings.

I have been planning on going through the front-end of my 2000 tundra to replace the UCA & LCA bushings with the Daystar poly bushings. I decided to order the poly bushing replacements for the UCA & LCA because; I figured they would be better suited for a truck with larger and more aggressive tires. Now, I’m starting to wonder if should have ordered the OEM rubber bushings? Have any of you guys had experience with the Daystar poly bushings?

Since, I’m already planning on tearing into the control arms; I figured that I may as well replace the steering rack & sway bar bushings with poly bushings and replace the lower ball joints. I’m in the process of picking up all the parts now, and I’m planning to do the work around the end of the month. This will be one of the largest projects I have taken on my self and any suggestions you guys my have to help with the process would be greatly appreciated. Thanks…

[ntsqd]

Use a silicone grease where ever the urethane slides on metal. Not all urethanes like normal dino based grease. No idea about pure synthetic, but silicone is known to work and is sold by Energy Suspension and Baker Precision for this specific use. It is nasty stuff to get off of your skin, probably will never come out of clothing. Just so that you known going in.....

[onelastcast]

Buying the LCA new with bushings might not be a bad idea but if you are handy with tools and don't mind wrenching for a couple of hours, installing the energy suspension bushings is the way to go.
I use Teflon grease to eliminate the squeaking and increase life; has worked great. To remove them, use your handy dandy propane torch to get them start and watch them melt right off. After about 3-5 minutes of them catching on fire, you can speed the process by carefully push them out with a long pry or flat head to avoid getting burned. I seen tons of guys do this way and I've done it myself and it works great. Then just clean the residue and install new ones. Don't forget the grease.

This method also works on the big center bushings on the RP. You gotta be a little quick here though to avoid toasting the internal seals.
Toyota stealership does not sell the center & top bushing of the Tacoma but they will sell you a new RP for over 900 a pop. Energy suspension does sell replacement bushing for the RP as well.

GL next time!

[PHXtaco]

I recommend doing some searching on the TTORA forum. There are a couple guys over there that have had bad luck with the poly bushings not lasting in the lower arms and the consensus was to stay with factory bushings.

[nucktaco]

that alignment seems pretty expensive. it costs 75.60 with taxes for a 4wheel alignment on a car here. or a front wheel alignment for $35.

with the prices you gave on the previous page it looks like it was gona cost over 400 to have the alignment?

[Verde Rat]

Thanks for the information guys!

I’m kind of committed right now to using the poly bushings at the LCA, but I’ll take a look at what the guys over at TTORA have to say about them. Worst case scenario, I wont use the poly bushing I just bought and, I’ll pick up some OEM ones. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

So fare I purchased:
• Teflon silicone
• UCA/LCA Poly Bushings
• Energy Suspension’s steering rack bushing kit (poly)

Items I need to get:
• Lower Ball joints ($110ea.)
• Sway bar bushing kit (poly) ($20)
• Passenger side tie-rod boot ($20)

[Monty]

From my experience...

Poly bushings don't last nearly as long as factory ones. The middle of the bushing where the steel sleeve slides into will eventually get larger and sloppy. Poly is better suited for compression applications, such as sway bar bushings.

I went as far as machining my Camburg UCAs to accept the factory bushings.

[ji603]

I know we're going on almost a year here, but how did OP find the front suspension work went? I've just learned that my alignment cams in the LCAs on my 01 Tacoma are frozen as well, and just sitting there looking at them it doesn't look pretty.

Matter of fact - doesn't even look like the lower control arm would come off until the cam/bolt/pin comes out .... and the rack is in the way. :(

Are people just cutting through the cam bolt, buying OEM lower control arms w new bushings, and new alignment cam bolts? Wish toyota greased those things... now I can't even get PB blaster in the area.

[Rexsname]

I ordered the parts from TRD of Dallas, took the parts and truck to the allignment shop, watched the magic happen and the truck is happy now.......


No problems since,


REX

[Verde Rat]

Well I finally found some time to change out the UCA bushings with the Daystar Poly bushings. I ended up torching out the old ones and in the process I made quite the mess. I also replaced the steering rack bushing and sway bar bushings with the poly bushings. Because, I ran out of time I wasn’t able to get to the LCA bushings. This might be a good thing. After hearing some of the poor reviews of the poly bushings used in the control arm application, I may go with the OEM bushing on the LCA.

After getting a good look at the LCA configuration, I might just have a mechanic install those bushings and save myself the grief.

On that note, does anyone now a good mechanic on the north side of Phoenix?



I know we're going on almost a year here, but how did OP find the front suspension work went? I've just learned that my alignment cams in the LCAs on my 01 Tacoma are frozen as well, and just sitting there looking at them it doesn't look pretty.

Matter of fact - doesn't even look like the lower control arm would come off until the cam/bolt/pin comes out .... and the rack is in the way. :(

Are people just cutting through the cam bolt, buying OEM lower control arms w new bushings, and new alignment cam bolts? Wish toyota greased those things... now I can't even get PB blaster in the area.


Yes, you will need to drop the steering rack down in order to remove the cam/bolt. You shouldn’t have to cut the cam bolt. I think you would need to remove the LCA completely in order to remove the bushings.

[Remote]

I know we're going on almost a year here, but how did OP find the front suspension work went? I've just learned that my alignment cams in the LCAs on my 01 Tacoma are frozen as well, and just sitting there looking at them it doesn't look pretty.

Matter of fact - doesn't even look like the lower control arm would come off until the cam/bolt/pin comes out .... and the rack is in the way. :(

Are people just cutting through the cam bolt, buying OEM lower control arms w new bushings, and new alignment cam bolts? Wish toyota greased those things... now I can't even get PB blaster in the area.

Frozen cams are pretty common. They must be cut thru and they are very hard steel. They just laugh at Sawzall blades so have plenty on hand. The cam has 2 parts, only the part with the tube must be cut so no need to buy both halves.
Putting new bushings in the old arms is no big thing if you have a press. I do but still got new arms. The old ones will be re-bushed if this service is needed again. New arms come with installed bushings but not lower ball joints as the online descriptions imply.
The poly bushings for the 95.5-04 Tacoma control arms, upper and lower, do fail rather quickly, lube or no lube and are kind of a joke with Tacoma folks.
Anti-seize goes without saying on the install and make sure to put the full torque on the cam bolts (96 lbs) after alignment or they will slip.