Replace lower control arm bushings, HELP!!!

[dniemeye]

I've been quoted $460 just for labor to replace my lower control arm bushings, all 4 on the front end of my 2000 4Runner. I've read about doing it myself. Interesting thing the manuals say: 1. Remove the front wheel, 2. Remove the rack and pinion steering gear.... Reading up on that step 2 is absolutely crazy... Gotta remove the steering wheel, exposing the airbags, all to avoid messing up a cable. Thinking I'll permanently mess up my face or my whole body exposing the air bag and doing one thing wrong...

Question: Is it absolutely necessary to remove the steering wheel to remove the steering gear? If it is I'm thinking I'll just pay that exorbitant price to have the shop do it. It's all gotta be done or I can't get it aligned and that's gotta be done before I replace the tires (which by the way have been absolutely amazing, 60,000 miles on Courser C/T Mastercraft mud and snow tires, not too loud and absolutely aggressive tread, i'm gonna replace with the same as soon as I get these bushings replaced.)

Dave

 

[Singtoe]

Why would you remove the steering to replace the lower control arm bushings?

That is like removing the muffler to change the motor oil.

You can change the LC bushings with out dropping the rack.

If it was me. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the lower ball joint on.
remove the sway bar link.
Remove the lower strut bolt.
remove the LC arm pivot bolts.

drop the arm, press out the old bushings, press in the new and re install.

get an alignment.

 

[dniemeye]

The lower control arm bolts are a few inches long and the steering gear is about 1" away from those bolts, preventing their removal...

Can someone answer that's actually done this before?

 

[dniemeye]

The lower control arm bolts are a few inches long and the steering gear is about 1" away from those bolts, preventing their removal...

Can someone answer that's actually done this before?

 

[Singtoe]

I have removed the LC arms before.

Once everything is loose and the front pivot bolt is out, LC arm be sloppy enough that the front part of the arm be lifted up lower the rear part letting the bolt clear the gear. If i remember correctly. I removed the eccentric washer off the bolt (spline fit) and provided more clearance.

I have never replaced the bushings before. Are you sure they need to be replaced. They are pretty indestructible unless they were poisoned by an oil leak of some sort.

 

[Pikeman]

I just replaced mine when I rebuilt my entire front end after my LBJ type failure. You just need to loosen the bolts on the steering rack in order to get it to move enough to remove the LCA bolts. It can be a PITA but isnt really as hard as it sounds. You do not have to mess with the steering wheel or airbag at all. On the steering shaft just above the rag joint you can loosen that and unbolt the rag joint and have enough room to move the steering rack. Same process for putting a spacer in when you do a body lift. I took mine to the local dealer and paid $150 for them to put the new bushings in. Parts= $160, Pressing them in $150 and that is with me doing the labor to get them off and on truck. Then you have to pay for the alignment again.

I can tell you that only one of my bushings was bad and the dealer told me they never go bad and questioned why I was replacing mine. The one that was bad was on the side that hit the street when the LBJ bolts failed.I wheel very hard and my truck had 230k on it when I replaced.

 

[dniemeye]

O.K. I'll go back to the shop that told me they all needed replacement and ask them to re-assess the situation, then try doing it myself. Sounds a lot simpler than all the service manuals I've read.

 

[habanero]

My left lower control arm bushings clunked and made alignment difficult. I pulled the a-arms in September, 229,000 miles on the 96. I bought whole bushings, not just the rubber (or poly) part.
From my post on said removal:
'Silly me decided to go ahead and pull the lower a-ams to get new bushings pressed in. How hard can it be, right?
So now I've taken out the diff drop, unbolted the rack and pinion, undid the outer tie rods and sway links, unbolted lower ball joint from hub, unbolted the lower shock bolts, unbolted the lower a-arms, ......I think that's it so far.'
I was able to barely get the rear a-arm bolt out by loosening the rack as you would to replace the rack bushings- was able to leave the rag joint alone in my case.
A local machine shop took the old bushings out and pressed in the new. Called me a few names and only charged me $75. Put it all back together (watch what direction you're putting those bolts back, like the lower shock bolt) and had it aligned. Got rid of a big clunk and a small vibration.

Singtoe, there's a lot of parts missing in your pic. Explain for the curious?

