Yet Another UCA/LCA Ball Joints Question

Thank you! My original reason was only to avoid the extra work pressing or burning the bushings out and in but your next question is why I'm hovering on the "what if."

I originally tried to get an alignment in 2018 and they said I needed a control arm, but it could be the same thing, the shop wanted to avoid the extra work in replacing the bushings. I'm exaggerating a bit - it's not an actual pull but if you let go of the wheel it drifts right.

And there's the thing, a huge can of worms. I have a manual from the original owner that has a few things in the back (oil changes, etc.) but when I look up this truck by VIN it shows no service history at all. It's like it doesn't exist. The paranoid side of me suspects it was a victim of hurricane Katrina or something and was banged around a bit. The roof has a crappy surface repair job that is cracking out, like maybe a tree fell on it or something but no history of actual repairs. There is evidence of some repainting here and there that you'd only see if you've done body work and painting (which I have.) It might explain the low mileage (63K when I bought it, 81K now.) My suspicion is that it may have been damaged, driven into a river, who knows, fixed up including the interior being replaced (looks new to this day,) the title whitewashed and sold. This is the real reason (besides laziness) I'm considering replacing both upper and lower control arms.

But you're right though, as many of the other members here have said, I should probably quitcherbitchin and replace the ball joints and see where we are. I'd just hate to do that and find out it's still an issue.

pretty sure it's original, but no telling for sure.

Pretty sure yes but I just did a brake job a month or so ago, calipers are fine. Didn't even replace the pads, they're not even 3/4 worn.

 

OK all bets are off. On @Andy01DblCabTacoma 's prompt I went looking for the original paperwork for any history which included a CarFax, but lo and behold I came across the paperwork for the original alignment in 2018. It wasn't a control arm, it was a steering rack and CA bushings he said needed replacing. As for the CarFax, it shows the original sale and last known odometer at 59K in 2014, then it goes missing until I bought it in 2018.

Wife says I'm paranoid because of trust issues. Gee I wonder why. I've put 20K miles on this truck and have had no issues associated with steering rack problems or anything else, it handles fine, no clunks or noises, and it's a highway princess that has seen almost no offroad hard play. I now know 100 times more than I did last Friday (my head hurts from all the videos and reading.) I have to work daily but this weekend I'm putting it on the jackstands and going to go through the entire front end myself, I know how to check ball joints, bushings and the rack now. Trust nothing but what you see.

At this point the only thing I'm going to commit to is replacing ball joints (both upper and lower) because the Taco is known to have issues with them, bushings if it needs it, steering rack bushings if it needs it, and outer tie rods since I'll have them off. Then new tires and attempt an alignment. We'll see where it goes from there.

I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to work through the process, if you're ever in the area I owe you all a night of pizza, beer and hookers. Well, pizza and beer anyway.

Not that it will be all that interesting, but I'll post any vids/pics/ findings as I go along, it's going to be an interesting spring lol

 

I wouldn't even bother with the upper ball joints right now. Just me of course. Those seem like the last to go if you're still stock with everything else.

It will need lower ball joints (be sure to do new bolts as well), steering rack bushings. If you do outer ties, make sure you count the number of turns when removing them. Compare the amount of threads on the replacement and original outer ties to make sure you're in the same area when reinstalling. Also tie off your steering wheel to keep it from rotating while you're working. I remember when I revamped my front end, I didn't do a decent job with securing the steering wheel. I know it rotated big time. When I put it all back together I had to drive to the alignment shop with the steering wheel at like 40+ degrees to the right of where it should've been lol. Damn thing was seriously messed up. Just glad I didn't damage the clock spring.

When you do take it in for an alignment, make sure you mention the pulling to the right. Could be as simple as adjusting the steering wheel (mine was slightly off center for years and it drove me nuts). You may still end up with a less than comfortable ride if your shocks/coils are original but hey, cross that road when you get to it.

Good luck!

 

Where did you find the oem LCA bushings?

 

@rocknbil, I did the LCA bushing replacement detailed in Timmy's video last year, and all went well. Mostly. I had to have a shop press the new Whiteline bushings in the last 1\4", as nothing I could do would accomplish that. Everyone I heard from said they had no problem doing that without a press, so YMMV. Looking back, I'd have gone with the Moog LCAs with the oem style bushings - way less work.

 

4806135040
https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=4806135040
https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~bush~front~lower~arm~no~1~rh~48061-35040.html
https://parts.toyota.com/p/63370415/4806135040.html

4806135050
https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=48061-35050
https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~bush~front~lower~arm~no~1~rh~48061-35050.html
https://parts.toyota.com/p/63548741/4806135050.html



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*IF* I were replacing the LCA bushings, I'd swap out the cam hardware since I was already there.

