Control arm replacement - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Jalopi · 06-10-2009, 11:09 PM

Hi all, I've been ghosting this forum for a while now but I'm glad I know about this place - I could use some help.

Long story short, I hit an off-ramp curb doing 40ish a few days ago, and after limping the car home i found out that the damage was localized to just the wheel and the left control arm. I can't get it out so far though - there's one bolt that i just can't remove, because the auto tranny pan is in the way, and it will only clear halfway before lifting the rest of the car if I jack the engine up.

I'm just curious if I can get away with only loosening the left motor mount instead of doing all of them... tips or tricks are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help!

fishexpo101 · 06-12-2009, 04:47 PM

OK, I see - that inside bolt (big one) is almost lined up with the tranny pan. I haven't experienced changing the lower control arms on the car - but I have replaced the engine mounts.

Loosening the mount will help give you a little wiggle room. I know of you drop the crossbrace (rear engine mount sits on it) - the transaxle will drop quite a bit. Possible that loosening the left mount and the rear mount (probably don't have to completely remove them) could give you enough clearance to get that bolt off.

Sort of like the crank pulley bolt - it won't clear the side of the engine bay - buy you just jack up on the oil pan (carefully) to give you that little bit of clearance you need.