Which Front LCA?

[Brutalguyracing]

I'd like to know what caused you guys to want new LCAs in the first place.

I'm still original on my LCAs and UCAs @220k with no apparent sloppiness.

vvvv AND THE ALIGNMENT BOLTS SEIZE TO THE BUSHINGS AS TOYOTA DOES NOT GREASE THEM FROM THE FACTORY.....
WHERE I LIVE "NEAR THE OCEAN" AND BEING IN THE NORTH EAST ITS A VERY VERY VERY COMMON PROBLEM

I had to replace mine because I couldn't get an alignment to hold anymore. 215000 miles.

THIS

 

[BrianSD_42]

I know my LCAs and UCA and UBJ have 200k+ miles on them and my LBJs have around 80k miles.

My plan was to replace all that stuff this spring along with the inner and outer Tie Rods. My outer tie rods look completely shot, at least from a visual.

Now due to funding concerns I'm going to just do the tie rods and save the UCA/LCA/ball-joints replacement for later this spring.

 

[coinball]

I can tell you this right now... DO. NOT. PURCHASE. DORMAN. LCAS.

I went through this whole debate in my head early last year, and in doing my research I got some positive recommendations for Dorman aftermarket LCA's. One of those recommendations was from a member on here ( [MENTION=45449]coinball[/MENTION] ) and another was from a trusted mechanic, who told me that they had seen good results when replacing worn factory LCA's/bushings on several Tundras with Dorman arms.

I looked into them and they were available on RockAuto for about $70 a side. That made them cheaper than replacing just the bushings with Toyota parts, and much cheaper than buying new Toyota arms.

Fast forward a year, and about 10K miles... The handling on my '97 4Runner is now a little scary. It darts around when it hits bumps and ridges on the pavement. Under heavy braking the steering wheel will pull one way or the other. In straight line situations it wanders excessively. And the real kicker? The almost NEW set of Yokohama Geolandars that I had on the rig when I installed the Dorman arms are now horribly worn in the inside edge. They are feathered badly and the inner most tread block is worn down twice as much as the rest of the tire. I've rotated them in the meantime, so all 4 tires now have this kind of wear. After I noticed it I stopped rotating and just let the front tires take the brunt of the damage, and at this point they are throwaways.

Keep in mind, my last set of these tires went 65K. The Dorman arms wrecked these ones in less than 10K.

The problem with the Dorman arms is that the rubber in the bushing is excessively soft, so the LCA's deflect when the vehicle is in forward motion and the alignment ends up toed out. In turns, the outside front wheel goes positive camber and the inside wheel goes negative. I noticed the softness of the rubber when I inspected the arms, but having no point of reference other than the old, torn, and crusty stock bushings I wasn't sure if it was normal or not.

When I park at a gas pump, especially if I have turned the wheel while pulling up to the pump. The front tires will be way off camber once I straighten the wheels out. Once the rig rolls forward a few feet, they go back into spec. That as all due to deflection in the LCA bushings. I've had it aligned TWICE by the very best alignment tech in ABQ, and each time it shows up IN SPEC.

So now I'm deciding between poly bushings and new Toyota arms. I'm leaning toward new OEM arms just to avoid the hassle of doing this a 3rd time, and paying another $60 for an alignment.

If I were to do it over again, I'd just buy new Toyota LCA's from the get go. You can bet that's what I'll be doing when it's time for new ones on the '01.

PS... Prior to replacing the LCA's, I had installed new Toyota LBJ's, ITRE's, OTRE's, steering rack guide, rack bushings, and had an alignment done. The whole front end was new, so I can 100% attribute the problem to the LCA's.

Also, Coinball has since experienced the same problems, as he confirmed to me via PM. He ditched his Dormans and listed them cheap in the classifieds on here.

Yes to all of this (I should probably go back and edit my original post where I mentioned these were available)!

Dorman blows, either go with OE LCA's, OE bushings or a known good aftermarket bushing company.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

here is a video of my taco with bad lca bushings..

Cool videos man, it was interesting to see things from that perspective.

I'd like to know what caused you guys to want new LCAs in the first place.

I'm still original on my LCAs and UCAs @220k with no apparent sloppiness.

In my case, here's why... these are videos I took of my arms prior to replacement.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BRX3BmKKpDs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8aAsVRwc7VQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I was wondering how BFAD's Dormans would hold out in the long run. I suspected such may happen.

The only non OEM stuff I run under my 4runner is ITRs and CVs.

If you suspected they'd suck, then why didn't you tell me before I put them in you jerk! :

 

[NachoPitt]

W53312 Whiteline Front Lower Control Arm Bushing Kit Both Positions Toyota | eBay

you must confirm they fit your vechile

These will not fit the 3rd gen 4runner. The Whiteline Part Number you want is W53377.

 

[JBurt]

anyone have any thoughts on energy suspension bushings? I have heard of a few guys running them. you do need the metal from the Toyota bushings.

I bought some and found that out the hard way because the PO replaced the bushings with cheap ones and the poly ones were useless to me. I went Toyota and they work well

 

[the great him]

anyone have any thoughts on energy suspension bushings? I have heard of a few guys running them. you do need the metal from the Toyota bushings.

I bought some and found that out the hard way because the PO replaced the bushings with cheap ones and the poly ones were useless to me. I went Toyota and they work well

the ES bushings are made by whiteline...

 

[JBurt]

Well in that case did you try Vatozone?

Control Arm Bushing - Front | AutoZone.com

They could have them in my store here in a day. Still a wait but not a very long one.