Whiteline Lower Control Arm Bushing Tutorial (120+ Pictures)

[y=mx+b]

Nice job.
That rust is nasty.

Thanks! She is a tad crusty, but thankfully no frame holes. Thanks for the help on my question post from earlier, hope you can get your Whitelines installed sometime soon!

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Nicely done sir! You should get Senior Member status for this write up. Getting all those pictures with description in there with the right format isn't easy.

 

[y=mx+b]

Nicely done sir! You should get Senior Member status for this write up. Getting all those pictures with description in there with the right format isn't easy.

Thanks, that means a lot! I have learned so much from this forum, so this is a way I can give back to the community. Writing this up was also a good way to keep me busy and out of trouble, so that's an added bonus! I'm glad the level detail seems appropriate, I was worried that it was going to be information overload.

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Thanks, that means a lot! I have learned so much from this forum, so this is a way I can give back to the community. Writing this up was also a good way to keep me busy and out of trouble, so that's an added bonus! I'm glad the level detail seems appropriate, I was worried that it was going to be information overload.

That's exactly what it's all about!! Pay it forward brother! Never too much info on a task this difficult either. I have learned a ton about vehicles in general on this forum, let alone the 3 different gens that I own. I've been wrenching as a hobby and money saving endeavor for 30+ years and I'm still learning on here every day.
[MENTION=165]momo.75[/MENTION] this thread should be a sticky in the maintenance section, and maybe a Senior Member tag for [MENTION=429038]y=mx+b[/MENTION] lol. This is one well thought out and meticulously done thread.

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

I've still got my OEMs, I might try this project soon.

 

[y=mx+b]

That's exactly what it's all about!! Pay it forward brother! Never too much info on a task this difficult either. I have learned a ton about vehicles in general on this forum, let alone the 3 different gens that I own. I've been wrenching as a hobby and money saving endeavor for 30+ years and I'm still learning on here every day.
[MENTION=165]momo.75[/MENTION] this thread should be a sticky in the maintenance section, and maybe a Senior Member tag for [MENTION=429038]y=mx+b[/MENTION] lol. This is one well thought out and meticulously done thread.

That's awesome, I love reading this forum and absorbing every bit of knowledge that I can! I got into the wrenching recently to save money too, and I am really enjoying it. While working on the LCAs, it clicked in my head that 90% of jobs are bolt off/bolt on, which opened another world of possible projects for me to work on. I figure I will try to get some similar documentation out for most of my projects, extra information out there can't hurt.

I would be honored to have a 4th gen maintenance sticky, I'm game for anything that can help others easily find the information they need!

I've still got my OEMs, I might try this project soon.

If you do, I want to see the pictures, post them up here! I think mine were original at 210k, but I'm honestly not sure. I have dealer records up to 150k that don't show anything with LCAs or suspension in general. I think I still might be on the original shocks, I dunno haha. Hopefully I'll be changing them out with Dobinson's in the future.

 

[momo.75]

It is stuck! I did move it to the maintenance section. I still have my stock LCA's as well so I will be utilizing this thread as well. Thanks for all the documentation!

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

It is stuck! I did move it to the maintenance section. I still have my stock LCA's as well so I will be utilizing this thread as well. Thanks for all the documentation!

Thanks Mo!! Pretty cool stuff.

 

[y=mx+b]

It is stuck! I did move it to the maintenance section. I still have my stock LCA's as well so I will be utilizing this thread as well. Thanks for all the documentation!

Thanks for the sticky! Hopefully it is helpful when it comes time for you LCA bushings! I'll change over all my in-page linking so it doesn't redirect to the 4th gen section and then back to maintenance again.

Is there a collected thread of 4th gen specific maintenance anywhere? I'm planning on doing some more writeups for some maintenance items, maybe collecting some writeups is something I could work on?

 

[momo.75]

Thanks for the sticky! Hopefully it is helpful when it comes time for you LCA bushings! I'll change over all my in-page linking so it doesn't redirect to the 4th gen section and then back to maintenance again.

Is there a collected thread of 4th gen specific maintenance anywhere? I'm planning on doing some more writeups for some maintenance items, maybe collecting some writeups is something I could work on?

I will look into having a sub thread of tutorial threads. thanks!

 

[johntdye13]

That’s a sweet write up....really nice job! I have 3 x Gen 4’s and a Gen 5 that I like to wrench on. I popped in two CV axles into one of my 2005’s yesterday and I was looking at those LCA bushings and thinking “man those things have to be about rotted out by now, but those would be a ***** to replace.” I’m thinking I will let them ride until they fall out on their own!

