'92 Camry. Help/advice replacing rear lateral control arm (front arm)

[Kelly53s]

1992 Toyota Camry LE Sedan

Hi, I need some advice in replacing one of the rear lateral control arms (left side) where it attaches to the crossmember. This is the front lateral control arm on the rear asm. I was easily able to remove the very rear lateral control arm after removing the nut from the bolt, but I cannot slide the long bolt out of the front of the crossmember so I can remove the front lateral control arm on the rear asm. The bolt only slide an inch or two, then it hits the gas tank. It looks to me I either have to drop the crossmember or remove the gas tank, to allow clearance for the bolt to slide out. Either option looks to require a lot of work, as I have to drop the exhaust system. Do I have any other options?

It seems to me that Toyota could have put the bolt in from the rear of the crossmember instead of the front side, then it would have easily slid out from the rear when removing.

One thought I had was cutting the head of the bolt off, then upon replacing it, sliding the new bolt in from the rear of the crossmember when reassembling everything.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Mister_Perkins]

That would work to cut the bolt out, but keep in mind the bolts are expensive because they have a custom washer on them. I dropped my sub-frame and ran the bolts in the other direction (Nut side towards the gas tank).

[Kelly53s]

Thanks Mr. Perkins!
I am hoping to get the replacement bolt from the junkyard when I buy the left rear suspension asm. Good to know someone had the same idea as me, in sliding the bolt in from the rear when reassembling. I was wondering what the deal is about the custom washer on the bolt head side?

[Mister_Perkins]

I don't know, its part of the bolt that cannot pulled off / replaced. Its retarded really.. lol

But yeah, just slide them in the opposite direction and you'll be good to go next time around

[Kelly53s]

I think I figured out the reason for the custom washer added to the bolt. It is a safety reason that Toyota added. Without it, the bolt head would be sticking out and in a collision, the head of the bolt could punture the gas tank, causing a fire. With the custom washer added, the head is recessed, thereby decreasing the risk of a puncture occuring in a collision.
Also, this is the reason, I percieve, why it may not be wise to reverse the bolt because then the threaded end of the bolt would be sticking out much closer to the gas tank, thereby increasing the risk of a puncture in a collision.
So I plan to drop the crossover asm to complete my repair and then re-install the bolt as originally installed by Toyota.

[pmx007PL]

Don't be so touchy about safety issues (like you expecting/programming yourself to have accident).
There is so many things that can stab gasoline tank or tear off fuel hoses (track control arms bolts are not the only one danger).

So, as stated above, only way is to disassembly rear subframe (no need to dismantle exhaust), and then put bolts opposite way (for easier repairs in the future).
Unscrewing rusted bolts in rear suspension is another story (in my case it was horror)...

[Kelly53s]

Just my guess why Toyota put the custom washer on the bolt.
Anyway, you said no need to dismantle the exhaust. Will the crossmember drop down low enough to remove the bolts when you remove the crossmember nuts and lower the crossmember? That would be great if so.

[Mister_Perkins]

Yeah, Biggest problem with unbolting the sub-frame is the bolts rust and if your not careful they will break off. Then you have to Drill and tap and its a big Fiasco. Makes sense about the washer though..

I've been driving all my camrys with reverse direction bolts and it hasn't affected it at all. If your very worried about crashing, make some Rubber stop Caps for the threads / nut and slide it over top before you finish.

I would say, do what your comfortable doing. I was thinking long term .. The next time I did the suspension arms, I didn't want to have to drop the subframe every time. Call me a little lazy, but it works for me

[wokslave]

Can anyone give some advice on breaking the bolt/nut loose on the trailing arm part of the knuckle? The Chilton manual says you have to remove it first, but it's got me stumped. I definitely plan on reversing the inner bolts to make this easier later.
I'm just trying to replace the passenger side rear front control arm on my 95 xle... Thought it was going to be a no brained.

[Mister_Perkins]

Your probably going to need some heat with oxy/acetylene torches.

Once you get em hot enough, spray some nut blaster on the still hot nut/bolt and it will suck in the blaster and help loosen the rust. If you need to cut the long bolts out, you can get them from toyota for like $15.00-$30.00 If I'm remembering correctly. There's a special washer on the bolt, so you can't just replace the bolts with ones from the store.

[wokslave]

I got the nut off of the long bolt, but realized I have to take the trailing arm off, and that's where I'm stuck, on the lower end where it's in the way of pulling the tire side long bolt out of the 2 control arms. I don't want to apply heat and melt the bushing because I don't know if I can get the upper bolt of the trailing arm off. I put a couple tons of force on it with a jack and used a air impact with about 400 ft/lbs and all it does is bend the rubber up. I sprayed PB every 5 mins for about an hour and still got nothing. Is there a trick to getting that bottom side of the trailing arm off?