Front end bushings? Wrapped it up yesterday.

Was that the cam bolts + the shock bolt?

I'm going to be under there again today redoing the lower ball joint to steering knuckle bolts, so I may just see what bolts I can get to, to loosen then tighten back up and torque, with the truck sitting on the ground.

 

That's always been the value of forums, especially this one - where someone with what is a big issue to them, will invariably find those who've been there, done that, already, and can give input into a solution most of the time. I couldn't (and wouldn't) have undertaken this bushing replacement job without all the help I got.

 

Just upper and lower arms, the coilover should be fine either way.

 

After removing, cleaning, and putting loctite (1 at a time) on the lower ball joint to spindle bolts yesterday, I was able to re-torque the lower shock mount bolts with the weight of the truck on the suspension, for what it's worth.

In looking at the truck from the front, it's apparent that the alignment is off as far as camber, which, at the moment, is pretty positive (\ /) The tires are tilting outward at the top, which, I believe, will need the cam adjusters turned to fix. So, I decided to just leave those bolts alone for now and let the alignment shop torque them once they're done.

 

Did you allow the truck to roll forwards and backwards about 10-20 feet or so. My tires were cattywampus after front work and being lowered back down. A quality alignment won’t hurt but you may fix the tires looking visually off by moving the truck back and forth a bit.

 

It actually looked ok when I was done replacing the LCA bushings. I drove it a few miles (3+/-) to work and back, and afterwards is when I noticed the what seems like excessive positive camber.

 

If your old LCA bushings were really worn I could see it being off with nice new ones. I’d make an alignment appointment. My toe was out after LCA work but my caster and camber were pretty much dialed.

 

That's on the to do list first thing tomorrow, thanks.

 

I drove to the alignment shop yesterday, just to make an appointment in person, which I thought would help. Turns out they had a cancellation that day and took it right away. Most shops are two weeks out everywhere around town, so I lucked out. Picked it up yesterday, drives like a dream again. Tight steering, straight down the road, and handles very nice again. The thing on the alignment that was the worst was the toe - it was way off. So that's fixed, and everything else is adjusted correctly.

Seeing as how a lot of folks have had fits with removing and/or reusing their cam bolts and adjusters, it was truly a blessing that mine came right out, and had no seizing issues. All I did to those was clean them up a tad, and use some antiseize on the adjuster sleeve that goes through the bushing sleeve.

Again, thanks for all the tips and advice. Now on to replacing the tailgate...

 

Revisiting this thread almost 6 months later with a followup question - could the Whiteline LCA bushings be the cause of what now seems like a very harsh ride at lower speeds over road imperfections? Generally it rides fine, but road surfaces with a lot of cracks and crevices seem jarring, much more so than prior to this job. It's gotten to the point where I'm considering getting aftermarket LCAs with rubber bushings...it's just hard to think that the bushings themselves are the cause of the harsh ride. It seems the shocks and/or tires would be more of a factor. The shocks are Bilstein 4600 put on not long before the LCAs. Maybe 4600s are too stiff for a lighter Prerunner, but I didn't notice this prior to the LCA bushing replacement.

The tires could probably stand to be replaced, but they are not too old - made in 2017.

I'd love to compare the ride of another '03 Prerunner just to see if this is all in my head...

 

Loved my Whitelines.

Only difference I felt was, my steering became more "accurate" for a lack of better term.

As for ride quality, even differences in tire pressure alone would make a larger difference than those bushings would.

 

No complaints with mine. OP, is anything else original and due for replacement on your truck, or just worn out and due for replacement? Are your body mounts original?

 

I just did the Whitelines in my 99 4WD. Did not notice any ride changes like you are describing, but steering is much zippier and accurate. I would focus on tire pressure and shocks/springs first. Think about where the force and movement is transmitted as your tire travels up/down over a bump.

One other note, a few years back I installed the Bilstein 5100 and OME springs. I got them from Low Range Off-road as an assembled unit with new hardware, spring perch, etc. after about 1000 miles of break in the ride has been great. It’s a 1 hour job to install them. If you are contemplating shock changes might be worth new springs too

 

That's what is so mystifying. I woudn't think those bushings alone would have affected ride quality. The 4600s are new. I did new steering rack, swaybar, and LCA bushings, along with new lower ball joints. The original reason for all this, other than it was time for it, was an annoying squawking coming from the front end over speed bumps. Squawk is gone, steering is tighter and more precise, it's just more harsh over bumps at slow speeds. If I had a set of oem shocks & springs, I'd swap them in, just to see if it made a difference.

