"...do you think it's worth my while to bring this up with the dealer and see if they will replace my bushings, or do you think they will just do what you suggested above? ...Thanks again :usa2:"
Hi FR4R,
Thank you for your kindness... "very much appreciated!"
Replacing control arm bushings at 35k may not be the best approach as they're usually not showing any appreciable wear at that interval however, there are different ways to approach this issue.
(1) If you feel comfortable rolling up your sleeves and taking charge here's one of the most effective
'and cheapest' ways to eliminate that squeak. As stated in my first post, just saturate
all eight front (upper and lower) control arm bushings, leaving a little 'soak time' (10 mins) in between several applications. Ordinarily I'd opt to loosen
'and spin' all four pivot bolts to aid in bushing surface lubrication, but because toyota utilizes
caster/camber adjustment lobes on the lower control arms, doing it that way would prove counter productive... that's if you do it yourself.
(2) You can however, take it to a local front-end shop (avoiding inflated dealership pricing) and have them loosen-and-spin all four front control arm bushing bolts, hitting them w/penetrating oil at the same time, then white lube those parts. To finish the job, a front wheel alignment would be necessary to re-establish proper alignment angles. I think that, that's as much as you need to do to eradicate that annoying squeak, the lubricant will continue to 'work-in' as you drive, preventing any premature, future squeaks and creaks! Rgds
