Anyone running poly LCA bushings?

[85GT-79FJ40]

I've been through a lot of headaches in the last few months trying to pin down a 55-65 MPH steering wheel shake in my 2011 trail. I've got the Eibach springs and 5100's along with JBA upper arms and a 3/4" cornfed spacer in the back. Truck is aligned and drives great at all other speeds. I really started to notice it when I took the factory wheels and 265's off (along with 1.25 spidertrax spacers) and went to 285/70/17's on Method 17x8.5's with 0 offset. First set was Falken AT3's and 2 weren't actually round. Shook like crazy, had them balanced 4 times (last time road force) and they still sucked. Local dealer did a warranty on them and sold me some BFG's which were even worse. Of course they used 8-10 ounces of weight on each one... Took those off 2 days later and now I have the new toyo's. Which were balanced horribly but I took it to toyota and road force along with taking about half the weight off did the trick. Love the tires but I still randomly get a steering wheel shake. sometimes I go around a corner and it'll stop completely. Then go around another or hit a bump and it starts doing it again. It's annoying. Really really annoying. Only thing I have noticed (and the shop that aligned it) is the lower control arm bushings look a little beat. The truck only has 69k miles but it is an 11 and I keep reading about failures on these bushings. I don't really want to go with an OEM bushing that will fail prematurely but as I read about people trying to go with non-OE arms that don't fit I'm thinking either OE complete arms or rebuilding mine. I have heard energy suspension makes bushings and i have found 555 brand ball joints on ebay. But I can't have the truck tying up the only lift at work and it is currently my only 4 wheeled vehicle. And I don't really want to commute in the 10MPG F350 shop truck while my personal truck ties up the lift... I really can't spend $700 on a pair of arms right now either. Hence the question. Anyone have success with Energy Suspension lower arm bushings on a 5th gen without KDSS? Thinking I could do these and new ball joints and be good for around $200. If the bushings actually fit.

Sorry for the novel. It's been a frustrating few months trying to get my truck enjoyable to drive again.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

Energy suspension are good, but get the graphite black. Just be prepared to have them squeak.

At 69K miles, your LCA bushings should still be fine. Above 200K miles you're on borrowed time. Our 2014 has 223K miles and the LCA bushing and ball joints are fine. I just went through the steering shakes and road force balancing showed two tires to be real bad with one of those believed to have early belt separation. Replaced the failing tire and balanced the rest, which eliminated the steering pulse.

 

[85GT-79FJ40]

I thought they should be fine too. This is my 17th Toyota 4x4 and the only other time I have ever had to change LCA bushings on one is when I had to cut the eccentric bolts out of a 91 I was putting a 4" lift in. But the ones in my 11 do look pretty beat. Of course you can't see much of them. My fear is the hacks that aligned it after i put the lift in heated the bolts up excessively to get them to move and cooked the bushings. When I was doing the suspension I put a 3 foot breaker bar on the bolts and couldn't get them to budge. I was going to anti-seize them and slide them back in.

I think I have eliminated the possibility of a bad tire though. Road force balance at the dealer last week yielded single digit numbers on all but one and that was a 12. They moved it around and got it down to a 7. In comparison none of my falkens were under 15 and one was in the 30's.

I admit I'm grasping here. I work on cars for a living (restoration not actual mechanic) but don't have an alignment machine or a tire machine at the shop. I have spent about six grand in parts on this truck over the last six months and it's been miserable to drive for the last 2 months. About to throw in the towel and just buy a new tacoma and leave it alone.

 

[08TxRunner]

Energy suspension are good, but get the graphite black. Just be prepared to have them squeak.

At 69K miles, your LCA bushings should still be fine. Above 200K miles you're on borrowed time. Our 2014 has 223K miles and the LCA bushing and ball joints are fine. I just went through the steering shakes and road force balancing showed two tires to be real bad with one of those believed to have early belt separation. Replaced the failing tire and balanced the rest, which eliminated the steering pulse.

They will not squeak if you use the proper grease - actual bushing grease from Energy Suspension or Prothane. Everyone uses crappy bearing grease and then complains about the squeaks...

 

[Jeremy556]

I doubt your LCA bushings are bad unless you can see visible cracks. A lot of people think theirs are bad because the bushings are soft and easy to move with a pry bar, but they are when new. I'm at 270k miles on my 11 and the LCA bushings are still fine.

It's always wheel balance. I have fought it every time I have bought tires and usually have to go through 2-4 tries of balancing every re-balance to get it right. Eventually, they get my 305/70/17 MTR-Ks running smooth as glass, but almost never on the first (or second) try.

Also, tires do flat spot, so you have to ignore balance problems until they are up to temp

 

[85GT-79FJ40]

I doubt your LCA bushings are bad unless you can see visible cracks. A lot of people think theirs are bad because the bushings are soft and easy to move with a pry bar, but they are when new. I'm at 270k miles on my 11 and the LCA bushings are still fine.

It's always wheel balance. I have fought it every time I have bought tires and usually have to go through 2-4 tries of balancing every re-balance to get it right. Eventually, they get my 305/70/17 MTR-Ks running smooth as glass, but almost never on the first (or second) try.

Also, tires do flat spot, so you have to ignore balance problems until they are up to temp

It's definitely in the wheel balance speed range for sure. The odd thing is it only does it about 50 percent of the time. yesterday I drove to a 4th of July party about 25 miles away, mostly at 55-65 and it shook a few times on the way there but none at all on the way back. However I did also notice an odd feeling from the front right caliper when I had to get on the brakes hard once. I recently did the left front as it was sticking. I'm thinking the right front might be too. That could potentially be a contributing factor as well.

 

[tm965]

It's definitely in the wheel balance speed range for sure. The odd thing is it only does it about 50 percent of the time. yesterday I drove to a 4th of July party about 25 miles away, mostly at 55-65 and it shook a few times on the way there but none at all on the way back. However I did also notice an odd feeling from the front right caliper when I had to get on the brakes hard once. I recently did the left front as it was sticking. I'm thinking the right front might be too. That could potentially be a contributing factor as well.

ive been through the same thing as you albeit with a much newer car and much lower miles. after tons of road force balances, new tires, etc., i swapped out my LCAs for dirt kings and all of my vibrations and steering shimmy instantly disappeared. lots of folks on here will tell you that its always the tires, and yes a perfect road force balance will really help if not cure everything for quite some time. that said, i'm of the opinion that the stock bushings are way too damn soft which is why tires must be PERFECTLY balanced. Ive never had this issue with any other car or truck. also keep in mind that if you go to poly bushings or dif LCAs, your ride quality is going to firm up some