Rear crossmember, please advise

[DogToggler]

Hi,

New member here. I have a 95 Camry LE (2.2L). My rear crossmember is severely rotted around the bushings on the driver's side. Since the rest of the frame structure looks alright I want to fix this. I am going to the junkyard tomorrow to look for one in better shape than my own. If I find one, a friend is going to let me use his lift and assist with the swap. I have a few questions that might help my day go easier if anyone knows the answers:

1) What other tools should I bring to the junkyard besides metric sockets & wrenches?
2) Will I be able to re-use my old bushings? If not, are these a stock item at the auto parts store?
3) Anyone know the torque requirements for bolting up the crossmember itself, the control arm connections to the crossmember, or the other components connected near the bushings?
4) What might I mess up while reconnecting the control arms? Is it important to have the weight of the vehicle on the tires (as opposed to having the vehicle up on the lift) for any part of this? Will I need an alignment afterward?

Any other words of wisdom welcomed.

Thanks!

[mouayingvang24]

thighten cross member from back to front: 83 ft.pound
stabilizer bar bolt to crossmember plate: 14 ft. pound
Lateral control arm to knuckle and crossmember: 134 ft. pound
strut rod from knuckle to car body: 83 ft. pound

Tools: Breaker bar, deep sockets(12,14,16,19,21mm),rackets, hammer, and another metal pipe to put more lever to breaker and another person to help incase.

Did mine last fall before winter hit in Minnesota. Now brought another camry and changing it this summer as well.

P.S.

Do not loosen crossmember till lateral control arm come off first.

Have fun...

[DogToggler]

Thank you for the info!

So I ended up bending a couple wrenches in half trying to get the control arms off the crossmember... I will have to go back with better equipment.

In the meantime, we put the car on the lift anyway because I'm having issues I didn't think were caused by the crossmember.

The rear driver's side wheel, there is play if I face the hubcap, grip on each side, and pivot about the axis of the strut (i.e. i can "twist" the wheel a little). My buddy said its the strut, since we already did the passenger side strut a few months ago because of a different issue (I know, I should have done both).

I'm not convinced though, because the entire strut moves with the tire. The point where the play stops is at the control arm bushings. the rod that goes parallel to the tire between the two bushes moves inside the bushes.

So to me, it's the control arms (more specifically, their bushings) that are bad.

Any thoughts?

[capnblinski]

I do know that arm comes as a unit - no replaceable bushings for that one. It seems that there are many camry owners on TN that have issues with the rubber bushings that help make up the rear suspension.

My strut assembly is in good shape - my problem is i need to get back there and find the offending part causing the bump/bang - most likely the replaceable sway bar bushings. When the weather is rainy, my '00 Camry feels like new back there due to the extra humidity being just enough to give the bushings back some of their original pliability. lol

There is a huge amount of info using the "search this forum" box on each sub-forum's main page.



Good luck!

[mouayingvang24]

I would suggest a new lateral control arm for arm 2(adjustable) before it wears out arm 1(non-adjustable). On ebay is where i purchase mine for all 4 lateral control arm. I only needed the 2 adjustable arm and sold the other arm after i reused and rethread the new arm#1 with old adjustable bolt(DO NOT ATTEMPT IF NOT CERTIFIED OR HAVE RIGHT EQUIPMENT).