Lca, uca , tie rods, gussets

I was having difficulty with my truck pulling to the right, I took it to get alignment, they said I need uca, and tie rods. I replaced Uppers and tie rods, took it back they then said I needed lowers but they would do their best. Drove it, and it was bouncing everywhere! So I got new lowers. Before installing I got to looking and noticed they flattened the cam gusset. I didn’t think much of it, (new Tacoma owner) so went ahead and replaced lowers.
the truck is still bouncing and walking everywhere!
I am curious if it’s possible that the cam is moving around without the gusset and creating the walking/bouncing.

any and all advice would be appreciated, next is struts :/

My truck is a
2012 trd Baja edition with a 3 inch lift.

thank you!

 

It could be they didn’t torque down the cam bolts to spec and the LCA’s moved enough to flatten the tabs.

I suspect that’s what happened to mine. After an alignment, I went off roading and heard a loud screech. Car drove off alignment till I got home and noticed the flattened cam bolt tabs. When I went to remove a nut, it felt like it was not tightened enough. Spec is 100 ft lbs, I measured about 60 ft lbs on driver side cam bolts. i was able to unflatten the tabs - I used my BJ C clamp to hold the tab in place so it wouldn't come off while I hammered the tabs back out.

 

Those cam tabs are a notorious weak point for Tacoma's. A hard enough impact or simply not having them torqued high enough can cause the cam bolt to shift and flatten the tabs (As Chuy said, factory spec is 100ft lbs, but it seems like some folks here go a little higher than that).

The 2 more common fixes are to either bend the tabs back into place and weld a bead on the outside of the tab to reinforce it, or to drill out the spot welds on the existing cam tab plates to remove them and weld in new reinforced cam tab gussets (Total Chaos and Dirt King sell kits for this).

 

TC cam tab(s)

 

Im having a buddy at work weld it this after noon, I am hoping that it is the cause of the wandering while driving. After that I have no clue what else it could be.

 

Have him put a bead of weld behind all 16 tabs. This should strengthen them enough to where you'll never have that problem again. It's really a good mod and a lot cheaper than the TC cam tabs when you consider the labor and realignment cost.

 

OP, post the alignment sheet if you can, both before and after.

 

A used Tacoma needs a front end rebuild.

not everybody is competent at alignments. print outs are required.

I have done many alignments. I aligned my truck. There is no questions. I know what I did.

the cam tabs are made of butter. This is why Marlin reinforcement, TC tab, and JD pivots exist.

the factory procedure is to jack the front end and de weight the tabs when adjusting. Unlike any other vehicle. Because they are aware they made alignment tabs out of butter.

bouncing can be caused by worn shocks. Which on a stock truck are worn and not good if new.

a flattened cam tab will fail to do its job of holding the LCA in a position.

ideally, a person is resolving these issues before doing an alignment, so the alignment is emplaced onto and done via a part that is not butter.

 

Did you replace the eccentrics too? That bend wont help and needs to be fixed. What are the alignments numbers?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/alignment-tabs.653849/

 

i dont get it as to why everyone is installing these aftermarket cam bolt gussets and the cost and all that work

me, years ago, i just laid down a good weld bead on the backside of each existing tab and its just as strong and thick as any of these aftermarket gussets everyone is buying. seems like a lot of cost and work to remove the old and install new when all you need to do is weld a bead behind the stock ones

 

Any DIY videos explaining this?
I have a welder but never heard of this.Can you do it without taking anything off vehicle?

 

You're generally going to want to take off the lower control arms to do any welding on the cam tabs. The welding can generate enough heat to cook your lower control arm bushings.

 

Whats the consensus on the torque of the cam nut?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-torque-spec-guide.318116/

 

100
Thanks and just wanted to double check.
Happy new year!