Front lower control arm project with pictures

[Doctor J]

The project photos
http://www.toyotanation.com/photos/s...y.php?cat=1490

the whole job took 2.5 hours, no power tools were used
The next step is to check the alignment and adjust as necessary.

[white90dx]

Did the extra spacers you use come with the bushings/arms? With the Whiteline front swaybar (upgrade), a bunch of extra spacers are included to adjust caster as the default setting on the bar adds a few degrees of caster.

Having the poly bushings in there is almost required when running a higher HP motor to keep those bushings from wearing out regularly.

-Charlie

[Doctor J]

I got the arms from the junk yard and did not pay attention to extra spacers [my bad]. The place that sells them on Internet [I believe Mybushings.com] only includes silicone grease with them.
In one of my post I mentioned extreme wear on the sway bar u-bushings and blamed polyurethane bushings for that. Now I am suspecting that using no spacers during the installation caused this damage but not the bushings themselfs.
My crazy recommendation is to combine rubber bushings for control arm shaft [small] with polyurethane [large] bushings for sway bar ends.
I may experiment with my "old" arms

[Rebound91]

Great pictures/diagrams! Those pictures are priceless. My control arms were the same way. All 4 outer bushings were in 2 pieces, so the arm was just hammering against those large washers whenever you took off quickly or stopped abruptly. What a mess. The car drives so much nicer now with new control arms, ball joints, and outer tie rod ends (I needed those too).

I don't know how you did it with no power tools. I used a 3/4" impact wrench to get the nuts on the end of the sway bar loose. NOTHING else could even budge them, even my 1/2" impact.

[Doctor J]

Thanks for the complements
In California the parts are not rusted that bad as in states where road salt is used so less effort in theory is needed to take them apart
I used 16 inch long 1/2 inch drive flex-handle breaker bar with 18 inch long pipe on it to get leverage. Few times I had to brace myself against the car's frame to avoid sliding on the floor while applying the force (my weight is less then 128 lbs)

[jamblaell]

Thanks for the useful thread.

I replaced my control arms/ball joints yesterday without the use of any air tools (even though it would have been a welcome addition). I got the pre-pressed arms from Ebay that are always posted in this forum when someone brings up this project.

Tools used were:

Penetrating Fluid - PB Blaster
14mm socket - Use 3/8" drive
17mm socket - Use 3/8" drive
19mm socket - Use 1/2" drive
22mm socket - Use 1/2" drive - I needed both shallow and deep sockets
Gentle persuasion tool (Hammer)
Cheater bars (Used 1" by 18" and 1" by 30" pipes) - Look in the plumbing section of Lowe's/Home Depot

I reserve the right to update the tools list in case I forgot something.

If anyone needs my stock control arms with worn bushings, send an email to jamesblakeellis@gmail.com They will fit in a Medium Flat Rate box and will only cost you $10 in shipping.

[blu_91_cam]

Great pics man very informative. Made me go out and check mine today and looks like their gone. I was just going to replace mine with OEM toyota ones from magauto.com cause I dont think my old girl would classify as a HP car. Would any of yo guys happen to know if these toyota ones come with both small and larger bushing or just the larger one? Cause according to their diagram it only includes the larger one. Thanks for the write up and for any help.

[Doctor J]

Shown the “Beck-Arnley” brand inner bushings



Press on the slotted end (on the right) of the bushings to drive them in (using vise with 6 inch opening)



to drive the old bushing out cut or break the rubber on the unslotted end then press it out or hammer it out the arm

[blu_91_cam]

So Doc whats the ride like? You've posted all this great how to but no review on the bushings themselves. lol Do they squeak? Is the ride noticeably firmer? Steering response?

[Doctor J]

They squeak during cold weather, but that can be minimized if you use urethane grease during the installation.I used them because I got them cheap.
The outer rubber bushings were destroyed because the sway bar was removed incorrectly by the shop which changed my flexplate (OEM manual has wrong procedure for this task, use Haynes manual instead)
the car handles better during acceleration as suspension geometry is held more rigid, but it is hard to say as as on my car the shocks and steering gear are worn.

[blu_91_cam]

Have you needed to re-grease them? Herd that with poly's you need to re-grease them every once and awhile to prevent the harsh squeaking. By the way doc where did you find those BA outer bushings? I might just end up going poly seems like its impossible to find a complete set of rubber control arm bushings.

[Doctor J]

I got my arms with bushing from the junkyard and installed them on my car adding shims. Because my car makes lot of squeaks and rattles I could live with occational noise from urethane bushings.

[blu_91_cam]

Doc where do you recommend getting those shims from? And would you happen to remember their dimensions?

[Doctor J]

I took them while was removing arms;these sheems are normally installed for alignment
the I.D is 17mm, The O.D is 28 mm the thickness is 2.5 mm.

[Justin727]

Good Job Doc! Thumbs up to ya buddy! Hows it feel?