'Redneck" lower control arm - LCA Bushing Press

just a fyi i use lucas red n tacky #2 grease with never seize built in
works great just had mine apart a few weeks ago.....and as we all know truck was under for sandy and many many maany days on beach and skiing
and all my cam tabs worked like butter.....

 

I use that stuff for the rest of my stuff, I'll give it a shot on the cams. The most water my truck sees is puddles when it rains, I'm surprised they seized up again! If the Lucus stuff works for you on the beach and after Sandy, the stuff my truck sees is child's play in comparison. Thanks for the tip

 

yea thought i would share...as i replaced my lca's and lbjs a few weeks ago
and its been like about a year or longer since i lubed them last as was preparing for the worst...
but they cam out like butter.....

 

Would you be able to dril and tap the lca to put some grease zerks?

 

I suppose you could, but it doesn't solve the problem. The outter sleeve of the bushing seizes to the LCA itself, that's one issue but only matters when you have to replace the bushing. The second issue is the bushing has a metal inner sleeve that seizes to the cam bolts, that prevents you from being able to adjust for an alignment. The third issue is one of the bolts is sleeved so you have the inner bushing sleeve seizing to the sleeved bolt and then that seizing to the bolt that runs inside of that. It's just an all around clusterfuck and the engineer that 'designed' it should be swiftly kicked in the nuts on a daily basis and given reflection time to think about what he's done.

 

hahah awesome

 

Get rid of the cams and make up some adjustable length tubular lower control arms
Seems to be the only logical solution LOL

 

As much as I'd love to blow some serious coin on a custom fabricated piece, SPC actually makes a replacement cam setup. I might swap mine out to those when I break everything loose. For anyone reading this who doesn't know, SPC = Specialty Parts Company and they are the same people who make the Light Racing UCAs.

 

Don't mean to knock this thread down with Negativity.....but

I'm not even gonna bother with doing mine after I found out they sell the whole control arm with bushings already installed and ball joint on ebay for a reasonable price. Plus you're taking a risk not doing it correct which could cost you more in the long run or even get yourself hurt or somebody else in an accident. When it's time to do mine I'll just buy the whole control arm on ebay

 

yea good luck with that plan

 

Good luck... you need more than the arm for a complete replacement and you'll still have to cut the old ones out. On top of that, you aren't getting OEM parts any longer, you're getting whatever bushings and ball joints were pressed into place, could have a significantly shorter lifespan.

The hardware that you have to cut to get the old LCA's out costs around $100 to replace by itself.

 

Yeah, I meant Specialty Products Company, not parts. Here's the link:
http://www.spcalignment.com/index.php?option=com_spc&task=details

or specifically:
http://www.spcalignment.com/compone...Tacoma&year=2005+-+2013&from=USAFrom&to=USATo

 

They aren't any more corrosion resistant than the stock ones (at least that's my assumption) but that plastic tube vs. the retarded sleeved bolt that Toyota uses is the reason to go with that setup over stock. Much, much simplier design. As far as the plastic tube goes though, looks like that's only for the front bolt. Rears will still be metal on metal so no real benefit.

 

Nope, but haven't really looked to be honest. I was just going to try to order directly from SPC. I thought I had this issue licked last year but one of my fronts froze again.

I'll only replace the fronts with these, the rears don't have the plastic sleeve so it'd still be metal on metal. I'll be happy to get the fronts out of there though.

 

the front are more common to seize then the rears due to the design of them
wish they would have done it like the rear 2?

 

That plastic sleeve looks like it could be made out of nearly anything if its there to just keep metal off metal and the bolts themselves take all the force/load.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sps-25430?seid=srese1&gclid=CPvY65v2-7gCFZF7QgodmgsAPQ

?

 

Are you having problems with the OEM bushings themselves? I didn't mind the OEM bushings, the rubber itself was fine when I replaced mine, it was just the rust that forced the swap. Those bushings you posted might be a better bushing, but they'll still come with the rust issue.

 

i have a pretty dumb question, but i honestly dont know the answer.
when i was installing my fox coilovers and LR uca's on my truck, i ran into an oddity.
when the whole coil assembly and uca was removed, the LCA didnt fall limp, and i couldnt move it down. is it supposed to move down? or is its movement limited?

 

I just did new COs and LRs yesterday and have been reading up on alignment issues which led to this horror story. But ya I noticed the same thing while trying to force the new strut in place. You'd think it would be a relatively mobile hinge. I'm still trying to conceptualize the cam mechanism and how that affects castr and camber and how you adjust said LCA cams.
Oh well, just keep studying and googling lol.

