Lower Arm bolt removal

[SC01]

So, I have been going through somewhat of a long process in trying to get my seized lower control arm cam bolts replaced. This all came to my attention after I was involved in a minor accident but it was enough to knock my front wheels out of alignment. Here are the series of events as follows and the subsequent question:
1. tire shop that the body shop works with says, "bolt are seized you need to lower control arms." knowing how much those are I scoff and think they know nothing, and how hard is a place really going to work on my toyota that isn't getting any $$ out of it.
2. I buy some moog replacement cam bolts from Roborob off the forum. thx rob
3. I take the car into another place with a good "reputation" by word of mouth they say, "well to get those out you need a torch and air chisel, then you melt the bushings and so we'll need to replace those too. you're looking at around $600." I scoff b/c I'm not paying that and I think they're running me around. I say "just soak em and see if they crack, hopefully we get lucky, if we don't stop working!"
4. Said mechanic of good reputation calls later and says they had no luck. Then says, "well turns out we can't get just bushings anyway and you need new lower control arms and that will be $1200." I say, "thanks Im coming to pick the truck up." Also they f-ed up one of my tie rod bushings and now my truck clunks.

So know I'm right back to square one with some shiny cam bolts I can't switch out.

Question: Can't I just use an angle grinder with some cut off wheels, cut a notch out of the rusted nut, knock it off and pound out the bolt? Can it be as easy as I think it should be? I know this has been discussed somewhat on the forum but I haven't found anything definitive.

 

[Crikeymike]

Question: Can't I just use an angle grinder with some cut off wheels, cut a notch out of the rusted nut, knock it off and pound out the bolt? Can it be as easy as I think it should be? I know this has been discussed somewhat on the forum but I haven't found anything definitive.

That's what I would try, "cut the bolt out" since it won't unbolt. And if you have new cams too, you already have the parts you would be cutting out, right?

How long since it was last aligned? Maybe they did something crazy when tightening it all back up?

 

[DannyLlama]

Had a similar issue...

This is the only thing that helped

More here

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/209434-help-suspension-install-ucas.html

Good luck!

 

[SC01]

That's what I would try, "cut the bolt out" since it won't unbolt. And if you have new cams too, you already have the parts you would be cutting out, right?



How long since it was last aligned? Maybe they did something crazy when tightening it all back up?

Had to be from previous owner. [MENTION=74912]mook21[/MENTION]. So at least 2 1/2 years. I know that the lower arm bolts seizing on 5th gens is a well established problem for 4 runners especially up north.


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[SC01]

Had a similar issue...



This is the only thing that helped

More here



http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/209434-help-suspension-install-ucas.html



Good luck!

You think that arm puller there would work for cracking lower arm bolts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DannyLlama]

It's called a Pitman arm puller .. There are some places that rent tools. I can't remember where we rented that from but it's worth a try before you start cutting bolts. It's pretty effective if you have room to mount it

Quick google search

 

[d_clark]

You could cut off the nut then try to pound it through. Or you could take a sawsall, and cut the bolt between the mount and the bushing. Once you get the lower control arm off, then you could work on getting the remaining portion of the bolt and rubber bushings out.


Here is a thread with an alternative method:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/101110-replace-lower-control-arm-bushings-help.html

 

[SC01]

You could cut off the nut then try to pound it through. Or you could take a sawsall, and cut the bolt between the mount and the bushing. Once you get the lower control arm off, then you could work on getting the remaining portion of the bolt and rubber bushings out.


Here is a thread with an alternative method:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/101110-replace-lower-control-arm-bushings-help.html

yea from searching around I've been able to see some guys with older gens go the sawsall method but it seems eat a lot of blades and can be dicey. I'm not opposed to doing that way, I would just think there would be something more efficient.

 

[honda250xtitan]

You could cut off the nut then try to pound it through. Or you could take a sawsall, and cut the bolt between the mount and the bushing. Once you get the lower control arm off, then you could work on getting the remaining portion of the bolt and rubber bushings out.


Here is a thread with an alternative method:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/101110-replace-lower-control-arm-bushings-help.html

this is the method i did on my titan. VERY common issue for titans also. luckily (not really cause it causes a clunk) nissan left lots of space between the tabs and the bushings so you can easily cut the bolts with sawzall blades.

Step 1: buy more beer
Step 2: buy more blades then you think you'd possibly need.
You have to cut 4 spots on each arm to get it to fall out....and then have fun getting the seized bolt out. I'd find some cheaper arms though. MOOG sells them for Titans really cheap and already has the bushings and ball joints installed.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Believe it or not, it's a ****ing pain in the ass to get those LCA bolts and bushings out when they seize. Hell it was a pain in my ass to replace my 4th gen LCA bushings with Poly-Urethane and the bolts weren't seized much...