 

[y=mx+b]

That’s a sweet write up....really nice job! I have 3 x Gen 4’s and a Gen 5 that I like to wrench on. I popped in two CV axles into one of my 2005’s yesterday and I was looking at those LCA bushings and thinking “man those things have to be about rotted out by now, but those would be a ***** to replace.” I’m thinking I will let them ride until they fall out on their own!

Thanks, I appreciate it! You got quite a nice 4runner collection going on! There is definitely a time commitment to replacing them, but nothing is too difficult. I think earlier I estimated 12-13 hrs all together for both sides from looking at my picture timestamps. I have also wondered how difficult it would be to buy the 1A Auto arms for ~$175 and throw the whitelines in there. Having a second set to work on would negate the downtime, and brand new arms might make it easier to remove the shells.

 

[BackOff]

Thanks, I appreciate it! You got quite a nice 4runner collection going on! There is definitely a time commitment to replacing them, but nothing is too difficult. I think earlier I estimated 12-13 hrs all together for both sides from looking at my picture timestamps. I have also wondered how difficult it would be to buy the 1A Auto arms for ~$175 and throw the whitelines in there. Having a second set to work on would negate the downtime, and brand new arms might make it easier to remove the shells.

Thats what i was thinking almost... 2 years ago... already, where does the time go?
Wet looking LBJ sent me down this path.
Got the 555 LBJs on a Rockauto, close out (forget what i paid) and the LCAs there for $56 each. Paid a buckforty for the WL bushings.
Has been sitting in the garage collecting dust, all ready to go.
Guess i havent gotten bored enough yet to install em.

I could not get the large side bushing out of the new LCA with the 'jack' method hence that pic i showed you in that other thread, removing the bushing flange, actually worked really well.

If you use your OEM arms your going to need to get with it it you ever want to drive again.

 

[y=mx+b]

Thats what i was thinking almost... 2 years ago... already, where does the time go?
Wet looking LBJ sent me down this path.
Got the 555 LBJs on a Rockauto, close out (forget what i paid) and the LCAs there for $56 each. Paid a buckforty for the WL bushings.
Has been sitting in the garage collecting dust, all ready to go.
Guess i havent gotten bored enough yet to install em.

I could not get the large side bushing out of the new LCA with the 'jack' method hence that pic i showed you in that other thread, removing the bushing flange, actually worked really well.

If you use your OEM arms your going to need to get with it it you ever want to drive again.

Haha yeah I went down this path because I wanted to wire wheel and paint behind the LCAs. LCAs for $56 each is a steal, those $175 were the cheapest I'd seen until now!

The jack method I used only removed the rubber piece of the bushing from that flange/shell. Maybe with less crusty arms it could take the shell with it. It actually took me an embarrassingly long time to figure what was going on in that picture. Mine were so crusty, it didn't even resemble your clean ones. On the first LCA I only made 1 cut and it bound on itself. Once my brain figured out what was going on in that picture, I made 2 cuts like you suggested, and the shell came right out.

I used my only set of LCAs to do this haha. Thankfully I didn't have to go anywhere, so it wasn't an issue for the 4runner to be tied up for a bit.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Great write up. I really appreciate this and will have to put it to the test soon. Recently replaced my uca’s with a new pair from JBA. The alignment guy said he couldn’t align the front end because the lower bushings were badly worn(original with 129,000mi) and would fall out of alignment if I hit a bump or pothole or something. Anyways I’m ordering the Whiteline bushings because I can’t afford high end lca’s at this moment. If this wasn’t my daily driver I’d weld in TC cam tab gussets while it was apart but for now I can’t destroy a pair of tires on my upcoming road trip to my property in northern Nevada. Thanks again for taking the time to chronicle your journey and experience.

 

[y=mx+b]

Great write up. I really appreciate this and will have to put it to the test soon. Recently replaced my uca’s with a new pair from JBA. The alignment guy said he couldn’t align the front end because the lower bushings were badly worn(original with 129,000mi) and would fall out of alignment if I hit a bump or pothole or something. Anyways I’m ordering the Whiteline bushings because I can’t afford high end lca’s at this moment. If this wasn’t my daily driver I’d weld in TC cam tab gussets while it was apart but for now I can’t destroy a pair of tires on my upcoming road trip to my property in northern Nevada. Thanks again for taking the time to chronicle your journey and experience.

I hope its useful to you! I was starting to get bored trapped up at home, so it seemed like a good time-sink to take pictures and make a tutorial for my install. Please post some pictures when you get them apart, I'd love to see them! I also think pictures from the community will help others on their bushing journey. Let me know if you have any questions and I'd be happy to answer them!

