Lower Control Arm & Tie Rod End Replacement

[Xtremluck]

Well it looks like the hard off road miles and extra weight have finally taken their toll on my front suspension. At 110,000 miles my driver side lower ball joint and outer tie rod are leaking grease with popping and clunking coming from the front. As preventative maintenance I'm also going to be replacing the passenger side components too.

A few questions to those who have gone through this procedure:

1. Did the OEM lower control arms come with bushings pressed in? They look like a separate line item however I've heard otherwise.

2. Did you have problems removing the cam bolts? I've had my truck aligned twice this year and the tech never said they were seized. Hoping that I won't have to cut them out but planning to anyways.

3. Any tips on making this job easier?

If it helps others I can also do a writeup of the procedure as I suspect most of you who take your trucks on dirt will probably face this around the same mileage.

 

[Lucky Runner]

1) come with bushing
2) I had some problems - but before that I never twisted them. I think you will not have problems

 

[WhiteBoomer04]

Mostly a straightforward job. Replace my LCAs twice now.

The ball joints are pressed in and some people have attempted (some successfully) to have them pressed out and new ones pressed in but for the hassle, new stock LCA's aren't too expensive.

The bushing are also pressed in. I have seen threads of people trying to remove them. Usually burning them out is the easiest way if you don't have access to a decent press. Again, new LCA's are pretty expensive compared to the hassle..

WD40 the cam bolts for a few days prior should ensure them come out easily. I did not have a problem with these however.

Tie rods are an easy maintenance job.

If you can't find info on these issues, check toyota120.com. I'm fairly certain there are threads there on the process.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Total Chaos and Dirt King

Total Chaos and Dirt King both make lower control arms for the 4Runner. Have you looked at those? Some of them provide mounts for a secondary shock. I think they both offer an option that's compatible with KDSS. The bushings and ball joints are serviceable on these.

 

[Xtremluck]

Total Chaos and Dirt King both make lower control arms for the 4Runner. Have you looked at those? Some of them provide mounts for a secondary shock. I think they both offer an option that's compatible with KDSS. The bushings and ball joints are serviceable on these.

I was considering going that route but can't justify the extra cost (4xOEM) and I'm not so hot about dealing with Uniballs. My upper UCAs are already howling after only a year of use.

 

[Xtremluck]

Lower Control Arm & Tie Rod End Replacement

So I completed this job over the weekend and it was pretty straight forward albeit time consuming. My cam bolts came off easily (Thank California truck!) but they were definitely rusted. I had a hell of a hard time separating the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle attachment. Even with a ball joint separator it took a lot of time and PB Blaster.

Pro Tip: When making CAM marks make sure they are super clear. When I put anti seize on my driver side cam bolts it obscured my markings. So I had to do a "best guess" on positioning. Lets just say my truck didn't drive very straight after I was done :rofl: Luckily the alignment shop was right next door.

Anyways, here are the steps I followed in case someone else needs to do this in the future (Follow all of this at your own risk):

Lower Control Arm Removal

1.Remove Wheel
2.Remove lower shock bolt
3.Remove (2) bolts holding the lower A-Arm sub assembly to steering knuckle
4.Place match marks on camber adjustment cam
5.Place match marks on toe adjustment cam
6.Remove toe/camber adjustment bolts and plates
7.Remove lower ball joint castle nut
8.Using a ball joint separator remove the lower ball joint attachment

Lower Control Arm Installation

1.Temporarily install the lower suspension arm with toe and camber hardware aligning match marks
2.Install the front lower ball joint attachment with nut and cotter pin (103 ft lb torque)
3.Connect the front lower ball joint attachment with two bolts (118ft lb torque)
4.Temporary install the lower shock bolt
5.Install Wheel (83 ft lb torque)
6.Lower truck and stabilize suspension
7.Tighten the toe and camber bolts (129 ft lb torque)
8.Tighten the lower shock bolt (70 ft lb torque)
9.Get a wheel alignment

Tie Rod End Removal & Installation
1.Disconnect tie rod end castle nut from steering knuckle using a ball joint separator
2.Put match marks on tie rod end and steering rack end
3.Loosen tie rod end nut
4.Remove tie rod end (Count how many rotations to remove)
5.Connect new tie rod end (install using the # of rotations from step 4)
6.Connect new tie rod end into steering knuckle (67 ft lb torque)
7.Install Cotter Pin

 

[jvan08]

New to the 4runner.
Question on this.

I have a 2014 4runner sr5 2wd, w/o the kdss (not sure that's even an option on the 2wd sr5)

But looking at the parts online. On rockauto I found lower control arms by Dorman w/o KDSS and all of the upper control arms just state "upper control arm". Do you have to worry about different upper control arms with/without KDSS? Or does it not matter with the uppers?

Just want to make sure, although I have had good luck with rockauto with other vehicles in the past, their return policy has always been a pain in the ***.

 

[T4R_Canuck]

New to the 4runner.
Question on this.

I have a 2014 4runner sr5 2wd, w/o the kdss (not sure that's even an option on the 2wd sr5)

But looking at the parts online. On rockauto I found lower control arms by Dorman w/o KDSS and all of the upper control arms just state "upper control arm". Do you have to worry about different upper control arms with/without KDSS? Or does it not matter with the uppers?

Just want to make sure, although I have had good luck with rockauto with other vehicles in the past, their return policy has always been a pain in the ***.

Upper control arms are universal with or without KDSS.