Lower control arm parts

Just a quick questions. Where’s the cheapest reliable place to get OEM lower control arm bushings and ball joints?

 

I like yotaparts.com. You should order the alignment cam bolts also. Most likely they’re frozen in place and will need cut out.

 

Jumping in, I'm going to do the exact same project soon. On a truck with minimal rust, it's reasonable to replace just the bushings and not the entire control arm assembly, right? I went to a machine shop today to verify that he'll be able to press out/in the new bushings for me, and even he suggested that I do the whole assembly. Which I don't feel is necessary.

 

I just got done doing just the bushings and alignment bolts. Had a hard time cutting the old cam bolts. I recommend buying good sawzall blades with a high tooth count and lots of lube. When the blade got dull I cut it off with a grinder. It took 3 Milwaukee torch blades…

 

Thanks for the tip on having planty of sawzall blades. How did you press the old bushings out?

 

As of last year my price comparison. Welcome to TW.

 

Old out can be cut or even burnt. Getting new in is more challenging

 

I fought the first one trying to take the hole thing out at once with a press. Then decided to use a small bottle jack to press the rubbers out. After that I took a sawzall and vary carefully cut two cuts per sleeve 99.99% through. Took a pinch and drove them out. Take your time it wasn’t that bad.
Do not cut to far!!!

 

I also cut through the bushing not in between the bushing and the frame to get the cam bolts out. I didn’t want to knick the frame.

 

I used a sawzall, too. After trying to press and burn them out. The vise/bottle jack/torch method didn't work for me, though I tried. What it did do was actually spread the control arms apart a little and I had a hard time getting them back in the truck, because they were stretched out just a tiny bit.

It's not a terrible job, especially if you've done balljoints before. Like a lot of this stuff, the first side took me hours. The second side went fast. I also live in a pretty rust-free area so I didn't have to deal with much corrosion.

 

If you want your lower control arms to last another 20 years, I'd suggest buying the complete Toyota LCAs and swapping them. As someone who replaced just the bushings, and had no need to cut anything to remove the LCAs or the old bushings, I'd still recommend replacing them with oem lower control arms with the bushings already installed (which I did later anyway). A bit more money, but way less work, and will be like it was new.

Many will disagree with me, I'm sure.

 

Remove LCA's

Push out bushings with bottle jack; some people burn them out

Replace with Whitelines

Reinstall

Was super simple, don't see why anyone would buy new arms

As for balljoints, buy them online from Toyota

 

Depends on where your truck has been over the last 20+ years. Mine came out without any issue.

 

You got lucky . Most cases it’s a slice and dice.

 

Save yourself a lot of headaches and time and just get new control arms.

 

And just throw good parts in the garbage It’s not that bad.

 

Even with the use of a press?

 

At just under 250 per side for oem control arms, or 120 for both sides for oem bushings. There’s no way. It took an hr to change them out. Took about two hrs to cut the cam bolts. Which may have to be done ether way. Sounds better than sitting on the couch.

 

That’s what I tried first. The spread of the two bushing cups was just too small for my press. Didn’t want to put that much pressure on them.

 

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it!