This is my daily as well, and the college budget can't always stretch for the good stuff. The Whitelines fit the budget and it was a great learning experience. I did the LCAs separately on different weekends, but if you have a really beautiful weekend, you could definitely crank this out in the 2 days. Doing them together would also cut down on time.

I liked the idea of the TC cam gussets as well. I'm just starting to get into off-road mods now, so I don't have any experience with the stock gussets bending yet. I wonder how much the stock gussets could be beefed up with a bit of extra metal welded onto the tabs, maybe I'll have to try it out.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

White lines are ordered. Lower ball joints in stock locally. I live in southern Nevada so most weekends here are beautiful lol. I may not have all the rust and crust like yours did as my T4R has lived its life in the desert. I don’t do a lot of hard core wheeling, mostly “overlanding”, camping, hunting etc. so I think the cam tab gussets may be overkill but you never know. If I can’t tackle this in a weekend then I’ll take my wife’s Scion and leave her stranded haha.

 

[y=mx+b]

White lines are ordered. Lower ball joints in stock locally. I live in southern Nevada so most weekends here are beautiful lol. I may not have all the rust and crust like yours did as my T4R has lived its life in the desert. I don’t do a lot of hard core wheeling, mostly “overlanding”, camping, hunting etc. so I think the cam tab gussets may be overkill but you never know. If I can’t tackle this in a weekend then I’ll take my wife’s Scion and leave her stranded haha.

Nice! No rust is certainly a plus to the desert, and you probably won't have to go through the painting headache either. I hate painting for some reason lol. Mine spent most of its life in PA and is now in VA, so shes a tad crusty. You can most likely skip all the acid stuff which is another bonus. Good that you have another ride just in case, a little family carpool never hurt anyone lol.

I updated the tutorial earlier this week to include pictures from the 2-cut method on the shells, definitely much easier than wrestling the shell with only 1 cut. It came right out after the chunk between the cuts was removed.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Just completed my bushing and lower ball joint replacement. Thanks again for the great write up. All four of my lca bushings came out in one piece. The bottle jack/heat method works well for this. Also I started spraying PB Blaster on all the bushings and ball joints several days ago. My adjustment bolts/cams were in excellent shape, All I did was clean and lube them upon re-installation. The ball joint press I rented from O’reilly Auto Parts didn’t have too many options and I ended up making a sleeve out of 2.5” id steel tube to help remove the ball joint. A BFH is also a big help. I used a 4# hammer and a Mapp gas torch to persuade the ball joints out. I used 1/2” and 3/4” plumbers fitting brushes to clean the orifices of the intermediate plates. I had a build up of thread locker in mine. I use Super Clean degreaser to clean everything and mineral spirits before painting. I used VHT epoxy paint in gloss black on the lca’s and intermediate plates. I used Lucas X-tra Heavy Duty grease on moving parts except where the grease Whiteline includes with their bushings was necessary. A couple things to point out the ball joint “C” clip will shoot out upon removal. The first one shot about 30’ and the second one about 20’ so be careful. Also if the OP will please include safety glasses on his list especially if you’re using power tools cause no one wants to lose an eye.

 

[y=mx+b]

Just completed my bushing and lower ball joint replacement. Thanks again for the great write up. All four of my lca bushings came out in one piece. The bottle jack/heat method works well for this. Also I started spraying PB Blaster on all the bushings and ball joints several days ago. My adjustment bolts/cams were in excellent shape, All I did was clean and lube them upon re-installation. The ball joint press I rented from O’reilly Auto Parts didn’t have too many options and I ended up making a sleeve out of 2.5” id steel tube to help remove the ball joint. A BFH is also a big help. I used a 4# hammer and a Mapp gas torch to persuade the ball joints out. I used 1/2” and 3/4” plumbers fitting brushes to clean the orifices of the intermediate plates. I had a build up of thread locker in mine. I use Super Clean degreaser to clean everything and mineral spirits before painting. I used VHT epoxy paint in gloss black on the lca’s and intermediate plates. I used Lucas Heavy Duty grease on moving parts except where the grease Whiteline includes with their bushings was necessary. A couple things to point out the ball joint “C” clip will shoot out upon removal. The first one shot about 30’ and the second one about 20’ so be careful. Also if the OP will please include safety glasses on his list especially if you’re using power tools cause no one wants to lose an eye.

Looks awesome! Great that the bushings and shells came out in one piece, removing the stuck shells is half the battle! Thanks for adding your installation tips, I'll link this post in the main thread. Epoxy paint was a good idea, I've heard good things about it holding up well to abuse. I'll also add safety glasses, good point on the c-clips flying!