Here again I come to the well for sage advice, with much gratitude for all the help I have already received from you kind motorheads (that's a complement).

My current issue is a rattling LH Upper Control Arm on this 2wd DLX pickup.

My question is does anyone care to share product advice about which brand to get; which to avoid? Any experiences?horror stories?

Also Should I automatically replace the ball joint at the same time? The shop did not indicate a ball joint problem but since the labor to replace the joint would be included in the overall cost maybe I should go ahead and spend the extra 44 bucks.

By the way, a nugget of information, for what it is worth, correlation is not causation, but the worn out upper control arm comes on the heels of the addition of a front sway bar. So, any of you reading this might take into consideration that the addition of a sway bar on a suspension that's never had one MIGHT lead to control arm failure or failure of other suspension components. That said, get the sway bar anyway; it's the only way to drive life to the fullest.

 

I never changed the 2wd upper control arms but I have done the 4wd. That said, the aftermarket usually offers a complete new arm vs replacing the bushings. Some come with a ball joint on I think. Those arms are cheesy compared to OEM. Changing bushings sucks.

Going to poly bushings has it's pros and cons. More durable and easily replaced. (Kinda) You have to get the rubber out of the OEM bushing steel shells to put the poly bushings in. This part also sucks. Usually you have to burn and scrape out the rubber. Once it's done it's easy to put in the poly bushings. Poly bushings tend to squeak and they ride firmer than stock rubber. They move easier than the rubber ones so the suspension can flex more freely.

So a complete OEM control arm will be best in my opinion in terms of quality, fit and ease of installation.

Aftermarket replacement????????? Check reviews. I bought one ONCE.

Original or poly bushing in the OEM arm, good quality, you will never want to do it again. Well the rubber removal part.

Rock Auto is a good resource for part numbers. You can google those part numbers and check prices and reviews. Sometimes OEM is actually available at a good price.

I'd run the sway bar myself. It didn't cause your failure, age did.

Good luck and post up when you're done so it can help others searching this in the future.

 

I changed the UCA bushings in my 1986 2WD at 420,000 miles. You will need a press to get the bushings out the UCA. If you use a bench press like I did, you will need to place a support piece inside, so not to bend the bushing end of the UCA while pressing out. It's not hard but it was a lesson learned. The 1st bushing I pressed out bent the UCA end and had to bend it back. No bigge.

I used Moog as they use to be good, but would not recommend them. They started to show end cracking after 5 years. Still seem to be working but should not have cracked.

I also replaced the upper and lower ball joints as they were original too and had small splits in the rubber boot. Might as well as they are inexpensive. They were bolted in, so it was an easy job.

 

Most recommend oem on ball joints for Toyotas. Especially the upper ones. The aftermarket ones have a history of failing early. The uppers have the most stress placed on them because of the torsion bars.

 

This is great! Thank you. Keep in mind this is a low mileage truck, under 150k, so I still believe the sway bar ushered my control arm out the door.

 

I dunno, I agree with aztoyman. i doubt the sway bar was a factor. The torsion bars would have been more on an impact. And when it comes to motorhomes, well, they did things to Toyota suspension components that we just didn't see on regular Toyota trucks. Or at least sooner.

 

I am having a hard time finding any reputable dealers that offer 88 2WD UCA for me. 4WD everywhere, but even parts.toyota.com online doesn't offer UCA for 2WD.

Also, nothing available for 1988 2WD. Plenty available for 1989 2WD or and 4WD.

I'm beginning to see that 1988/89 is a big cross-over period for how control arm service is done. It seems that in this time-frame, the industry moved from pressing new bushings into OE control arms to replacing the entire part. I think my best option is to find a machine shop that can press in new bushings to my OE part.

It seems my only other option is a no-name part from Napa Auto Parts, which is not optimal, and very expensive.

Does anyone have any further advice, please?

 

Long time lurker. I've got an 87 2WD extended cab/long bed, just rolled over 310K miles. JoeS replied that he'd done his 2WD UCA. So my question is for him and anyone else that has done a 2WD UCA. How did you get the driver's side UCA out? I've got it unbolted. There is no clearance to remove it. I'm thinking I might have to cut the fender well.

 

I can attest to a couple of things.
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It's brutal. My mechanic tore up the rubber splash guards pretty bad.

My suspicion is that you have to get the suspension as far extended as you can. What exactly that means is a mystery to me because I wasn't "in the room. " but when I got my truck back there was clear evidence of a struggle. That's for sure.

Good luck. Wish I could help more.

 

Thanks. You may want to peek behind the splash guards to see if your mechanic trimmed off some wheel well.

 

Will do

 

I promised I'd check my inner fender well regarding whether replacing the UCA necessitates cutting the inner fender well. I checked. It does not.

LH - this is the side where the UCA was replaced.

RH - this side is factory original (except for the shock absorber) as far as I know.

 

No cutting was necessary. I did have to unhook the steering shaft from the steering gear box. The FSM doesn't mention that. With the steering shaft out of the way you can maneuver the UCA out. If you were playing the game operation you'd hear the buzzer go off multiple times. The other thing the FSM doesn't mention is removing the shock which would give you more room. I didn't cuz I already had the lower control arm supported and couldn't get to the lower shock bolts.

I also used a great tool for pressing in/out the bushings. It was a loaner tool from Advance Auto. It's the Powerbuilt 648604. Here's a youtube video of it being used.

 

Took my truck to a reputable hot rod shop for UCA replacement because most shops in my area can't deal with press work. (88 is the last year for press in bushings. For 89 you buy the whole UCA as 1 piece.)

After 1 yr and 8k miles I heard knocking in the suspension area of the same corner of the vehicle. Decided to have my ball joints checked (so I went to my favorite tire shop because I can get an appointment there fairly easily.)

Turns out the bolt on the front of the shaft was finger loose and the bolt on the rear was also not tight. The alignment mechanic tightened everything up and $150 later I'm on my way.

First stop was the hot rod shop - the guy there was in flames when I told him what happened - he said don't blame me, bolts loosen all the time. He said it's normal for the bolt to loosen because of the twisting of the bushing against the washer as the UCA goes up and down.

I need a reality check. Or he does.

 

Took my truck to a reputable hot rod shop for UCA replacement because most shops in my area can't deal with press work. (88 is the last year for press in bushings. For 89 you buy the whole UCA as 1 piece.)

After 1 yr and 8k miles I heard knocking in the suspension area of the same corner of the vehicle. Decided to have my ball joints checked (so I went to my favorite tire shop because I can get an appointment there fairly easily.)

Turns out the bolt on the front of the shaft was finger loose and the bolt on the rear was also not tight. The alignment mechanic tightened everything up and $150 later I'm on my way.

First stop was the hot rod shop - the guy there was in flames when I told him what happened - he said don't blame me, bolts loosen all the time. He said it's normal for the bolt to loosen because of the twisting of the bushing against the washer as the UCA goes up and down.

I need a reality check. Or he does.

 

Maybe it's common for bolts in his shop to come loose. Assembled correctly and properly torqued those bolts/nuts do not loosen over time. Imagine the legal jeopardy a company like Toyota would be in if control arms were prone to that

 

On the 4x4's the nuts are staked just to prevent that from happening.