Bad LCA bushing

lol I laughed at the name and couldn’t help myself..

 

Those are the Octagons and bolts I installed a couple years back on my '97 V6 Taco 4x4 with 3" lift which have worked very well for me. A+ rating for those IMO with excellent customer support.

 

sweet! When the time comes I'll be ordering those

 

Unrelated question or possibly not… I have outer tire wear on the fronts, which has been an issue obviously, but inner wear on the rears? There’s no camber adjustments back there and I know it’s not crab walking because it drives straight and I haven’t bashed the axle on anything.

 

Apparently Autozone also has SPC alignment hardware in stock that's half the price of OEM.

 

That SPC allignment hardware is junk. I had an allignment shop locally strip one of my OEM alignment bolts, and they replaced it with that crap. I was pissed and promptly replaced it with OEM hardware

 

Hm, well that's too bad. I thought SPC mad pretty decent stuff in general, and it seems like a pretty simple set of hardware for them to mess up. Does it just not hold the alignment well?

 

Basically the hardware seemed to just be machined poorly, and didn't fit snugly within the small tabs on the frame cross member. As a result this shop mangled up a couple of those stock tabs, when torquing them down. Can't say if it would've held an allignment because I promptly removed it like 2 days later and replaced with an OEM one

 

SPC products are generally good and I have no qualms about installing their stuff on my other vehicles but the Tacoma SPC cams are definitely known for struggling to hold an alignment.

the KP Off-road octagons are cheap and should avert any alignment can problems I have til the IFS dies lol

 

Are those a bolt-on product without a need for any fabrication?

 

yes, no modifications need to be made

 

Seems like a no brainer then. I wonder why everyone doesn’t do that.

 

it's a relatively newer product for 1st gens. If they aren't seized the factory cams are reliable at holding alignment unless you're jumping the truck or crawling

 

would you mind sending pics of how your octagons are positioned?

I just finished my install and am trying to get a baseline since I can't get an alignment soon

 

No problem. We were busy yesterday throwing a New Orleans style 70th birthday party for a life-long friend (below). Pics of the driver's side front and rear octagons are below. The other side is just a mirror-image.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!


Driver's Side Front Octagon:


Driver's Side Rear Octagon:

 

So I’ve got a set of Taco Tabs, haven’t pulled the cams yet, planned to swap front LCA’s then get it aligned then install the Taco Tabs

https://www.polyperformance.com/pol...MI0L7yk92whQMVQQKtBh2uSwBsEAQYASABEgKhAfD_BwE

I’ve got a set of aftermarket alignment cams from Wheelers, is the consensus then that aftermarket alignment cams are crap? I do realize you don’t need alignment cams with the octagon kits from KP or the Taco Tabs

 

wheelers sells the SPC cams which are notorious for slipping out of alignment. the OEM ones hold up pretty decent but taco tabs or octagons are a must if you wheel hard on oversized tires. with 34s and 35s my OEM cams usually bumped out of alignment til they rusted into place lol

 

thanks, I appreciate it. I hope the party was a good one

 

It took me a while to find it, but below are the KPOffroad recommended Octagon installation positions which was how I initially set my '97 V6 Taco Xcab 4x4 up. The recommended octagon position settings worked fine, so I may very well change back to the initial settings.

Phessor's photo with KPOffroad's recommended initial baseline Octagon positioning:

 

I would get the KPO octagons and be done with it. I did not replace the cam tabs when I installed the octagons and bolts, and it has work flawlessly.

The thing about the Poly Performance Taco Tabs is that you have to change out the alignment plates to adjust the alignment, which means you'll need to store 3 sets of unused plates. With the octagons, you just need to spin the octagon to the desired setting and tighten the bolt to lock it in place.