Hey Guys,
1998 T100 SR5 4WD. 235,000 miles. I've had this truck since 2001, second owner since 53,000 miles and it's never been wheeled hard. Still running stock 265/75/16" (went up from 70's to get an LT tire) on stock alloys. It wanders a bit going down the road. In the past few years I've replaced all tie rod ends, steering box, center link/drag link, steering arm, pitman arm, all four ball joints (Moog), sway bar saddle rubbers, and have maintained good front end alignment. I can get 70,000 miles out of a good set of Michelins.


I'm going to replace the control arm bushings in the next month or two.


For any of you that have done so, should I even bother with the uppers? Doing just the lowers would be a lot less work but I would like some opinions.
Thanks,
Winkel

 

I paid to have the lowers done, shop said they were like mush. It was not an easy job they said and they charged me alot of money. On the other hand a replacement dorman arm was somewhat cheaper but on some 4Runner forums they said the metal is thinner and weaker.

An entire control arm is about 300 bucks from toyota, not sure if they come with bushings.

 

CJM,
Did you bother with the uppers? Do they fail as readily as the lowers?
Thanks,
Winkel

 

No I didnt, the shop said they were fine and after paying them 300 bucks plus parts to press new bushings in the lowers I took their word for it.

 

Something to consider is the steering dampener. A worn one will cause yer truck to wander. You can git the Monroe one. Just remember that it only fits on one way.

 

FWIW: The reason mine had issues was the bushings were so bad that under load and when braking the alignment was shifting about. So much so that it made it a totally different truck coasting, braking or on the skinny pedal you noticed it driving differently.

 

My new favorite thing to fix

 

Well, I got the drivers side done today. The control arm has the new bushings in it and I'm letting a coat of paint dry overnight. I'll put it on tomorrow and start on the passenger side.

Both of my front bolts came out. The worst part was cutting the bolt on the rear. I bought a five pack of Milwaukee steel blades. I smoked two and got through on the third one. A little WD40 helps keep things cool and lubricated while cutting. Getting the bushings out wasn't too bad. I just drilled the rubber for a while until I could remove the inner sleeve. Then I used a hammer and cold chisel to fold the outer sleeve in on itself until it loosened enough to be tapped out. With a little patience, it wasn't too bad. I used a piece of 5/8" threaded rod and a few other pieces to press the new bushings in. Again, not too bad.

 

Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll bolt up the drivers side and start cutting the rear bolt on the passenger side. I know not to tighten everything until the truck is sitting back on the ground. I took pictures of the old ones before I started disassembly to make sure I get them indexed correctly. The driver side ones weren't too bad. I actually hope the passenger side ones are worse. I'd hate to do all this work and not notice an improvement!

Wish me luck!!

 

It's done!! When I was finished, I called a small local chevy dealer in town. It was 4:00 and he said if I got it right in, he could do the alignment. It only took him about 30 minutes since all the bolts could be loosened easily.
It's aligned and feels solid. All in all it really wasn't too bad a job. It was just kind of warm working in the garage these past couple of days. I'm glad to have it done.
Now I'm just waiting on the sway bar end links. Just ordered a pair from Partsgeek.

 

I'm going to do this on my 86 runner.

 

Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at gwinkel@yahoo.com


I've had this truck for about eleven years now and have done all of my own maintenance with the exception of tires, alignments and exhaust work.


If you have to sawzall out the bolts, use plenty of WD40 while you're cutting. It will keep you from smoking so many blades. The guy that did my alignment said he uses an industrial strength air hammer to drive the seized bolts out. He said it doesn't always work, but it often works.
Good luck!
Winkel

 

I usually use chain oil because its heavier and we have a lot of chainsaws haha but I'll give it a shot.

 

I used these: http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/gold-metal-reciprocating-saw-blades.aspx.

I went through two blades making four cuts on the bolts. The first one I cooked myself by using too much pressure and no lube. The second one I let the saws-all do most of the work and kept the blade lubed. Also, if you are just slightly off where your blade sits, you will cut through the whole bushing sleeve and bolt which is about 1" of hard steel. Try to stay tight against the outsides of the LCA arms.

I bought a 5 pack each of 14 TPI and 18 TPI. I really only needed the 14 TPI. 6" is plenty and easier to handle than a longer blade, IMHO.

 

When I bought my second pack of blades, I bought the six inch ones. When the end of the blade dulled, I'd cut off a couple of inches with a dremel and a cut-off wheel and go back at it. That conserved a little on blades too for what it's worth.