[Rainbow83]

Hello folks,

I'm replacing the passenger side front control arm and ball joint on my 2003 Camry, and I'm running into a rather frustrating difficulty. After installing the balljoint on the steering knuckle and the control arm on the subframe, I'm not able to get them to meet each other. The mounting plate for the ball joint sits several inches below and outboard of the matching surface on the control arm. Any thoughts on what may be causing this issue and how I might solve the problem? Thank you very much for any help.

 

[SFCamry]

Hello folks,

I'm replacing the passenger side front control arm and ball joint on my 2003 Camry, and I'm running into a rather frustrating difficulty. After installing the balljoint on the steering knuckle and the control arm on the subframe, I'm not able to get them to meet each other. The mounting plate for the ball joint sits several inches below and outboard of the matching surface on the control arm. Any thoughts on what may be causing this issue and how I might solve the problem? Thank you very much for any help.

Welcome to the site Rainbow -

Can you put a picture up? When I changed my LCA and ball joint on my 09' Camry I think I recall I had to push the LCA down to get to the LBJ...

 

[Rainbow83]

https://www.toyotanation.com/attachments/20230206_223316-jpg.412485/?hash=d7c5cb95439801570c766bdc8aebf9c4

That should link to a picture. Not sure why but the sit didn't like me uploading in this comment.

Pushing the control arm down helps the vertical issues, but the ball joint is still several inches too far outboard of the control arm.

 

[SFCamry]

Doesn't the ball joint pivot inwards? It has been a few years since I did this (I think I have a thread up here, you might search here for my name as poster and "LBJ" in the title) but I seem to recall you have to flex it to line it all up. If you bought OEM parts for that car then it all should fit fine.

 

[Rainbow83]

The new ball joint is pretty stiff and I'm not able to force it to pivot by hand. I'm not sure it'd make much of a difference though as the ball joint is so far outboard that it looks like no amount of rotation will fix this issue. It I think it needs to actually translate sideways towards the engine.

 

[SFCamry]

And you are sure you bought the proper side LBJ, and not the opposite side? I don't remember if they are different...

 

[Rainbow83]

Yes, it's an exact match for the original and they both have L and R for left and right.

 

[XiaoHu]

Loosen your strut and pull off your tie rod end to give yourself some more leverage, and use a dead blow hammer to bend the ball joint to the correct orientation. That all looks correct you just have to muscle it.

 

[JohnGD]

+1 push firmly the ball joint should move. Or using a wood block on the metal part and carefully hammer it so the joint tilts more inward than it is now.

You can actually push the strut inward as is, or get a family or neighbor hulk to help. Alternatively you can loosen the top 3 mounting bolts and that should allow you to move the strut inward more easily. And then after lowering the car to the ground you and tighten them again.

 

[Rainbow83]

Update: I got it together, though I think I may have a different problem now. So, after much fiddling, rotating, and application of force on the control arm, the knuckle suddenly pushed in, as if the CV joint was able to go further into the axle. I honestly don't really have a functional understanding of what the CV joint does or how it works beyond that the letters stand for Constant Velocity, so I'm wondering if I may have accidentally disconnected it somehow and if I simply reconnected it when trying to move the knuckle around. It felt as if a set of splines lined up and it was suddenly able to push in. Is that possible? Does this sound like a reasonable theory? Also, if that's the case, should I be worried about having accidentally disconnected and reconnected the CV joint?

 

[JohnGD]

The inner joint will move in and out as the suspension height changes while you drive. Yes, it's possible for the inner joint to pop out. The inner joint typically has three bearings on a holder called "spider", and those can pop out. You can squeeze and feel the rubber boot, and also try moving the axle shaft radially and see if there is free play.

Here, how CV axle works:

How a CV Axle Works

I made a short video explaining what’s inside a CV axle and how it works to power your car’s wheels: Here are a few photos of the breakdown. The CV Axle contains the inner joint, which slides and swings slightly, and the outer joint, which can swing to extreme angles. Pop off the boot That...

www.toyotanation.com

 

[Rainbow83]

Ok, thank you very much for the help. I'm calling it a night for now. Time to learn about CV joints.

 

[giggity02]

all this is normal on Toyotas. its a bit of a pia. but it does make the job easier as less parts have to be removed. the lower control arm looked more higher/straighter than the new one due to the bushings were positioned at ride height, aka car on all 4 wheels on ground. the ball joint will be stiff as it is new and not worn in that's why force is needed on both. as far as the shaft, that's normal and should be just fine. ya can always remove the axle shaft nut and break the shaft free of the stuck/seized position on the hub, ya don't have to remove it just free it up so it slides on the hub splines but its not required

 

[richardfenwickr]

Hello folks,

I'm replacing the passenger side front control arm and ball joint on my 2003 Camry, and I'm running into a rather frustrating difficulty. After installing the balljoint on the steering knuckle and the control arm on the subframe, I'm not able to get them to meet each other. The mounting plate for the ball joint sits several inches below and outboard of the matching surface on the control arm. Any thoughts on what may be causing this issue and how I might solve the problem? Thank you very much for any help.

Looks like the boot on the inner cv joint is hyper extended .The cv joint may have pulled out of the housing.Feel near the cv housing to see if you can feel the joint if so try to push in to pop in back in place.