Need some help.. Replaced LCAs and now the truck wanders so bad I cant drive it.

[alpinhi]

Little history first to help spur any ideas. I installed a Icon Stage 1 lift and SPC UCAs and everything was fine. (Had spacers previous to the Icon suspension) After the Icon suspension and UCAs were installed the truck drove great, better than it did with the spacer lift. I ran the truck down to the alignment shop and they told me it was out of alignment and couldn't align it due frozen cam bolts in the LCAs. I planned on rebuilding the factory LCAs but bushing sleeves were frozen in the LCAs and it turned into a mess. To get the truck back on the road I ordered a set of inexpensive A1 Auto LCAs and installed them with new OEM cam bolts.
Now when I drive the truck it wanders so bad i cant get over 15mph. It will steer itself left or right and be in the other lane before I can steer it back. It feels like something is moving but I cant figure it out. I had my wife drive it slow in the driveway and I don't see anything moving or out of place when she drives at me. I notice resistance at times in the steering wheel kinda like when your center diff is locked in a turn. I cant figure it out everything seems to be in place? Let me know if I need to elaborate on something. Im 10 days out from our Moab trip and want to get this resolved. Thanks in advance!
Travis

 

[Morphyne]

have you had it back to the alignment shop since you did this?

 

[Cisco Kid]

Did you happen to mark where the cam bolts were before you removed the LCA's? If you put them back in the same place as the old ones, it should still be driveable. It won't be spot on but will let you get to the alignment shop. For what it's worth, I had the joy of doing the same job this weekend.

 

[alpinhi]

I have not had it back to the alignment shop since I installed the LCAs. I was going to make an appointment in the morning but this thing is not drivable now. I could load it up and trailer it in but I would like to figure this out.

I set camber out since it was way neg when it was in the shop. I thought I would set it out to hopefully get it close. I know where it was originally set,. I'll set it back to that position in the morning and test drive it again

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[masphx]

Question as im about to install the same lift...

Vidoes show people loosening bolts to loosen the lca so installing the coilover goes easier. Are these different bolts then what many say are the frozen cam bolts?

I wish you the best of luck. I have some rust so im sure i need lca bushings. I ent ahead and ordered a right side oem lca. Still need to source a left side one.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

To get the truck back on the road I ordered a set of inexpensive A1 Auto LCAs and installed them with new OEM cam bolts

Based on my experience using cheap LCAs on my 3rd gen, I'd say that's your problem right there.

The cheap replacement LCAs also use cheap bushings made of rubber that is typically much softer than OEM, leading the bushings to deflect far too much. The Dorman arms I used would align on the rack perfectly, then would go immediately out of alignment when subjected the forces of braking, acceleration, and suspension movement. I could park in my driveway three times and my front wheels/tires would be cocked in a different way each time. Sometimes they would show negative camber, sometimes positive, toe in/out, etc. It was so bad that it was visible to the naked eye.

I had just installed a new set of tires at the time, and drove about 5k miles on the Dorman arms before I had time to replace them. In that time they destroyed both front tires.

 

[skott]

I replaced both my LCAs within the past few weeks due to frozen cam bolts as well. I put OEM Toyota LCAs in with new cam bolt hardware. It was expensive ($600) for OEM parts, but I wasn't comfortable using aftermarket stuff for ball joints.

I marked my original cam bolt settings before I took the old ones off and matched the new ones to the marks. Took it for a test drive and it was scrubbing the tires. I did a poor man's alignment by just taking a string and running it from the back tires to the front--adjust cam bolts/tire rod until the string just touches the face of the front and rear rims. Not perfect, but did make it drive 100 times better. As far as camber goes--I just eyeballed that.
When I did get it to the alignment shop a day or two later, the specs were pretty darn close.

Make sure you crank down on those cam bolts--I think the spec is 100 ft/lbs.

As far as the steering feeling stiff sometimes, I had a friend with a similar problem (stiff steering, steering wheel wouldn't re-center) and it turned out to be a bad lower ball joint seizing on him. Maybe not your problem since those are new control arms (at least you hope not).

