DIY LCA Bushing Replacement 2005+ Tacoma (4x4)

FWIW if you have to do this again I would strongly suggest just buying complete control arms. I really wish I had just bought new Toyota arms at this stage in the game. Aftermarket arms are now pretty cheap ~$100 but I have some reservations about the ball joints used in them.

Mike

 

BTW my joints and bushings were fine but my adjusters were frozen solid on a 3 year old truck. So $200 for the cams and bolts from Toyota and now this.

 

As an update, Rock Auto expressed me another Mevotech LCA bushing and it was correct. Why they charge me return shipping on a defective part is beyond me.

 

So your saying the replacement Mevotech was good to go?

 

That is correct, I originally ordered a full set, 4 bushings. One of the front bushings was incorrect yet was in the sealed box. I contacted rock auto they over night shipped a new one and it is correct.

 

That sucks. In 2016, I just can't understand how the can screw up a part so badly. These should all be perfect from the factory. IMO, Mevotech has a very bad reputation for replacement parts. I shopped around on Amazon, and the customer reviews were very bad, and even here in TW, there are some reports as well. The bushings are probably okay...

Regarding your frozen cams. It's a shit design problem and it gives you shitty problems. Every Tacoma owner should pull their cams and bolts and grease them.

I did mine at 54 months of ownership and hardware was in great shape. But I live in a very arid climate. I pulled the cams and bolts two years later and they looked like they had been greased a few days prior.

It sucks the customer should have to do this, but that's what we got to work with.

 

Hey all,
In preparation for installing my 5100's I took a look at my LCA cams/bolts, and I think they're probably fubar'd (truck spent first 4 years of its life in NY). But I also have never done anything with LCA's or alignment cams before so I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. In the picture below, I want to loosen the nut on the far left correct? Once that's loose, in theory, does the left side cam just slide off the bolt and then the bolt slides out to the right? I'm going to try some wire wheeling and PB blaster but am mentally preparing myself to wage war against the bushing/sleeve that are undoubtedly welded together with rust/corrosion. Assuming I can't get the bolt out, do I want to sawzall in the gap between the right side of the LCA and that disk (what is that disk anyway)? Once the LCA's are out, I'm hoping I'll be OK armed with a ball joint press set, impact wrench & breaker bar, gallons of PB blaster, and a plethora of colorful 4 letter words...and of course new bushings and cam bolts (I think I might try Moog).
Thanks,
Josh

 

Are Rock Auto's prices cheaper because it's a roll of the dice on wether or not the correct parts will show up?

 

Good stuff Crom. Greasing the cams and bolts is an annual maintenance for me. NE weather FTL.

 

Hey Josh, I used a sawzall -- load up on blades. That "disk" is part of the bushing. If you like cursing, throwing tools and wrestling parts it's not a bad job. I have the OEM hardware and just grease them yearly.

 

Boyd's picture of the lower control arm hardware may give you a better idea of what should come out of the control arm if not seized.

 

Thank you! I'll give it a shot.

 

Buy good quality blades. I went through 4 blades and only got halfway through 1 side of a bushing. Picked up some better blades and the same one I used still has some life left in it. Get some cutting oil too. It helps extend the life of the blades significantly. I just pulled all the cam bolts on my 07 FJ and surprisingly 3 of the 4 came right out. The rear passenger side though not so much. Not only was the bolt fused to the bushing, but the metal discs on the bushing were fused to the frame.

I originally cut inside those discs to stay away from the frame, but since both of the discs were fused to the frame I had to do more cutting. I ended up cutting about half way down on both sides and stopped cause the blade started to deflect and cut into the frame. Then I got a chisel and went to town with the deadblow hammer until the discs were freed from the frame. What a pain in the balls, especially since the first 3 bolts came out fine.

 

If it helps any, the bolts look like this. I see pictures of guys greasing the bolts but you should also be greasing the cam on the large bolt because it can become frozen into the bushing itself. Also, looking at the bolts, it should be obvious how the frame tabs become bent as the cams/bolts seize and/or your tech doesn't understand how they are assembled and goes cranking on the wrong nut.

 

Not really sure if Rock Auto is to blame, the box was sealed with the correct part # from the manufacturer. I only went with the Mevotech bushings because some others here have had good luck with them, not so much with Moog or the various others. Unfortunately I could not locate Mevotech bushings locally. If I had to do this over I definitely would have purchased complete arms aftermarket or OEM. As it was, I bought a used set to rebuild before I tore it apart. All said and done aftermarket arms would have been cheaper, OEM about twice the price. BTW if you have to cut the bolts, Energy suspension kit isn't an option. I am going to run my rebuilds and if they fail buy oem and hope my greased cam bolts are AOK.

 

Thanks pseudomike. Do you happen to have all the oem part numbers for cams/bolts/nuts/sleeves to do one control arm? I understand it is two different bolt sizes for one lca. And oem bolts/cams will work with moog bushings correct?
Thanks.

 

here ya go. I see no reason why Moog bushings should not work but read back through this thread a few have had issues with them lasting.

 

I really need to either get new lcas or redo the bushings and such.

 

They're the wrong size, too small.

 

OK, I think I'm going to try the Mevotech bushings with the Moog cam bolts. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
Thanks for all the help along the way.