 

[KSWAY]

My driver side has been clanking for a while now and I've been just ignoring it.
But the clank,clank,clank get so F'N annoying when you're on a rough road:nono:. I'll be doing mine in the near future.

 

[Singtoe]

My driver side has been clanking for a while now and I've been just ignoring it.
But the clank,clank,clank get so F'N annoying when you're on a rough road:nono:. I'll be doing mine in the near future.

Are you sure it is a lc bushing. This sounds like sway bar links.

The above picture is from a 4runner i picked up. It was hit head on on the drivers side and tore the wheel, knuckle, spindle brakes, and complete lower ball joint off.

 

[glenyoshida]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RZPJNstirPM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>



Cam/Sleeve that fits into the eccentrics that allows steering alignment Part # 48409-35050

I just removed my lower A arms and all of them were rusted in place. I'll post up some pics after they are uploaded. Some of the photos might help you remove the sleeves. I fought with mine. They were a real PITA.

When you get the A arms removed you will need to have the old bushing pressed out and the new ones pressed in.

This is one of those times when PB blaster really does help. Keep in mind that some of the ingredients in PB blaster evaporate within a couple of hours so if you spray it the night before spray it again before you start working on it. The gaps between the sleeve and the bushing is significant so give it plenty of PB.


I used a sharpened chisel to separate the eccentric from the sleeve.

Mark the alignment before you separate it with match marks. If you forget to put your match marks on this is the orientation to put it back together.

If you use a powered tool to sharpen the chisel make sure you frequently dip the chisel end in water to keep it cool. If you get it too hot you will ruin the temper and soften the steel. If it's too hot to touch then you need to cool it. Try and keep the metal under 200deg.

I used some 1/2" all thread, joining nuts (I sanded them down to make them small enough to pass through the bushings), stacked washers, and 3/4" black gas pipe to make a puller. This only worked on one of them. The other bushings needed more persuasion.

I also flipped the eccentric nut and cut up several lengths of 3/4" pipe to create a puller. I torqued it as much as I dared before stripping our rounding out the nut/bolt and then took a bar and pounded on the flipped eccentric nut end. It would move just a scoshe after several major strikes with the sledge. I'd retorque and repeat.

I always wear safety glasses and ear plugs when working on stuff. Here's one reason why.
I was striking a bar and a piece of hardened metal chipped off. It was flying so fast that it embedded in my arm. It was really gross digging it out.

See the little tiny piece. It a no contest between that metal chip and an eye.

If you have access to a TIG welder you can make this to help create more torque before rounding out the nut. I welded on a large nut to the wrench from rounding out the nut. I also welded on a washer because a regular washer will cup out.

I torqued the heck out of the all thread and I still had to pound the end of the sleeve to get it to go. Here's one of the pieces of all thread that I torqued on so much that it failed.

Check the condition of the sleeves after you remove them. One of mine had stress fractures in it.

BTW I tried a Craftsman medium duty air hammer to pound out the sleeves and that was a joke. It didn't have near the force needed to get them to budge.

If you are also replacing the tie rod ends, they do not come with the locking nuts. Locking nut for outer tie rod ends Part # 90170-20003 (comes packaged with two nuts)


Edit. Jan 15th, 2014: Just helped a buddy with his LCA bushings a few weeks ago. We tried the air chisel, and this time used it to cut tabs into the sleeve, then bent them over until they broke.

My Toyota bushings were shot again and was happy to find that the generous amount of anti seize I put on the sleeves and bolt seemed to help on removal. This time I used a synthetic grease on the sleeve and the bolt along with the Energy Poly bushings. I think that the polys will be better because they are greased and can turn unlike the OEM ones that are bonded to the metal reducing movement. Time will tell. I do get more droop with the polys over the OEM.

 

[J-money$$$]

Replaced my front LCA bushings two weeks ago. Bought the energy suspension polyurethane kit. It says its for a tacoma but it worked just fine. The kit was bout $40. Then you just melt the old bushings out. and push the new ones in. No press needed. And no you dont have to take the rack off. Take all the bolts off holing it on and let it dangle there.

Takes a few hours, but its straightforward. I have heard all sorts of BS about the poly bushings squeaking, ect. but they are silent so far. There was no way i was going to drop $150 for the factory bushings. That $40 kit does the uppers too but they were fine so i left the oem ones in there for now

 

[glenyoshida]

Ohhh now you post up lol. If you can remember would you post up again a while down the road and tell us how they are holding up? I would have gone the route you did had I known.

