Lower Control Arm Failure (ball joint seems intact)

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parnavaz

New member
Today, was bit in a hurry, so I crossed railroad crossing (a bit rampy one :)) on about 60-65 mph, as a fact car caught some air (did not intend it though).

After superficial checking just found out that LCA is cracked and broken, though ball joint (newly installed OEM) seems to be intact, no noises or any other noticebale change in driving.

I parked the car and do not intend to drive it before I change LCA, any suggestions to how to strengthen it? is there any aftermarket soultion?

p.s. I know I should drive slower, but I really was in a hurry.



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Are these original control arms? Im pretty hard on my rig and have caught air. Never had this happen.
 
Yeah the other guy was running an aftermarket arm. Curious if OP was original parts or not. Maybe replacing my entire arm with OEM instead of the bushings was worth more than just the convenience. I've never seen this until recently now though...
 
JayRolla said:
Are these original control arms? Im pretty hard on my rig and have caught air. Never had this happen.
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Yeah, this OEM LCA from 1997 hilux surf. Car is lifted with arb 882 + tundra billie 5100s on it, bullbar and 12000lbs winch up front.Plus I was in real hurry and rushed 60-65 mph through gravel roads. I will check for dash camera reocording and will upload it, for you guys to see. I do not think I flew more than 10 feet, but the impact was really high. I remember taking gopro video of my jump about 2 years ago and in slomo you could easily see that skid plate was almost touching the ground before rebounce. So I guess the impact is huge.

and oh, one more factor, I have 1.5 inch spacers to clear my tyres,guess that also contributed to that.

I am bit worried now which one to buy as a replacment, second OEM or new aftermarket as I cannot afford buying OEM new. I think I will go for 2nd hand OEM, what do ya think?
 
Buy a used one from a part out and buy a new OEM bushings kit from one of the legit online parts dealers. Do not buy aftermarket bushings. This forum is chalked full of horror stories (insane squealing sounds come to mind) from people who "upgraded" to aftermarket bushings.

There are lots of parts depots that will have this used part. The bushings can be pressed or burned out.
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Buy a used one from a part out and buy a new OEM bushings kit from one of the legit online parts dealers. Do not buy aftermarket bushings. This forum is chalked full of horror stories (insane squealing sounds come to mind) from people who "upgraded" to aftermarket bushings.

There are lots of parts depots that will have this used part. The bushings can be pressed or burned out.
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I have changed bushings with OEM ones about 2 years ago, before that they lasted for 15 years, so I hope I can get out mine form old LCA easily and press them back to the new one.
 
These trucks were not designed to tolerate 2-3 foot jumps.

Things like the suspension and engine mounts are quite susceptible to breaking and stress fractures if you 4Runner too hard.

I broke my driver's side wheel bearing hub in death valley and it almost resulted in a lost truck.
 
BrianSD_42 said:
These trucks were not designed to tolerate 2-3 foot jumps.

Things like the suspension and engine mounts are quite susceptible to breaking and stress fractures if you 4Runner too hard.

I broke my driver's side wheel bearing hub in death valley and it almost resulted in a lost truck.
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Yeah, I know that, but sometimes I forget when I am behind the wheel :)
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Buy a used one from a part out and buy a new OEM bushings kit from one of the legit online parts dealers. Do not buy aftermarket bushings. This forum is chalked full of horror stories (insane squealing sounds come to mind) from people who "upgraded" to aftermarket bushings.

There are lots of parts depots that will have this used part. The bushings can be pressed or burned out.
Click to expand...

I love my LCA poly's. Wonder why I dont see these horror stories. Must be the guys that install them dry.
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Buy a used one from a part out and buy a new OEM bushings kit from one of the legit online parts dealers.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered how to tell if the front or rear control arms on a 3rd gen are OEM or aftermarket?

I don't remember seeing any Toyota markings on any of the control arms on the few 3rd gens I've worked on which is why I have been hesitant to buy some used parts like control arms because I didn't have a way to verify if they were in fact OEM.
 
[MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION]

I've got the original ones off my truck for sale since I replaced my whole arm due to time constraints. If you're interested let me know, I could meet you in ATL if you aren't in a huge rush next time I pass through also.
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Ideally if you buy them from a reputable used parts place they would be OEM, right off of the wrecked truck.
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I guess my question is still how to verify that the part is OEM...because even a reputable shop may not know if the truck they are parting ever had any of the parts replaced with non OEM by any of the previous owners.
 
Thanks for the offer Unner but I'm actually all set. I was just wondering In general how to tell if certain parts are actually OEM when buying them used.
 
If you're going to use it, you're eventually going to have to fix it. At least you're having fun!

I'd go OEM from a junkyard (most likely it will be an OEM arm unless the vehicle is salvage titled and even then its usually just extensive body damage that causes salvage titles).

I think the only way to truly know if it was OEM would be to have a clean OEM one sitting next to a clean aftermarket one or be a body tech or mechanic that fixes a LOT of 4runner suspension. Visually I doubt they are much different and I've never seen a marking on my arms before.
 
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