LCA Question

Dam that sucka is on there .
If you need a tool that you don't have let me know I might have it or I might have it at work. Good luck mike !

 

Thanks John! I'm going to keep working it and see if I can get them to break loose, if not I'll be replacing the bushings.

Thanks again and likewise, if you need any tools, let me know, I do have some random crap laying around!

 

Yeah, its a bit more challanging than I had imagined. I had a mental picture of a simple cam head bolt, without the second sleeve. I personnally wouldn't be giving up yet, but I'm as stubborn as they come.

 

This is the bolt that's giving me problems, no second sleeve. Those are on the fronts which broke free thankfully. I'm not even close to giving up, I'll try it daily (or as close to daily as the weather allows) for a week or 2. If it really won't break free, then I'll bite the bullet, rent a press and put in some new bushings. I'm pretty stubborn myself and can't afford to have the truck down

Also, I did affect the alignment when I broke everything free. It's not bad yet but I can definitely feel that it handles differently in a tight corner.

 

It went away when I replaced the upper control arms. So it might have been the factory upper ball joint. But I also think it might have been that I never loosened the upper control arm mounting bolt - so it was holding the factory upper control arm bushings at the "stock" ride height angle.

 

Update, 3 out of 4 are seized, not just 1. +1 to Boyd for putting up those pictures, made me realize that just because the front bolts will spin, the sleeves can still be rusted inside the bushing.

End result, I'm replacing all 4 bushings, going to cut them out like Boyd's write-up, try to press them out, if not I'm cutting the MFers. Everything's ordered up through Camelback Toyota, taking advantage of their 5% off sale (FYI, their list prices are still 30 - 40% cheaper than my local stealership). Going to start on it next Friday and I need the truck up and running for Monday. Should be a fun weekend

 

woot good luck

 

let toyota have at it. if its f***ed then just take the truck back and tell them to blow.

they cannot MAKE you purchase anything.

replace the bushings and get a proper alignment from a shop that knows their ass from a hole in the ground.

 

Stuff like this makes me glad that:

- I live in the south where all our shit doesn't seize after one month of winter.
- My truck needs an alignment like every 1-2 months, so my cams are constantly being spun. Should keep 'em loose.

 

I think you missed the first post... they wouldn't touch my truck unless I consented to paying for anything they break in the process. If I let Toyota have at it, I'd potentially be on the hook for a very expensive repair. Plus, if I do it, I know it'll be done correctly and all the parts actually lubed up before install so I won't have this problem in another 70k miles. As far as the alignment, this is the first tech around here that actually knew what I was trying to accomplish. I've been to 2 other dealerships and 2 other tire shops and they haven't gotten it right yet. We don't have a whole lot of off road shops around here.

I hear ya about the salt... although, if Toyota actually put some sort of grease from the factory, I wouldn't have this problem! Sadly, I've had my truck aligned several times and apparently all they did was adjust the toe and call it good. There's no way the cams have ever been spun.

 

they could have spun the cams....they tend to seize up rather quickly....
i have had like 25 alingments since i owned the truck...and i had both lca replaced by toyo under warranty.......
and when they put the new arms iin they left the stickers on the bolts and still did not use any grease or anti sieze.....
i guess thats job security........

 

Those types of stories are disappointing... In the northeast, you need to gob that crap on! I can promise you the alignment tech isn't going to like me because there will be neverseize everywhere by the time I'm done

 

Good luck pressing. I tried for almost a week with no movement and I was using a press with an impact on the end of it.

You will still need a press to get the new ones in so you might as well try, but my guess is youll be cutting them out like I did.

 

Kinda what I'm assuming. I'm going to rent the Autozone press for the reinstall so I figured I'll try to press them out. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

I'm doing this whole job without the assistance of an impact, just good old fashioned elbow grease, breaker bars and ratchets (I have a sawzall though, I'm not cutting the LCA bolts by hand!)

Thanks for making the writeup, if there wasn't one I would have probably ended up ponying up for new LCAs

 

I went through (4) Lenox laser cut metal blades on my sawzall and didn't get 1/2 way through the first bolt. I waxed each of them, ran them slow, and re-waxed when they got hot. Still burnt through them.

IMO a grinder with a cut off wheel is soooooooooo much faster. When your almost through all the bolts change to a used cut off wheel that's real small so you don't end up nipping the frame or LCA mounts.

When you get the LCA off....squeeze the LCA mounts towards each other for a good scare. They bend under hand pressure

Also check your LCA bushing tubes real good before you rebuild them. I have seen a few failures where the tube rips from the back.

Oh and if you need to cut the bushings out like I did make sure and cut where the tube is spliced so you don't accidentally cut into any vital parts.

Ill PM you the link to all the pics I have of my re-build...not just the few I posted in here

 

Great info there, thanks again for the help! I've got a grinder so I'll pick up some cut off blades for that as well as the sawzall. I did notice the LCA tabs have a fair amount of flex to them, hard to believe they can hande the pressure on that joint!

 

OK, you guys have me convinced to pull the suspension and grease it before it gets intense. Hopefully the 2 1/2 years I have owned the truck here in South Florida will have been more kind on it.

As for using anti-seize, why? Overall it's not a very good water barrier, and is often better on high temp or high pressure applications. I was toying with the idea of something like Bel-Ray waterproof grease or similar.

I did pull up a parts diagram, as far as upper ball joints they do make you buy the entire upper control arm. The lower arm diagram points out the ball joint as an item but does not list a part number. Seems the oem choices for ball joints alone don't exist, and even things like the aftermarket ball joint UCA's if they use an oem ball joint are a waste of money.

Enlightening topic, thanks.

PK

 

You can purchase bushings for the upper control arms. I was able to find them here:
http://parts.camelbacktoyota.com/pa...YOTA&model=TACOMA&submodel=&vehicleid=1434686

They're $30/ea. I'm not sure if you can buy just OEM ball joints for the LCA but misc (aka XXXX) made a write up to replace the LCA ball joint also.

You can use grease but I don't see never seize being a bad option for this either. I've used neverseize several time on bolts that will not be in a high temp or high pressure situations, it's just there to prevent the 2 metals from bonding to each other over time. I might end up using grease myself, we'll see.

Lastly, nothing on the UCA's or LCA's are servicable so I'm not sure what you're going to tear down and grease. The only thing you might be able to do is pull the LCA bolts, grease them and reinstall them (which means you'd need an alignment). Your call but there aren't any grease zerks on the suspension components (really wish there were at this point).

 

you can use a combo or anti sieze and grease
make a nice lil slurry

 

Upper arms do not show the ball joint separate. They do show bushings as a separate item though.

I was considering getting Camburg Ball Joint upper arms, but since you need oem ball joints, and their website says the MOOG aftermarkets won't fit, seems like a better option must exist.

As for the lower arms, yes, I was only considering preventative maintenance of pulling the bolts and cams, then greasing them upon re-installation.

Other than the front suspension pivots getting greased to corrosion proof it, and a full brake system flush, I have finally gotten rid of all the oem fluids in the truck. Zerex anti-freeze and Mobil 1 in the engine, ATF, power steering, front wheel bearings, and rear end. Eventually I'll get aftermarket greasable U-joints.

I'll mark the cams, accomplish the work. Then decide if it needs aligning or not. Hopefully the marks will realign, if not, at least those bolts will move letting them align it easily.

Come to think of it, I have some tubes of expired anti-corrosion paste we use on aircraft called Mastinox. Bad for us but good for the truck. Might be better than grease.

PK