Hi all,
my mechanic just received a brand new set of upper arm for my 1988 toyota van 4wd. He looked in the mechanical repair book and it's look a real PITA to change these parts. remove seats, remove cover over the engine, remove radiator....
There is another way to change the upper arm without removing the half of the the van?
my mechanic is waiting the answer so if someone can help me asap and have another solution to change the 2 upper arm i will very appreciate.
thanks a lot
Since I can't think of a way to say this delicately, I guess I'll just say it. If your mechanic does not know or cannot figure it out, then perhaps you should be looking for another mechanic. The reason I say this is the van's suspension isn't that much different from many other popular vehicles. Of course the #1 thing here is safety. After you have the vehicle on jack stands (supported by frame), just be sure to release the tension of the torsion bars before trying to remove the a-arms. For more specific instructions refer to the front suspension section of the factory service manual. Here's a link to down load the 87 manual in PDF form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q4u...7wOD7nKyF/view
Tim, my mechanic is the guy who did repairs the last 25 years with the last van owner. I thought it was the best way for me to know what job was done on the van. I will tell him what you wrote, but after i got the van, not before!!!Originally Posted by timsrv
Since I can't think of a way to say this delicately, I guess I'll just say it. If your mechanic does not know or cannot figure it out, then perhaps you should be looking for another mechanicNext step will be to find mechanic near my town, he lives 1 hour from my home.
Seriously if it don't look complicated, why on the manuel repair at page 592 (FA-106) i've got a lot of thing to remove like right front seat, engine cover, console boc, transmission cable etc....? i think that's what confuse my mechanic.
Can you write me step-by-step how to remove the upper control arm (the one with ball joint unremovable) and i will copy/paste your instructions to him. don't forget, my toyota van is 4wd, i think it's different from a 2wd.
thank you to help me to get back my van as soon as possible!!
Due to the time & effort required, I likely wouldn't do this job specifically for a write-up. If I'm doing the job anyhow, then it's not much extra effort to snap a few pics. I'll put it on the "things-to-do list" but who knows when that will happen (so many things I want to do, but so little time). As for accessing the engine compartment you don't need to remove the shifter/e-brake cables. There's enough flex here to lift the access panel with these still attached & move it toward the rear of the van & out of the way. This will expose the fasteners that hold the a-arms to the chassis. Here's a link to a thread that shows how to access the engine areas: http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...the-van-engine!.
Here's a picture of of some a-arms and other goodies removed from a 4wd van.
I got these a-arms & misc components from a pick-n-pull salvage yard with just a small carry-in tool kit. It took me a little over an hr to remove it all, of course the engine access panels were already removed. Tim
so we definitely need to remove the engine cover right? I suppose you can do the driver's side as is but for the passenger side the cover must be removed.
thank you Tim for you replies.
I won't say it's impossible to remove the arms without 1st removing the passenger seat/engine access cover, because if you're determined enough you could probably find a way. I will however suggest the time spent removing is time well spent. With these vans everything boils down to access. After you've done it a few times removing the seat & panel become 2nd nature. I haven't timed myself, but pretty sure it only takes me about 15 minutes to open things up. I do use air tools though & that speeds things up a bit. If you're doing it for the 1st time & using regular tools it might take a half hr or so.
There are a few clamps that attach the cables to the inside of the access panel & those may or may not still be there. These can be a PITA if you're not used to removing or installing them. But like everything else, once you get familiar it's not so bad. These clamps do not necessarily need to be there, but they do help keep the cables routed away from things they might chafe on. This is the reason I take the effort to install.
I don't remember for sure, but I think the radiator & fan shroud are in the way of the front mount bolts. Taking these items out isn't tough, just annoying. A seasoned mechanic should be able to remove in about 1/2 hr - 45 min. The part I hate is fussing around with draining & the mess (if automatic then you have the ATF mess as well). If you don't know the last time the coolant was replaced, then now would be a good time. Tim
Tim, Weren't you developing an adapter for the upper arm that bolted on a 4 runner upper ball joint???? http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...int-conversion
finally i bought a set directly from China from a Toyota Hiace (brand new). 50$ each. 208$ cdn at the door. my mechanic had to do some fixes (drill holes and create new threads) but finally it fit. They look thinner but they do the job for now. i had no other choice but for now it work and the alignment is perfect.
they are greasable but there is 2 zerks i can't grease, my mechanic told me the parts are too tight to be able to grease them, and with time there will be some play and it will be possible to grease them in the future.
I had Rickyvw (member here) modify a set of upper A-Arms for me. He did the machine work & installed the 4-runner ball joints on a set of upper A-arms I sent him. He also made me a set of rear spring stand-offs like the ones shown in that thread.
Little has changed since I made the statement above. I'm wrapping up my busy season (I run an RV repair business), but still lots of priorities in front of this project.
Rickyvw has his raised van up for sale now (one featured in the above mentioned thread). Here's his ad: http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...-transfer-case
Use the contact information in that ad if you wish to contact him regarding this mod. I don't remember the exact price, but he charged me around $800 for the complete job. Tim
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