 

[RonJR]

Assuming the aftermarket LCA's/bushings aren't the problem, then I would suspect the toe is way off. Excessive toe-out especially will make it wander all over the place (and scrub/wear your tires at remarkably high rate.) It's easy to check that by simply measuring across the tread on the front of the front tires and then make the same measurement on the same tread line on the rear of the front tires. They should be the same within about 1/16 inch. If they're not, you can loosen the tie rod outer jam nuts and shorten or lengthen each tie rod the same amount to get the toe to a reasonable value. Tighten up the jam nuts again and you should be good to drive it to the shop.

The string method as described above is a more accurate method to set toe, but you don't need that level just to get to the shop unless it's 100 miles away.

 

[alpinhi]

Thank you everyone for the input, it was a huge help! I have resolved the problems. My first mistake was attempting to reuse two of the old cams that came out. Toyota (dealer) wants $50 for a pair of cams on the front bolt. I opted to reuse one of my old cams but this didn't work. Toy has either changed styles or my the cam bolts I cut out weren't the original equipment. The front cam bolts would not tighten all the way down with the old cams and allowed movement. I went on ahead and got the right cams from Toy and was able to get it all together correctly. My second issue was I set the camber out intentionally due to the fact that the alignment shop said I was way neg. This also was a mistake. Apparently that thew other alignments out and caused the vehicle to wander terribly, to the point I would drive it over 15 MPH. I went back in and set the camber to neutral and the truck drove much better. I was able to drive it into the alignment shop at highway speeds with no issues. I git the truck back last night from the shop and the alignment is all green and good to go! Thanks everyone for all your help!:rockon:
Travis

 

[NeutronJon]

Glad you found the solution! I have a set of 1A LCAs on my dining room table right now that are set to be installed next week. I spent about 130 on all new cam hardware from partznet and will be doing OEM hardware.

Also going in will be Bilstein 6112s set at the second notch, a 3/8" drivers top spacer with a 1/2" on the passenger side from wheelers, and camburg UCAs. I also bought new UCA bolts/nuts and the lower shock mounting bolt/nut. The parts coming out are FJ cruiser front coilovers (bought used with 20k on them and installed around 60k miles ago when xreas starting leaking)and original LCA/UCAs with 170k miles of new england winters.

 

[alpinhi]

My family and took a 250 mile road trip today for the kiddos spring break. The 4R drove awesome down the highway. This is the first time I have installed a suspension lift and the vehicle drove better on the road than it did stock! I did notice after we reached our destination that I now have a squeak some where in the driver side suspension. I only notice when I hit bumps at low speed so I'll have to dig in and locate it. Im also rebuilding my factory LCA'S as I get time. I'm going to power washer, primer, and pant them. Then I replace the bushing and ball joints with OEM Toyota parts. I plan on running the A1 Auto arms until they take a dump then slap the rebuilt factory arms back on.

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[alpinhi]

Question as im about to install the same lift...

Vidoes show people loosening bolts to loosen the lca so installing the coilover goes easier. Are these different bolts then what many say are the frozen cam bolts?

I wish you the best of luck. I have some rust so im sure i need lca bushings. I ent ahead and ordered a right side oem lca. Still need to source a left side one.

I did not have to loosen any bolts on the LCA'S to get the coilover installed. My coil overs are adjustable in height and were not adjusted all the way up when I installed them so they did go in easier. You might have to remove the outer tie rod from the knuckle if you cant fit the new coil in.
To answer your other question, yes the bolts on the LCA'S are the cam bolts. Don't make my mistake I f you have to loosen or cut them out, MARK WHERE THEY ARE. This way when you put it back together you won't have my mess. If you look at the bolts you will see what I'm talking about. You find will find out after your alignment if the cam bolts are frozen or not. Good Luck!

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[NeutronJon]

I plan on running the A1 Auto arms until they take a dump then slap the rebuilt factory arms back on.

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Same here.

I like the plan for power washing them. I was considering looking for a local shop that will sand blast them for me. Any ideas on if powder coating will hold up in the undercarriage?

 

[alpinhi]

Same here.

I like the plan for power washing them. I was considering looking for a local shop that will sand blast them for me. Any ideas on if powder coating will hold up in the undercarriage?

I thought about the powder coating also, however I think ill just rattle can them. I dont want to spend the time and money on powder coating since i live on a gravel road and I know it will chipped up anyway. Once it chips the rust starts again so its not worth IMO.