I would maybe look at the MOOG reviews a bit more, I've been hearing mixed things on them has time has gone seems people are switching back to factory stuff after the MOOGs for various reasons.

I can't recall if you can get the bushings individually from Toyota (it's been a while since I looked, but Whiteline makes poly ones also), I think you can; but you're SOL on the Ball Joint from Toyota. You have to go 3rd party for that or a new LCA.

 

[Antman]

Had a similar issue...

This is the only thing that helped

More here

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/209434-help-suspension-install-ucas.html

Good luck!

You think that arm puller there would work for cracking lower arm bolts?


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What you have here is totally different than what Danny's issue is. That puller will not help your situation.

You will need to grind pound and melt unfortunately.

 

[Vinsil]

There is a reasons the shop want to just replace the lower arms. It's cheaper for you.

Labor beating those POS bolts out is going to cost more than the lower arms.

Not saying your time isn't worth anything but having dealt with seized bolts on suspension before, plan to spend a full day, blades or gas for your torch and you might just f the arms up enough in then your out those anyway.

It sucks, I'm tempted to pull mine apart to PM the bolts so I do this in 5 years...it sucks.

I'd just torch them out at this point. Fastest way honestly.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Do these... Dirt King Fabrication Performace Lower Control Arms

ran them on my titan, absolute works of art.

 

[SC01]

What you have here is totally different than what Danny's issue is. That puller will not help your situation.

You will need to grind pound and melt unfortunately.

I was thinking that didn't look like my issue, but I'm no expert on it.

 

[SC01]

Believe it or not, it's a ****ing pain in the ass to get those LCA bolts and bushings out when they seize. Hell it was a pain in my ass to replace my 4th gen LCA bushings with Poly-Urethane and the bolts weren't seized much...

I would maybe look at the MOOG reviews a bit more, I've been hearing mixed things on them has time has gone seems people are switching back to factory stuff after the MOOGs for various reasons.

I saw some mixed reviews as well, but I have them now so I think I'll be using them.

I can't recall if you can get the bushings individually from Toyota (it's been a while since I looked, but Whiteline makes poly ones also), I think you can; but you're SOL on the Ball Joint from Toyota. You have to go 3rd party for that or a new LCA.

I've seen some of the whitelines on 4th gens I believe. I'll check it out. If I have to take out the arms and the bushings are broken down I won't be able to wait on new bushings to be delivered. She's my daily.

What you have here is totally different than what Danny's issue is. That puller will not help your situation.

You will need to grind pound and melt unfortunately.

Well you guys sure know how to kick a guy when he's seized. Only kidding, but damn seems like a gloomy situation from a labor standpoint. It seems like an obvious issue to avoid from a Toyota design standpoint, but what do I know?

Do these... Dirt King Fabrication Performace Lower Control Arms

ran them on my titan, absolute works of art.

If $$$ were not object this is definitely be the route I would take too.

 

[cbielat]

When completely switching my lowers to something else, even just to get them off we had to burn them out with a torch. Pretty common.

 

[SC01]

To update the thread, it finally dawned on me that I had a warranty that I purchased through my loan provider, and sure enough control arms were covered. yay for me. So I took the 4runner back to the same place. So they do the work with some OEM lower arms with the Moog greasable bolts.
The shop tells me that the warranty won't cover the labor costs to break out the seized bolts/LCAs. Add that to my $100 deductible, it costs me $280. The cost of my warranty when I received my loan was for 3 years/70,000 miles was about $1,000. The original estimate for the work was $1,200 sooo it's really about the same cost either way.
Here are some picks:

I like all the stickers left on there, it's a nice touch.

I don't see any markings on the bolts from the alignment. Shoddy work, or no big deal?

 

[Charlievee]

To update the thread, it finally dawned on me that I had a warranty that I purchased through my loan provider, and sure enough control arms were covered. yay for me. So I took the 4runner back to the same place. So they do the work with some OEM lower arms with the Moog greasable bolts.
The shop tells me that the warranty won't cover the labor costs to break out the seized bolts/LCAs. Add that to my $100 deductible, it costs me $280. The cost of my warranty when I received my loan was for 3 years/70,000 miles was about $1,000. The original estimate for the work was $1,200 sooo it's really about the same cost either way.
Here are some picks:

I like all the stickers left on there, it's a nice touch.

I don't see any markings on the bolts from the alignment. Shoddy work, or no big deal?

Zombie thread. Any chance you have the part number for the moog bolts?