(x4) 9011914071
https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=9011914071

(x4) 4840935050
https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=4840935050

(x4) 4845235020
https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=4845235020

 

I ordered them from McGeorge Toyota

 

This little jig can be used in lieu of a press. Crank down the nuts on each side with a box end wrench and it forces the bushing in. Honestly works better than a shop press in my opinion. Still could need the press to remove old bushings though, unless you use the bottle jack method.

 

The bottle jack with a propane torch worked like a charm on the removal. Thanks for the tip on the jig for pressing the bushing in (wish I'd thought of that), however, the shop that pressed them in owed me a favor, so it was no cost, with drop them off in the morning, pick them up that afternoon. To this day, I still don't know why they wouldn't go in that last 1/4" like everyone else's...your tip is great for the next guy.

I am still contemplating the oem bushings, though, as I continue to chase down a harsh ride issue that only started after the Whiteline bushing install, and may attempt the oem bushings instead...

 

Very good to know on the bushings, thank you. When I did my bushing replacement job, the cams and cam bolts were perfectly fine. My truck has been in NM all its life, and there was no evidence of rust or seizing. I was surprised.

 

If you're doing this yourself, and haven't done the work before, you need to set some realistic time expectations. Both the upper and lower ball joint jobs are easy by themself, but I would suggest tackling one per weekend, and I would suggest going for the lower first. Don't try to go for the tie rods and rack bushings at the same time, especially if it's your DD and you're doing this on the weekend.

In practice, getting the lowers off can be frustrating. The videos make it look easy cause Timmy has done it multiple times, and has all the tools, but the reality is the first time you do it, it's going to take way longer.

The uppers aren't hard either, but they can be a pain to get out of the knuckle. It can be a pain to get stud outta the upper arm. And it could take you a whole weekend just figuring out how to one side.

I've done my rack bushings twice, and it was a complete pain in the ass each time.

I say all this, not to discourage you at all, but just want to make sure you don't think you're going to get through uppers, lowers, tie rods, and rack bushings in a weekend.

 

^^^
This. I can attest to everything @Andy01DblCabTacoma said having just done all of this myself. What thought I could knock out in a weekend took twice that, working about 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday morning before it was too hot in the garage to breathe. Stupidest things can confound you for hours like reusing steering rack bellows clips, not having the right sized cups for the ball joint press, or hunting for the socket you had in your hand not 2 minutes ago.

 

VERY accurate.

 

Only to find its attached to the ratchet

 

Or still on the bolt/nut.

 

I usually find it under my rolling stool, after I've spun around a few times looking in all the carefully thought-out piles of tools, parts, rags, cleaner, etc...

 

It’s worth all the blood (I jammed a cotter pin under my thumbnail) and sweat and time involved. I just picked up the truck after having it aligned and Holy Sh*t what a difference. I didn’t realize just how sloppy the steering was but it drives straight as an arrow and steady as a rock now.

 

Here is where we are: everything including the ball joints appears fine. Unless I'm seeing it wrong, the lower bushings are shot.

In this video (very shaky, warning and apologies in advance) I do some basic ground tests and on the stands. I did notice a little grease leaking from the passenger upper, and the upper bushings don't seem loose.

In looking at the steering rack, note 0:50 in the video, you can see a sliver of movement in the rack. That's to be expected, correct?

Not shown in this video, I applied crow bar pressure on all the bushing joints, they seemed to spring back every time which tells me the rubber is still alive but the gaps in the joints - even the uppers - seem like they need to be replaced, do I have that right?

So at this point while I could press out the ball joints and reuse them, I'm thinking new CA's and a new set of ball joints, save the old ones and rebuild them later. That's where I'll start.

I've spent the last three days putting together the parts numbers and various scenarios in the attached PDF, some may find it useful. So far it's only parts.toyota.com for MSRP, parts.camelback.com (their search actually works, easier to find part numbers,) and trdshop.com but I plan to keep hunting for affordable OEM parts. I was waiting until I got this together until I pass it along to McGeorge (appears you can't browse parts like the others.)

At this point trdshop.com is a clear winner except they're charging more for cam bolts so it's almost the same LOL

Thanks for all the help, time to come up with some bread. :-\

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dzbf4vUGR8k

 

Realistically, every bit of rubber on the truck is shot after 20 years (bushings, vacuum lines, etc...).

Don't reuse ball joints, especially the lowers. Just replace them.

 

I'll be putting new ones in with the new LCA's. The steering rack bushings don't look that bad though.