3rd gen upper control arm change

I have a 2017 Tacoma , want to install some light racing upper control arms. it was very easy on my 15 4runner bolt slid right out but on this Tacoma it looks like the fender is in the way. I've heard of people cutting the heads off or bending the fender. was thinking of maybe grinding the side of bolt flat. It seems so stupid Toyota with design it this way. Does anybody have any tips or suggestions for changing upper control arms . Thank you

 

Sliding the bolt out is a pita. I recommend you have 2 people. One loosening from the top and the other moving uca up and down to help take the load off it. Or you will need to grab the bolt with vice grips and have to hammer it out. I just helped a friend replace the bushings in his TC uca's
GL

 

Cut the bolt head off with a body saw: The replacement bolt can be inserted from the rear.

 

Just did this last weekend but used a 4" angle grinder with a cutting wheel and took no time at all...

 

What did you grind ? Can you explain thanks

 

The head of the bolt. Either cut it off or grind it off if your confident that route wont hit anything else down there with the grinder. I would use a dremel withave cut off wheel. Small bosch sawzall or the harbor freight body tool posted above.

 

Like others said, cut the head off. I use a sawzall with a really short blade. Grab the threaded end with vice grips to keep it from spinning while you cut. Clean up all the metal chips so they don't rust on your frame.

 

Thanks everyone, I have all those tools . might try the Dremel that sounds interesting but I have a sawsall have to get short blades and I'm not confident enough to put my 4" angle grinder in there lol
Thanks agin everyone.

 

80+% of the Tacomas on the road will never have this touched in it's lifetime, so it doesn't matter service wise.

Since it's assembled as a sub assembly, then mounted to a frame with no body on it, it's likely easier for the robots to manipulate that way.

#robotsmatter #longliveassemblybots

 

That's interesting , so Toyotas view is that's a lifetime part. hmmmmm
One things for sure you can't modify your truck without them knowing about it. Anyway you do that bolt they're going to know you were tampering with it

 

Once you've got everything removed you'll be surprised how much space there is to work with. The passenger side was still a PITA to get the new bolt in...

 

Ive installed a bunch of UCA's I always just bed the fender a little with some channel locks. no big deal.

 

Aren't the joints replaceable w/o removal of the UCA?

So the only reason to remove the mounting bolt would be to repair a bent unit or replace blown out bushings?

Yes, bushings go bad, but how many actually get replaced by the DIY crowd, as a % of total repairs? I mean we're likely looking in the 150-200k mile range before problems present.

I agree things like this are a pain in the pa-toot. But it's mostly the DIY crowd who ever figures that out. There has been many a part I've left off, relocated or modified to make future service work easy over the years.

Flat rate guys in the shop have time allowance for the issue, so they don't care as much.

 

No , that whole upper control arm is an assembly. I had a bad ball joint and they changed the whole arm. They won't even change just the dust boot they'll change the whole arm. So even a tech in a Toyota dealership if he did this , he would have to remove the fender or bend it. Just doesn't seem right

 

i just bent the fender out of the way

 

A lot of people say to bend it, and I'm not sure how much is in the way on the third gens, but when I did my UCAs, my truck was pretty much brand new, so I cut the bolt. New bolt is like $12 from the dealership. Kinda surprised.
On my wife's 2016 4Runner, no need to cut or bend. Slides right out.

 

Would you guys recommend some blue loctite on the new bolt since it's installed with gravity working against it? I probably would just to be safe.

 

For all you guys who eventually plan to wheel semi hard. Do not bend the sheet metal. The wheel well/ radiator support entire front end is very soft metal and can eventually start to tear over time in the area where you initially bent as you have weakend the metal when you do so.

 

That's a great point!, Also I don't like the idea of bending the fender because then the dealer or Toyota knows for sure you tampered with the suspension. I'm sure they would also be able to tell with the bolt being in backwards but? Toyota really messed up Tacoma , on my 4runner it was so slick with the engineering it slid right out between everything.
I can't imagine what a dealer might do if they remove the fender that'll never be the same. how weird and stupid of Toyota

 

Being that the 2nd and 3rd gen share a lot of the same characteristics and even frame I actually put my bolt back in the same way it came out when I did my arms. It wasn't too bad but I do regret bending the inner fender metal. It is tearing in that spot now but I have not been nice to my truck I. The years that AI have owned it.