I'm getting motivated to finally do this job this summer. I was searching around to start a parts list so when my stimulus check shows up, I can buy supplies right away.

I ran into a thread where some people were replacing their entire control arms, bushings and all, with Mevotech from Rock Auto. Now I know OEM is best, but...anyone have experience? I love my truck and want it to last, but it doesn't need to last another 300,000 miles. This feels a lot easier than the torch and press method...

 

I pushed my LCA bushings out with a bottle jack, they’re pressed from the outside in, so putting a bottle jack between the mounting ears and pushing the old bushings from the inside out works like a champ.

replacing your control arms with built arms is definitely easier. More expensive, but easier.

Wether your control arms need replaced is up to you, and the condition of your CAs, and your wallet.

 

Thanks. Mostly curious if aftermarket control arms are terrible quality in anyone's experience.

I'll definitely compare prices and motivation levels for this job...The first time I researched it, it looked like a way bigger pain than it seems now after looking around more. My control arms are in fine condition. Western truck, so nothing more than a little surface rust on any of my truck.

 

Another thing to think about, is you could always buy new CAs and then clean up your old ones, push out the bushings, toss a coat of paint on them, and probably seek them on eBay for $50 a piece and recoup some of your money.

 

There are quite a few write ups on this on YT. With experience, it is usually best to burn out the rubber bushing and replace the rubber with urethane bushings.

 

I'd rebuild old rusty OEM's before I would use aftermarket parts store LCA's, some seem to be made of thinner or weaker steel and have cracked when abused, and bushings fail quickly, if you wanna do it on the cheap press/cut/burn the old bushings out and replace with Whiteline #W53377A poly bushings or OEM bushings, OEM would last longer I would think by design, and replace any LCA cam sleeves that you need to cut, you can mark them and crack them loose to check, order however many are seized and a fresh Diablo carbide tipped cutting blade to cut each of them. If you use the bottle jack measure the distance of the control arm ends and make sure you don't bend them, I found burning & pressing the rubber bushing out and then cutting the steel sleeve and hammering it out the easier method in the rust belt. I went with Whiteline, but poly as a pivot joint might not have been the best choice and wish I choose OEM, I'm sure they won't last the 20 years the OEM's did.

 

Alright, thanks. Yeah I saw mixed reviews on poly. And apparently if you don't grease the whitelines, they'll squeak like crazy?

Stimulus check or not, going the less expensive route is probably best, especially since it actually means higher quality parts in this case.

 

I have the energy suspension poly bushings in my entire front end and rear links. The only time I get a squeak is if my kids stand on the running boards and rock the truck back and forth. Driving… no squeaks, pulling a trailer… no squeaks, again all but the most twisted chassis/suspension angles and I don't have any noise.

 

Ya squeaking isn't my concern, I just replaced my 3 year old Prothane Sway bar bushings because the Bar to frame bushing was worn out making a clucking sound, 1mm of play, I did use Prothane again though because they are cheap and I couldn't keep OEM bar to frame bushings in it, kept tearing them and spit those out because my sway bar is a lil rough. Whiteline are the best poly choice for the LCA, the ES bushings don't have the metal sleeve like the Whiteline and OEM. The problem is that pivot point sees a lot of action, play on the LCA is hard to detect, OEM static LCA bushings wouldn't wear like a poly pivot, but the rubber could tear after 20 years. The poly does give you free floating LCA and more flex, whereas the OEM are static to assist with suspension control and likely to give you a nicer ride..

 

Great. Well I'll check prices, but I'm more likely to go OEM. I'm off road a ton, but not crawling. Just miles and miles of dirt road, along with a lot of highway driving.

 

Where are these write-ups? When I use the search function, the only thread with "control arm" and "bushing" in the title is this one. Are they buried in people's build threads?

 

Pricing and identifying the correct part is interesting...I'd need to call the Toyota parts dept to be sure I was ordering the right stuff. But what I'm seeing is $210 a piece for a full lower control arm with bushings, or $50 each for the bushings. Whiteline's are $60 for all 4.

Is it common for the upper control arm bushings to be in decent shape still? I mostly see threads on replacing the lowers, but not much on the uppers.

 

96 4Runner:
Lower front control arm bushings at 229,000ish miles
Uppers at just under 297,000 miles.
That's the order in which they wore out.

 

Lowers definitely take more abuse and wear sooner. Most people neglect them either way. Lowers also so more road grime, salt, water, etc.

 

Ok thanks. Well, I'm at 288,000, so likely mine could both use replacement...but maybe I'll make it easy on myself and start with just the lowers.

 

Just finished this job. Truck will go into alignment shop tomorrow. Bushing would not push out with the heat & bottle jack method. In fact I very slightly bent my driver side control arm trying it. Not so much that it wouldn't fit in the brackets, but enough that getting the washers in there was a serious pain.

Ended up using a sawzall to cut them out.

While I was at it I replaced the stabilizer bar bushing, lower ball joints and shocks/coils. So far, riding great, but I'm waiting for an alignment to go farther than around the block.

First thing I notice, other than the front end being higher because of the new shocks/coils, is that when I stop at stop signs, there's not crunching/creaking squeaky rubber noise anymore, or extra play. It just stops, without any noise or extra movement.

 

I did a similar front end refresh at the same time. Upper and lower bushings, shocks, upper and lower bjs, end links, and then ultimately tires because the first alignment shop did a terrible job and I ate up my front tires.

the feel and drive afterwards was so much better. Just smooth.

 

Alignment went well, no issues. Drove the truck two hours home pulling my trailer. Definitely feels very different. Much smoother ride.

The more I look at the truck with its “lift”, the more it looks right to me. Probably closer to how it sat when new rather than any significant lift. It was just a significant lift from where it had sagged to on the worn springs.

If I had to do the job again, looking back through this thread I see I used the same method as Malcolm, and would do it that way again. My rubber had enough play to push the bushing a little, cut off the inside lip with a sawzall, push out the rubber and inner sleeve, then cut a line in the outer sleeve and hammer/chisel it out. Some of the inner metal sleeves pushed right out by hand, some needed to be heated/melted. Only reason I’d use heat is in bushings where the rubber was still completely intact and I couldn’t push the inner sleeve out by hand. But I wouldn’t even try the bottle jack again. Even here with no road salt, the outer sleeve wasn’t going to push out.

Watching the Timmy the toolman videos where it popped right out with the bottle jack made me jealous. But that’s California.

 

I may be late to the game on this, but I recently bought this to help with some of these jobs on my truck. Didn't realize they made any cordless ones capable of mechanical work. On the list of things that make wrenching way more enjoyable and less painful, this has to be in the top 10 if not 5. Wow.