Does anyone have the link to the thread about changing out the LCA bushings to poly bushings with pics and detailed description? I have been searching for quite awhile and can't seem to find it. Thanks.

I am probably going to be in the same boat too. There is a lot rust under my runner. I looked at the lower control arms and the bushings on the passenger side are dried out and cracking. I am not really happy. Since I am installing my lift in a couple weeks, I will be changing out sway bar, end links and control arm bushings while I am tearing it apart.

I have some pictures on my old phone when I did mine. Ill get back to you. Its no easy feat as I had to melt the old bushings out with a torch. I assume you'll be going with energy suspension

I looked into this and couldn't find a write up. But energy suspensions does have instructions in a PDF.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sion/17535.pdf

There was a thread on here not long ago with a complete write up and pics. Wish I could find it.

This?
ZachAttack's Build Thread - 2004 Sport Edition

Thats the one, thank you very much.

Mine are not shot, but I need new tires in a couple months and my shocks are getting close so I am going to do all that and get 1 alignment when I am done.

Thanks a bunch... that answers some questions. While I'm doing the coils, shocks and lift... might as well install new bushings all the way around. I don't want to pull it apart in a year. That should give me some peace of mind. Based upon feedback, it should improve my handling too.

So I am new to T4R. Long time reader first time ever asking anything. I have an '03 4th Gen. V8, 4wd. Everything right now is stock. I'm about to put an OME lift on it. My LCA bushings are shot and I am going to replace them with Whitlines bushings. From what I've read, they are the best poly bushings to go with. There are two part numbers that "fit" my runner; W53377A and W53312. The price is ALOT different between the two. I just need to know if anyone has replaced theirs with either of these or which ones will fit. Thanks!

W53312 is the whole kit, W53377A is just one piece. You want the whole kit.

However... I'm going to tell you this out of experience: replacing these bushings is risky.

1. It is very likely that your cam bolts are seized to the inside of the bushings sleeves. You will probably have to cut the bolts in order to remove them. There are other manufacturers of the cam bolts, such as Moog, but I recommend going with the Toyota ones. I've ran both, and the Toyota ones are best.

2. A great amount of effort is required to remove the bushing from the arm. It will require a press, heat, grinding, etc. The problem with doing this, is the high potential for expansion and damage to the LCA. Once the LCAs "buckets" have been compromised, the bushing no longer fits tightly. This will cause axial travel, and premature wear (which is exactly what I am experiencing right now, having gone down this route).

There is hope... Some have been lucky, or skilled enough to make the LCA bushing swap work for them. There have been a couple reported cases of the Whiteline bushings working great, and a few cases of them not fitting. Same with every manufacturer.

The other option is to purchase new LCAs all together. While more expensive, the amount of time and risk you would save by going this route is significant. I wish I had done this in the first place. Now, I'm going to attempting to weld my Moog LCA bushing's jacket to my LCAs in an attempt to stop the axial play.

Good luck.

dkyleb,

Thanks for the input. I ordered both since I didn't know which was which. So I'll just return the other one. Yeah I thought about just doing the new LCAs as well but the price was pretty high. It was something between like $200-$400 each arm. Yeah right lol. I'm going to attempt to do it myself and hopefully nothing is seized. I did end up going with the Moog ball joints that are grease-able. You think they would fail or would they last me?

So... I got both sets in the mail the other day and they are literally two different types of bushings. They don't resemble each other at all. So I'm not sure which one to go with as I have not yet pulled my control arms off yet. One set has a lip to it on one side and the "complete" doesn't have any lips on the bushings. This is pretty confusing.

One set probably came with the cups and one without. Can you post a couple pictures?

Yeah I can. They are still in the bags because I want to be able to return which ever one I don't need.

The forward and rearward bushings will be different. In the set, you should have two different types.

Some bushings, like the polyurethane ones require that you reuse the stock steel cups and washers, then reflare them on. However, some come as a whole drop in replacement.