Play upon acceleration/deceleration

[ARCHINSTL]

As dlb mentions - drill out the control arm bushing rubber. That's what I did, and then used a small reciprocating saw to carefully cut a couple of slots in the metal sleeve (I started with a hack saw but it did not work) and then tapped it out with a chisel and polished the inside of the arm beginning with flex hones* and then emery cloth.
See the attached pix for the removal sequence and to see how I pressed it in with a LARGE vise (and trepidation!). But - it worked. My "special tools" were some old bike freewheel tools I had - you will have to improvise with pipes - should work OK.
The black, oozy, stuff is chassis lube which I used, for better or for worse.
Like dlb, I tried freezing the bushings, but with minimal (if any) effect, also like him. I did not think to heat the arm.

When removing the arm - relax the pressure, as the threads on the captive nut are easy to booger. See https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... ive#p39933
Tom M.

* I used wheel cylinder flex hones in the bike biz to clean up seat tubes for smooth seat post insertion.

Left-click to enlarge.

[DanT]

Thanks guys. I was obviously underestimating what it would take to press these bushings in. A block of wood and a hammer? Yah, right.

I have all of the bolts and nuts soaking in blaster for now.

I looked at those access holes behind the lower control arm bolts again. This is definitely the design from Toyota, nobody put them in later. With the covers off this actually gives good access to spraying the welded nut with blaster... which is likely the reason those plugs are there. Could also heat the square welded nut through that access hole I think. I checked the 85 and it has the access holes with rubber plugs also (bottom of the frame behind the bolt, right were the threads and the welded nut are located). What year is Goldie, Tom, I find it odd that I have access holes in both the 83 and the 85... and you would not have them?

Thanks again for all of the help with this...

Dan

[ARCHINSTL]

Goldie is an '86. I will check tomorrow for those access holes - if there, it would have saved some time and worries back in 2007 and I would not have fretted about boogering the threads (coulda used a penetrant).
I only had my then-new '83 for 3+ years, so did not have to venture to those dark areas.

Note that the bushing only goes in one way (mark the arm).

Incidentally, I think the easiest way to remove the arm is to remove the sway bar and then disconnect it from the arm after loosening the ball joint bolts; this is a little different from the FSM (which is also mum on the access holes).
Tom M.

[DanT]

Tom,

I just ordered all of the parts that I need for the front and rear ends from Butler. Dan Egan got moved into service so he no longer works in parts. Bob is filling my order. They are hard to reach by phone now, and sound very busy with one less person in parts, so have been corresponding by email with Bob, as he suggested.

I went with the part numbers that you mentioned in your posts. I know they will be correct, but I have no idea how you came up with the part numbers... or how I would ever look them up in the future. ( Some of these parts print as land cruiser 91-94, corrola 95-97, etc. Looks like Toyota continues to use some of these parts on more recent models.)

Any light you could shed on how to look up these part numbers would be great.

Thanks again for all of your help with this. Not sure how I would have gotten this far without your guidance.

Best regards,

Dan T

Front stabilizer bar:
48815-16090 ...X2... Strut bush to X-member .... stabilizer bar to Crossmember
48674-16030 ...x2... cushion to arm ...front cushion
48675-16041 ...x2... cushion to arm ...rear cushion
90387-14007 ...x2... internal collar ...internal sleeve/tube
90206-14048 ...x2... Wave washers ...lock washers
90948-02056 ...x4... Retainers for above....big, almost-flat, washers
94184-61400 ...x2... Lock nuts for above

Front lower control arm:
48654-16050...x2... Lower arm bushing .....control arm to body

Rear stabilizer bar:
90385-11021...x2... Stabilizer bushings...front of sway bar to bottom of links
90560-10275...x2... Spacer for above...metal sleeve inside bushings
48817-12010...x4... Cushion...front of sway bar from links to body
48815-20021...x2... Bushing-bar to axle

[Petros]

they will often "update" a part on newer models, and if they discontinue the older part will list the similar (and interchangable) part number as superseding the old one. This is common with all car companies.