 

Strap in for a story This is a long one. I've done this process TWICE! The first time was due to frozen alignment cams. I had to replace half-shafts too so I thought "Let's get some Energy bushing kits, Bilstein 5100's, OME 882 Coils, Stabalizer arms, Tierods, Upper and lower balljoints and stuff. I'm at 160K right?" I had already bought a 20 ton shop press from my transmission rebuild (W59). Everything went well until I read the instructions for the Energy bushings on the Upper and Lower control arms. You remove the core rubber leaving the pressed retainer ring in place. Slide new bushing in, add steel sleeve and bolt on. I choose to do the uppers only and purchased toyota lower bushings, cams, and bolts. That was costly but it was OEM from a dealer and I wanted quality. I used the press for the lowers and it was difficult. You can only support it from 1 side and you need a long 5/8ths tube or steel rod going through the opposite side. Right when it's ready to explode, the bushing will give in and it comes right out. Pressing in is no problem. So everything was greased with ultra premo grease. The red stuff. Reassembled. Nice.


So now I'm at 190K and I noticed that the upper control arm is sloppy and my upper balljoint wiggles. I can't stop correctly. The wonderfull energy bushing kit has a steele sleeve that is the incorrect diameter for the bolt. I didn't notice when I installed it because it was pinched. That little slop of metric vs imperial spacing deteriorated the upper components in 40K. I bought new upper arms for 65 each and used a modified pitman puller to press out/in the upper balljoint. Saves ALOT of work. Just cut the upper balljoint with a sawzaw as low and as flat as you can. Steering knuckle tilts out and you press out the balljoint. Installed new stuff and had an alignment. After a couple thousand miles it didn't feel right. Feels like the passenger tire wants to fold under. Had another alignment. Tires are chopping. New tires and another alignment. I now have dynamic Camber and Caster! No bump is the same. I make screeching stops while doing 15MPH The guy in front braces for impact. I finally looked and narrowed it down to slop in the inner tie rod. I prepared to do the job and went to confirm with the tire off only to find that my OEM toyota bushings in the lower control arms are CRAP. They are sloppy. Now I know what really, really bad lower bushings feel like. The rear of both arms were worse than the fronts.


Time to buy $60 worth of MOOG bushings and press. I disassembled and found 1 seized cam on the passenger front. I smashed the hell out of it. Didn't move at all. So new cam is on order and I cut the old one in 1 minute with a sawzaw. I brought the arms to the press only to fail. I cannot press it this time. I bent a solid 3/4ths inch steel rod due to the slight tilt angle. You cannot compensate because the only support surface is the side of the arm where it meets the ring. You have to assist by pushing downward on the balljoint end. The rod made a shotgun bang while letting loose. I dragged my parts home and stopped at a tractor supply. Picked up a massive 2 inch 3/4th drive socket, a 5/8ths threaded zinc rod, some nuts and washers. The most difficult part of this process was removing the retainer lip so the bushing could pass into the socket. I learned you can invert the redneck press and make it a redneck push. By reversing the idea and pushing from the other bushing ring you can smash the retainer lip while its under tension. After I cut, bent, and folded the lip I flipped to the press position. I set it up so I could use a breaker bar with a deepwell on the receiving socket side. I did have to loosen, smash and try again a few times but the 3 of them came out. The 4th one with the frozen cam in the center needed a combo method. I realized that the Toyota replacements I had installed actually had open spaces on the top and bottom. The trucks originals were solid with no spacing. I was able to get a sawzaw blade and cut the core out. From there I sawzawed the lip and a line down the retainer ring and tried to split it. Even though I cut a line down the ring the metal was just too fused with rust and stopped splitting a third of the way down. I had to keep folding. Smashed the lip inward and used the redneck press to finish the job.


Here is an important reassembly tip. Tighten the upper and lower control arms when the vehicle is on the ground and loaded. If you are only working on your lowers then loosen your uppers...They need to match for the best results. The sleeve in both upper and lower bushings are bonded to the rubber and will be pinched when torqued down. This will act as an additional miniature shock absorber and your control arms will fight when rotating in both directions.


In short:
A 20 ton press isn't always the best.
The Redneck press works every time.
Do not buy Energy suspension bushings for the Control Arms.(Stabalizer bar, and Power steering rack are great. No problem there.)
Cut 1/8 - 1/4 off each jaw of a pitman puller to use as an upper balljoint press (In and Out! Thanks TTORA member.)
Don't believe a mechanic who says your truck is aligned unless he has a print out. (Frozen Cam??? How???)


Thanks TacoBow!