I also wonder if everything on the LCA alignment cams got torqued correctly, but the alignment shop would have redone those anyway...I was pretty careful to tighten those to the correct torque value.

 

Revisiting this project again after another 11 months.

I still have what I would describe as a jarring ride over small imperfections in the road, mostly at lower speeds, worse in the morning when the truck is cold, better when the day warms up. Weird thing is, it seems to be both front AND back that is jarring, not just the front. Would changing the body mounts, as suggested by @MalinoisDad earlier in this thread, be something worth looking into? So many posters on this thread have said the Whiteline LCA bushings, which I used, did not affect their ride like this. I will say the Whiteline bushings did eliminate the squeak that started this whole project in 2021...

I've gotten so tired of the jarring ride, I've considered selling the truck. It did not ride like this prior to the LCA bushing replacement. I also am considering starting over, and putting in Moog lower control arms with oem-style rubber bushings as a last resort, but will attempt replacing the body mount bushings, which are original, if anyone thinks that could be the cause of the jarring ride. Couldn't hurt to try, and possibly easier than new control arms.

I went to 2 suspension shops today, and both said the jarring ride is due to the poly bushings, but I'm not convinced...yet. So my options are:

1. Replace body mount bushings
2. Replace LCAs with Moog with rubber bushings

I can see how poly bushings/spacers might harshen up the ride if they were directly in line with a shock or suspension part, where the weight of the vehicle is pressing on the polyurethane. But the LCA bushings are not supporting the weight of the vehicle directly (or are they?)...I am simply at a loss to find a fix for this issue.

I'd love for someone in Albuquerque to take a drive in my truck and see what I'm experiencing...

 

Judging from the lack of replies, it seems there's very little interest in my issue. However, I plan to update my progress or lack thereof, for my own sake if I find the solution, and perhaps it may be of help to someone down the road.

Last weekend I loosened all the lower shock and cam bolts, jostled the front end up and down, then re-torqued all the bolts after lining up my cam marks again. I thought maybe something might have been out of whack. No change in the ride. The search continues...

The good news? I finally got to use my flared crow's foot wrenches.

 

If all you changed was the bushings, then what else could it be? If you changed other things at the same time then you have a bigger can of worms to work back towards a ride that you want.

Good news, the moog arms are relatively cheap (but don't expect the bushings to last that long). So you can try that I guess, but you'd be replacing the bushings again in 1-3 years. So maybe better to spring for the OEMs as I think you need the piece of mind that they will ride the way you expect them to.

 

LCA bushings, steering rack bushings, sway bar bushings replaced at the same time, along with the lower ball joints. In my mind, the LCA bushings would have been the only thing changed that might have affected the ride. But others who've done the Whiteline say it didn't affect the ride that they noticed, so that's what has me stumped.

I did run into another 1st gen Tacoma owner today who was willing to drive my truck, and he did notice the harshness of the ride. His opinion was my 5 year old no-name tires were most likely the culprit...

I could also get the Toyota oem rubber bushings instead of replacing the arms with Moog. It would be more work, but less $$ than complete oem LCAs, and last longer also.

 

That's not totally wrong. I had old cheap no-name tires and after my front end refresh last year I finally got new wheels (Procomps) and tires (Goodyear workhorse). I am not going to say it changed my ride at all, especially since that's so subjective and you seem to be very sensitive to harsh rides, but it certainly didn't hurt.

 

Still grasping at straws on this project, and wanted to run another theory by anyone who might want to comment. Below is a photo of the oem LCA after the Whiteline bushing install was done, ready to reinstall on my truck. Could the oem bushing removal using heat and the hydraulic bottle jack have somehow altered the alignment of the bushing sleeves, and affected my ride somewhat? They went back in to the frame brackets without issue, so I don't think I bent the arms any when removing the oem bushings, but like I said, still grasping at potential ride change straws...