dreadnotmusic

88 4Runner w/ 4" IFS bracket lift (blah). I replaced the idler arm and tie rod ends. Did a garage toe adjust and took it down to the alignment shop. They took my $85 and told me they couldn't get the driver side camber adjuster to budge any further and it's still WAY out. You can even see the negative camber. Damn truck has to be held on the road and will change lanes if you even think about letting go of the wheel.

I tried to see what's stopping the adjuster from turning any farther but can't figure it out either. The nut on the back is loose, but it will only turn another 1/4 turn from this position. What could be stopping it?

....disregard the wire in the pic. I put on a bit of pressure from the come along just to hold things in place for the picture.

MudHippy

Remove the come-along. It's the extra pressure from it pushing on the bushing/bolt that's making it more difficult.

shaeff

Eccentric bolt seized to the bushing?

dreadnotmusic

Thanks, but the come along was only put there just before the pic. All attempts to adjust it were made without it. I also tried moving it with and without the suspension loaded. It just gets to a certain point and stops.

...do I need to loosen the rear control arm adjuster too? Maybe it's binding?

...is it easy to simply remove the eccentric bolt and see what the deal is?

shaeff

Remove the nut on the other side, as well as the eccentric cam, and the bolt should pop right out with the tap of a hammer/punch. If it doesn't, it's seized to the bushing. I've seen the bolts seize to the bushing and it'll turn a little but then just stop as you describe. It happened on my MKIII Supra (same basic eccentric bolt design for alignment)

I ended up using the O/A torch to cut them out because no matter what I did they wouldn't budge. That was a crappy job.

dreadnotmusic

Well it certainly appears to be seized I went back out and tried to turn it while watching the bushing. The bushing turns at the same time as the bolt, so they're seized together. It's soaking with PB Blaster overnight with a faint hope that I can break it free. Not likely. Thanks for all the quick replies. I've searched for LCA and bushing replacement threads and found all the info I need from this point forward. Looks like fun.

shaeff

Yeah, it's pretty common. That sucks man, I feel your pain. Grab some cutoff wheels for your grinder and have at it. Those bolts are super hard though, so you'll go through a bunch of wheels which is why I went with the O/A torch and very carefully cut them out of my Supra.

Also note: Maybe think about a different alignment shop. They should totally have noticed that.

dreadnotmusic

Did you just get new bolts from the dealer? How about the bushings? Autozone has the stock style ones for pretty cheap. This was supposed to be a cheap winter truck, but I'm way too anal about maintenance to let stuff like this go. As for the alignment shop, yeah...they suck. I actually took it back there after I drove away and had them look at it again. He said it had been "too modified" to align. I knew they were clueless at that point. I heard all sorts of popping on the way home. Pulled it in my shop and found the crossmember bolts finger tight. Nice work dumbass.

angrybob

$8 LCA bushing tool if you have the 2-1/8" hub nut socket, an air compressor and a good impact gun.

It took me less than a half hour to remove and replace the bushings once the LCA's were out of the 4Runner.

Go to Home Depot / Lowes and buy a 5/8" threaded rod, (qty 4) 5/8" hole flat washers, (qty 2) 3/4" flat washers, and (qty 4) 5/8" nuts.

1. Thread a two nuts (jam nut them when you get the right location after step 4) and two of the 5/8" washers down the rod about 8".
2. Slide the socket over the rod (open end out) down to the washers.
3. Slide the rod through the LCA bushing from the outboard side
4. Slide the 3/4" then the remaining 5/8" washers over the end of the rod sticking through the LCA bushing and thread one nut on the end.
5. Hit the inboard nut with the impact and the force on the washers will eventually drive the bushing into the socket.

To install the bushings, do the exact opposite so the socket is on the inboard side, etc. I put the edge of a socket that was the same length as the distance between the LCA outer bushing area 'ears' to avoid them from collapsing together or at all when driving in the new bushing.

WAY BETTER than a typical bench vise with an 8' cheater bar with you and your fat uncle standing on it for installation. WAY BETTER than a gear/bushing/whatever puller for removal because the impact does all the work and when the bushing breaks free, it is captured inside the socket...not your face.

If this doesn't make sense, I'll see if I can snap a pic or two.

OH - and don't use grease on the bushings to aide in the installation. Its just not a good idea.

dreadnotmusic

Awesome info angrybob! I do have the hub socket, and my shop has full air and welding, etc. Every thread mentioned a vise, which from experience, is hardly ever a good way to press anything in. This idea sounds nice and simple.

If you do have a pic of the set up, that would be great. I think I could probably put it together based on your post, but a pic would speed things up for sure!

shaeff

Pressing the new bushings in isn't the problem (well, it never has been for me anyway), getting the LCAs out with seized bushings/eccentric bolts is the actual problem. That just sucks.

And yeah, there are a lot of nice home made presses/bushing pullers/installers to be made with threaded rod and sockets/couplers, etc...

dreadnotmusic

I soaked it overnight and applied a little heat from a mapp gas torch. I actually got it to turn! The bushing itself turned within the housing rather than the bolt inside but the the net effect is the same. I adjusted it just like the pass side (which was in spec) and reset the toe. The steering is great and it doesn't pull at all!

I still need to replace the bushings someday and get the bolts free, but for now I'm celebrating cheap success!

shaeff

I'd replace the bushings ASAP, because what you've got going on is that the inner steel sleeve is seized to the eccentric bolt. While you've got it to turn, essentially what's happening is that the steel sleeve has now separated from the bushing. It'll get a bunch of slop in it, and technically, you're still in the same predicament because with the sleeve/eccentric seized together, it's an absolute PITA to get them apart.

For future reference, using a torch on any rubber bushing is bad news if you plan to keep that bushing.