DIY LCA Bushing Removal and Replacement 2005+ Tacoma (4x4) The Easy Way!

Random update from my last post since I finally got them together and drove the truck. What led me to do this, was that I was getting a squeak from my LCA bushings. This cured it. Haven't driven the truck enough to give any other update, but the whiteline bushings cured my squeak. The truck is quiet as a mouse and the front end feels tight.

 

That point has finally come. I've been sitting on these since July 7 2017...

 

Just wrapped up the Whiteline bushings. Has anyone else that used them notice the
steering seems to be tighter, less wander, and more responsive?

 

I have ES bushings and they tightened the suspension

 

So has anyone pressed the whiteline bushings in themselves? Everyone I’ve seen has said I had these pressed in

 

I was able to press one in myself with a little homemade cup and using a rental ball joint kit. Other bushing didn’t work and I just paid someone to do it.

 

That’s what I figured. Thanks for the quick response. Getting the old one out we’re cake. But no one has posted about pressing the new ones in

 

It’s doable, I found a separate thread on it. Just need a press (doesn’t even require much force) and the right sleeves. I paid a mechanic machine shop to do it for me. I think it was $50.

 

Who's tried squeezing these in with allthread, some nuts, and fender washers?

 

You’d still need some sort of cups since the bushing protrudes past the face of the lca, and you want to press on the sleeve, not the bushing itself. It’d be a heck of a contraption to pull that off.

 

What if you ran the allthread clear through and did both at the same time from the outside?
If one came through first, add a washer and nut inside that one and continue with the other.
It works in my head but I'm probably not thinking of something.

 

I’ll be honest, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about and don’t see how anything similar would work.

 

Pressed them in myself with a random selection of parts from the hardware store and sleeves from a ball joint press kit. None of them fit exactly right but I managed. I really want to get the correct sleeves to do this if the occasion arises, I have the measurements.

 

I understand what you're talking about now. Can't push on the rubber bushing.... Have to push on the outer sleeve that's set back from the rubber

 

I literally spent 2 weeks trying to get a 20 ton! No one had any and none were on order. So I said screw it and got the 12 ton. This thing is JUNK. Fits together like ass and isn’t square at all. I have a rented ball joint press with sleeves in the shop right now. I managed to get one of the smaller ones in tonight. But I stuck the others in the freezer, and if I can’t get them together in the morning, I’m going to the alignment shop and having them press them in.

These whiteline bushings are a larger OD than the OEM ones. They don’t want to start straight at all

 

This thread had me thinking... i can do this... so i jumped on it.
Tried the bottle jack to remove the bushings, worked good on the small side but the large side was not moving.
Tried sitting the LCAs outside in 10*f, then jack and heat... nope.

Finally had a 'light bulb' moment, if that dang flange was not in the way it would be so much easier.
So, remove the flange!
Cut off one side of bushing washer, drill out the rubber, remove the inner guts/rubber.
Then grind a 45* into the inner flange edge (i used a air tool grinder bit in a drill), cut into pie sections with a Dremel tool then fold the flange up and in to break off.
Now you can use a Press or bushing tool like normal!

Maybe it will help some others with ornery bushings.

 

That’s similar to what I did. I used an angle grinder with a flap disc and just ground it away though. My uca but same idea.

 

I just used the factory bottle jack, didnt touch anything on the bushings. I applied some pressure to the washer on the big side, got my camping propane out, and slowly put more pressure on the bushing. All 3 of the pairs that I am rebuilding that sleeve came right out with heat and bottle jack pressure. I may have had some PB blaster in there too. The washer on the small side of the bushing is the same size as the opening, and that helped to push the whole sleeve out.

 

Mine did not budge.
I used cheapo rockauto LCAs/new. Maybe rust is a good thing for this job?
I used some break-free oil... nope.
Looked like i would have just spread the LCAs out and wrecked them, with the bottle jack... used a hydraulic jack and the OEM jack just to see if there was some difference... nope.
Even the bushing press kit was a bear... much force exerted.

Its YOU guys that make this stuff sound like... no problem, 40 mins and i am golden... LOL, not for all of us.
Just trying to put forth an alternate option... "another way to skin a cat" so to speak.

I like that method eatsleeptaco did.
I cut the bushing inside and nicked the UCA on my bushing replace SPC... 1/8", cut with sawzall...Doh!

 

Sorry if i made it sound easy. Its a bitch. And the oem jack sucks. If i had a standard pump bottle jack it would have been easier. But heat helps too. Im sure propane was not the right choice either.