Yeah, it's me again...the pest!

What are y'alls opinion(s) on LCAs? Is it imperative to buy OEM or which brands are the best??

 

Don't most people start dedicated build threads?

What's your goal in replacing your LCA? To replace the bushings?

 

I would if I knew what that was and how to??

I just looked at my left front to see if I had camber bolts and jeez, mine is so rusty I don't think it is repairable

 

Maybe just work on getting your rancho C/O's installed before you worry about the LCAs for now. Whoever does your alignment after that will let you know if they can adjust the cams or not.

 

Thanks Andy...good advice. I'm just trying to kill 8 birds, ya know???

 

Aftermarket LCAs are pretty good (it's not like LBJs). The only real wear part on LCAs are the bushings (and cam hardware). My recommendation when looking at LCAs is as follows:

• Completely new LCAs. This is how Toyota wants you to do it, since they don't sell replacement bushings, and replacing the entire LCA means you don't need any special tools to press out the old bushings. But dang, OEM Toyota LCAs are expensive (L: 48069-35120 | R: 48068-35120), if all you need are bushings. Of course, you can always get aftermarket LCAs, which people seem to have reasonably good luck with and are much less expensive (Moog L: Left | R: Right) (Mevotech L: Left | R: Right).
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• Whiteline LCA bushings. Lots of folks go this route, and the Whitelines install very similarly to the OEM bushings - rubber inside of a metal sleeve that presses into the LCA. These work well, but have the possible drawback of the metal sleeve rusting into the LCA just like the OEM sleeves do.
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• Strongflex Polyurethane LCA bushings. These are made of a higher performing polyurethane rather than rubber, but the real reason to go this route is because the poly bushings insert directly into the LCAs, with no pressing in of a metal sleeve. This should - in theory anyway - make future replacement a piece of cake.
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When you're doing the LCAs - esp. if you've found them to be rusty already - you'll want to do the cam hardware as well. This is true whether you just replace the bushings OR get entirely new LCAs (OEM or aftermarket). You should definitely go OEM for the cam hardware (even though it's not cheap):

• 4 of Toyota OEM Alignment Cam Sleeve (48409-35050)
• 4 of Toyota OEM Alignment Cam Nut (48452-35020)
• 4 of Toyota OEM Alignment Cam Bolt (90080-11283)

Lastly - here's a guide I put together on LCA bushing replacement. Note however, that if you're replacing the LCAs entirely, this covers that as well...just skip the actual bushing replacement part!

Step-by-Step Lower Control Arm Bushing Replacement on a 1st Gen Tacoma

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