Is this the set you went with?
Energy Suspension 8-3115R - Energy Suspension Control Arm Bushing Sets - Application - SummitRacing.com

 

[mark3406e]

Control arm bushing kit - Toytec Lifts: Toyota Lift Kits: FJ Cruiser Lift Kits, Tacoma Lift Kits, Tundra Lift Kits, 4 Runner Lift Kits, Sequoia Lift Kits, Toyota Truck Lift Kits

I used this kit. Worked out well. Went ahead and did ball joints while it was so far apart.

 

[glenyoshida]

Cool. Thanks for the feedback. How long have you been running the polys?

 

[J-money$$$]

8.3115G is the number off the kit I used. You can get them from a lot of places. I think the letter is just the color.

So far Im happy. I think they are the way to go. Save money where you can

 

[Gerdo]

Glen helped me replace the bushings in all 4 of my front control arms with the poly set. Here is my writeup.
----------------------------------
Front control arm bushing replacement, rubber to poly.

This does take some work.
You must unbolt and slide the steering rack back so you can slide out the rear adjuster bolts.

If you are doing the uppers, You will need to unbolt the Airbag sensors (disconnect the battery first). There is a wire bundle on the drivers side that must be unbolted too. On the passenger side, there is an AC line that can be popped out of the clips and moved aside. They are in the way of sliding the bolts forward.

You will need to re-use some parts so read the directions COMPLETELY!
You will reuse the cam adjusters, outer shells of all of the rubber bushings and the inner sleeves and end caps of the lowers.

Once you get the arms out, now comes the fun.
You need to pry off the outer cap/toothed washer (small ones) before proceeding.
You will heat up the outer tube that has the stock bushings in. They need to get fairly hot to melt the rubber bond. When they start sizzling, try to pull the rubber out by grabbing the inner sleeve with pliers (when you have it hot enough, it will pull right out). Then you can heat the lower sleeves and slide the rubber off them. If done right, there shouldn't be too much rubber left on the pieces. If there is, you can wire wheel, scrape or sand it off.

The steel sleeves in the uppers MUST be PRESSED in so the ends don't have gaps.

Now the easy part. Grease the poly and push them in, then the inner sleeves. We had to do a little filing on the cap/toothed washer. Now tap them back on.

Re-assemble.

***Heating requires a propane torch. Heat the steel and the rubber will pull out. Don't try to burn the rubber out, it just makes a mess and more work.***
-------------------
My first real drive with them today and I can say that I noticed zero new vibrations or extra road feel. They greatly improver the road feel and reduced the swim (my bushings were not too bad but did have some play).
I'm happy so far.

The next time (when I have to help a friend) the install will be a lot easier with what we learned.

 

[Gerdo]

This is the wrong way, melting the rubber.

This is the right way, heating the metal, releasing the rubber.

 

[curt4x4]

after chasing bad front tire wear long enough and never getting anywhere with the alignment shops, i decided that my culprit was likely the LCA bushings, despite several shops saying they were still good. I got the Energy 8.3115 bushings and used this thread and a few others to get the job done. Very strait forward. loosen the rack to get the back LCA bolts out. take everything apart. pull the LCA. Heat the metal of the LCA to sizzle the rubber. Heat the sleeve. pull old off. clean metal up. install new bushing. install control arm.
One thing i found very helpful on getting one of the big washers off of the inner sleeve was to get the die grinder after the inner surface just enough to weaken the metal & let it go. Before i did this i had a 400lb buddy hanging off a prybar and the thing wouldn't budge.
Another note: my whole problem with alignment all this time was that the small "teeth" on the outsides of the bushing washers were worn smooth. you could see on the frame where they had moved up and down and all around because of no bite. Really i should have just replaced the whole bushing assembly w/ new parts store rubber ones but i just used a chistle to add some new teeth to them. driving fine and wearing even.

 

[Gerdo]

If i was to do it again, I wound pull the arms out and have a shop press the old out and press new ones back in.

One major issue that the 3rd gens have is that the alignment cam adjusters can seize inside the bushings. THE best way to get them out is to air chisel off the ends till the arm will pull out. Before reinserting the cam adjusters, make sure they are clean (running them thru a powered wire wheel) and cover them with anti-seize.