LCA and alignment bolt/cam replacement

I'm in the middle of installing new LCA's on my Tacoma and I picked up some of the SPC alignment cams and bolts from O'Reilly's. Have found conflicting info on how they are installed. Does anyone know if it matters which direction the bolts go into the control arms? SPC instructions say to put the rear bolts in with the head of the bolts facing the front of the truck, but with them installed like that they would be awfully close to the steering rack boots on each side. Thanks

 

Concentrate on having the cam lob in most contact for adjustment
If this means flipping bolt or adding washers so be it

exactly how close to rack boots?

 

Not touching but pretty close. I've worked on a lot of Toyotas, I'm not new to wrenching and doing all of my own work, I've just never had to replace lower control arms until now. I had to cut the factory hardware off due to it being seized, I called the alignment shop in town that I use to make sure they haven't had any issues with these SPC camber/caster kits before I bought them.

 

from the factory, front bolts go in from the front and rear bolts go in from the back. They’re different than the SPC bolts however. If you can get the rear SPC bolts in from the front of the mount (basically where the diff and CVs are in a 4x4) it’ll keep you from having to unbolt your steering rack when putting the new hardware in.

 

Those are the instructions I just found after making this thread. I switched the driver's side to match the instructions. I currently have the front end torn apart replacing the LCA's, upper & lower ball joints, inner & outer tie rods, steering rack bushings, CV axle shaft seals, shocks/springs and all new brakes. So it's easy to get to at the moment, but I wanted to make sure I install these bolts correctly while it's wide open and easy to get to. I don't want to install them wrong and the alignment shop can't align it and I have to tear it all apart again. I want to do it right, be done with the front suspension and move on to the 5 speed swap and a little bit of frame repair in the rear end.

 

^Beware these SPC cam bolts don't work well on 2nd gens. The small D-shaped holes round out and alignment drifts.

 

I have a 1st gen.

 

The rack is not bolted in but it will be just a hair closer to the end of the bolt after it is fully mounted..

 

Yeah the cam bolts are the same design. Hopefully with 1st gens being lighter they won't round off as quickly...

 

I’d washer it
As long as the cam lob is in good contact

 

I had a SPC bolt on one side of my 2nd gen and it was fine with my TC cam tab gussets for mild offroading on BLM / fire roads. I did swap it for an OEM when changing LCA's further on down the road after a few years.

Yeah that much clearance is normal for the steering rack boot. Basically the factory system is a bolt in sleeve style where you have to slide a long bolt and a long sleeve are going in from either side and that's why you have to unbolt the steering rack either way it's installed. SPC did it the way I said in the instructions you posted.

 

The bolt and cam washer are separate in the SPC design, so @idahohounds92 can put regular washers between the bolt head and cam washer without affecting cam lobe engagement.

 

I called the alignment shop I use before I purchased these just to check if they have had a lot of issues with them. Was told by the main alignment guy there that he gets rigs with this same kit all the time and haven't really seen many issues with them, so I hope I have the same luck with them.

 

This rig will mainly be used for hunting, no hard wheeling. Which is why I figured this kit would be fine. I used anti seize so hopefully if I do happen to have issues with it holding alignment it wont have to be cut out like my OEM ones did. If I do have issues I'll order OEM hardware, I only bought these because I forgot to order OEM ones and I have a lot of work to do and wanted to get it done.

 

If it comes to it, you could try these instead of sinking a bunch of money into OEM's and have them rust again.

https://kpoffroad.com/product/greasable-lower-control-arm-bolts