When the design a new car the engineers will try and pull as many parts from existing inventories as practical, so it is not surprise some of the parts are also used on newer models as well.

[ARCHINSTL]

DanT -
Good to know about Dan Egan moving. His predecessor, Kyle, was also most helpful - the biggest reasons I stay with Butler.

As to part numbers I list - while they are available in the EPC stickies in the Parts Forums here -
I never post them until I get them from an actual invoice from parts that I have ordered and received.

As Petros wrote, many companies update numbers automatically (and usually note that "this #xxx supercedes old #yyy").
Tom M.

[DanT]

I have the car up now and have cleaned all of the bolts and blasted them with blaster. Bushings are scheduled for delivery on Saturday. Quick question: I have rusty bolts with a lot of buried thread that hold the ball joint to the wheel assembly. Those bolts look like they are going to be a real challenge. It looks a lot easier to remove the lower control arm from the ball joint (leaving the ball joint on the wheel assembly) than it would be to get the ball joint off the wheel assembly. I have the SST on a free loan from Autozone to remove ball joints or tie rod ends. I just used it on a tie rod end and it makes the job breeze. Same tool fits the ball joint next to the castle nut. Just checked the fit. Looks just like tool in the manual. (Though they took the arm off the wheel assembly first before they took the picture.)

Any reason not to go the easier route? My aim is to get the lower control arm free to change the bushing. No need to mess with ball joints. ( I have had 2 different mechanics check this front end. Both of them caught the same loose tie rod end on the driver's side. Both of them said the ball joints are good.) The manual says to remove the lower arm and then to use the SST tool to remove the ball joint. As long as I support the weight of the wheel to take pressure off the lower arm I should be able to disconnect the ball joint right where it is, and then put it back together with a castle nut, yes? Anything I am missing?

Thanks for any pointers from those who have been there...

Dan T

[ARCHINSTL]

You are OK with this procedure. I did it this way, even though I then removed the ball joints from the knuckle, as I was renewing them as well.
You might also invest in a can of Permatex Never-seize - grey, goopy stuff that stains hands and clothes. I use it on all threaded fasteners.
You probably already did this, but - with rusty fasteners, I always take a Dremel wire brush to the threads where they enter the solid part - helps the juice get in there. And of course, wire brush all threads upon removal.
Tom M.

[DanT]

Tom,
Great to get the confirmation that I am good-to-go. I wire-brushed the threads well with an electric drill and various sized wire brush wheels before soaking in blaster. Bought a can of Never-seize from Autozone just yesterday. I was using regular grease whenever I removed bolts and put them back in before. A guy at AZ recommended Never-seize. This information that I am on-track is going to help a lot. By the way, I found a guy at Monroe that will press these bushings in for $10 if I bring the control arms and bushings in, so am planning to go that route.

Also talked with a shop about those access holes. They said I can use blaster on those captive nuts through that hole. Also can use heat there if needed. Bought a canister of MAP gas yesterday that is suppose to heat 3 times faster than propane. The plan is to see if things will go without the heat first, but bring it on later if needed. I was worried about twisting off the captive nuts. Worst case, if that happens, they cut off the bolt on the front, hammer it through the hole, then run a new bolt in and place a washer and nut on the other end through the access hole.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with this.

Best regards,

Dan T

[ARCHINSTL]

Wow on the $10 route - it's gratifying to the soul to do-it-yourself, but for 2 sawbucks to do this - it's a no-brainer! And it saves a HECK of a lot of time!
Although - and I'm sure you did this - be sure to mark the side of the arm where the flange goes - even though the wrench will (presumably) be removing the bushings as well as installing them.

Since you have access to the captive nuts and can use PB on them, you should luck out with not having to use heat (the MAPP gas will come in handy for whatever later on). Just be sure to slather them with Never-Seize or chassis lube (cheaper) after installation.
I still haven't forgotten about looking for the access holes on Goldie - it's still raining off-and-on and my driveway has been purty sloppy - and my zeal for doing this has been dampened...

Incidentally - do you have/did you rent a torque wrench? AZ has 'em.
Tom M.