PseudoK

Ok, I have the crossmember, took it out of the junkyard car, this one looks good. but when pulling the crossmember the control arms kept hugging the crossmember, so I am thinking of removing the control arms all together on my car to get my crossmember out.


so I was thinking of replacing my ball joints, but there are none to be found? I have to buy whole new control arms just to replace my ball joints?

Duck05

The ball joint is part of the LCA.... Replacing them is not cheap but a known issue with the age of our cars. Between that, bushings, and a rebuilt steering rack it will be costly but well worth the safety and performance considerations.

PseudoK

I got the old one out but.

I cant seem to fully remove the control arms or steering rack arms to get the new one up..


I remove the crown bolts and it just wont budge, I pounded a couple times but I dont really know entirely what I am doing with suspension so I backed off.

trying to find an FAQ, maybe someone can help me?

PseudoK

after finally finding a shop... they want 275 to remove the old bushings and press the new bushings with them off of the car?

how can I do this myself, what can I buy to get this done? the old bushings are SO warn out.

ArkLaTexSC

If you mean the LCA or steering bolts that attach them to the wheel hub......yes, those are quite fun. Get the biggest hammer you have and wail on it. They're held in by tension. Great design, sort of, just scary....er, annoying to get out.

Don't replace the bushings like i did. You'll regret it. It sucks, ruins clothes, gets cops called on you, uses a lot of propane, and at the least it's a bit of a fire hazard.

PseudoK

oh ok, so there isnt anything to worry about in hitting it too hard? maybe I will use a 2x4 to soften it.

ArkLaTexSC

No, you have to hit it hard. Using a small piece of 2x4 probably wouldn't hurt, but I never bent a bolt doing this (except on the rear sway bar, as it stays load-bearing even with the wheel in the air.)

Ramblerman

Use a torch to blow out your old bushings, the rubber part. take a rotary file (carbide) & score the metal sleeve, then crack the sleeve & remove it. Then press the new bushings in. OES (Dorman) sells new front LCA's for less than OEM but still a bit pricey. The only ones they don't sell yet are rear uppers. Looks like your car was run in the Baja.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

check the balljoints if they are worn you are wasting money on bushings and should get new arms.

CatManD3W

iTrader: (18)

For the amount of time it takes to burn out old bushing and put new ones in...you'd be better off getting new control arms....that give you new bushings and ball joints....

I will be replacing the front upper and lower control arms with new Supra arms...easiest way to do it IMO

Front Upper... can be found for $150 for the pair
Front Lower...the cheapest I have found is $260 a piece (OEM Toyota)

The rears are a different story as you can only use SC rear upper control arms the Supra ones are shorter (unless you swap the whole supra rear subframe).....These are crazy expensive for the pair...$$$ and time wise probably would be better to just put new bushings in the rear

PseudoK

I cant tell if the ball joints are bad, and I Dont just have $500 to throw around for this, I already purchased a whole set of Polyurethane bushings for the front of the car.

if its this much of a big deal I would have to put the old control arms back on with the old bushings and drive like that until I can afford new control arms.

also I was able to use the scissor jack and a 2x4 to hold the engine up, rather than the hoist in my garage.

Ramblerman

The ball joints when you have the arms out should feel nice and smooth in the sockets if they are sloppy and have excessive play in them then they are probably shot. You can take a needle gun and grease them down past the ball or you can drill & tap the cap & install grease fittings to extend the life of them. try auto parts warehouse for the OES control arms if you need to replace.

PseudoK

well I got the crossmember in last night.

but the drivers side ball joint was leaking grease out badly, brown like crazy.


but as far as play I dont know, I watched a couple videos on youtube, going to finish putting the car together tonight and do those tests.


this is without the new bushings, which if the ball joints arent shot I will put in this weekend...

I really cant afford new control arms for awhile..

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Its always a good idea to check the ball joints first though, I mean you could have spent the time and money to install the new bushings only to find you have to replace the arms, then you would have spent even more money and actually the worst part is installing those things, I have burnt those bushings out before its not fun I can still smell the rubber when I think about it. its terrible. anyone who hasn't done it thinking its not that bad I would say seriously reconsider cause those old bushings stay in there really well for "worn bushings". I wouldn't even do it again even if my balljoints were good. I would just get a replacement good condition used arm for the time being on the bad side and save up for supra arms = problem solved. bad bushings are more annoying than anything else its not gonna stop you from driving it, a bad balljoint though that is dangerous.

PseudoK

is it possible that through all the moving of all the components that I did that I could have damaged something? Like I had the steering rack, where the boot is, at a bit of an angle


because I didnt entirely remove the control arms, just from the crossmember.

although to put it back in I removed the control arm completely.


but essentially tonight I am going to put everything back together and move the wheel and look for movement at the ball joint.