Any tips outside of the manual on replacing upper control arms and lower ball joints? Pickle fork or ball joint press? Special service tool? Should i be lubricating any bushings? Also i need to grease the zerks on new joints?
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Any tips outside of the manual on replacing upper control arms and lower ball joints? Pickle fork or ball joint press? Special service tool? Should i be lubricating any bushings? Also i need to grease the zerks on new joints?
New Febest upper control arms and OEM lower ball joints in.Attachment 5322Attachment 5323
Nice, looks good!
I have the exact same part combination and job on my list. Any tips or advice from your experience? Was it a brutal battle getting the old stuff off?
Was the alignment shop able to dial things in? I'm very interested to know the dimensional accuracy of these aftermarket Chinese parts. Tim
Edit 5/8/17: Forgot to mention that I didn't follow the FSM to a tee. I didn't remove the hubs or steering knuckle. Took me long enough without doing that..Quote:
Originally Posted by mistershmi
One of the more brutal parts was separating the lower ball joint body from the knuckle. Not talking about the tapered bore you use a fork or press for. Talking about the flat mating surface. Both sides of the van were very fused together, i didn't really foresee this. Took a bit of hammering. There's not a lot of access here and the knuckle wants to move around sucking the force out of your hammer hits. Hopefully yours are easier, see the picture.
Tim I haven't gotten an alignment yet (van is still parked) because one of my tie rod end boots is ripped and i'd like to replace both. However, I cant get the outer tie rod to unscrew because its really rusted tight, see second picture. Maybe I will pay a shop to do that job and give me an alignment.
I have the front stabilizer bar off and all the bushings ready to go, but i am having a hard time attaching the ends to the lower control arms. Its really hard to flex the bar and get the mounting bolts in for the bracket. Any ideas here would be appreciated. Thanks
Strategically using a jack doesn't do it? Not exactly sure what the issue is, but I will usually use jacks, pry bars etc and typically don't have too much trouble with that. I certainly understand about the frozen tie rods though (not an uncommon issue). Use penetrating oil, heat, and a big pipe wrench. If that doesn't do it, nothing will. Tim
Yeah I tried levering it and using a jack but then it was lifting the whole van up. Think I need to put the wheel back on and jump on the front bumper to work the suspension first.
Edit: that did the trick.
Also got that stubborn tie rod end off. Propane torch heat, pb blaster, hit and watch the rust dust come off, pipe wrenches with cheaters on them (one braced in the wheel well). Repeat.
I got some moog tie rod ends, part no: ES2989, on closeout from rockauto. Unfortunately they are not as beefy looking as the toyota oem's. I have added some photos for comparison.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
They were able to do everything but the 2 front cam adjusters because they said they were too rusted. The alignment feels better, but not aligned. I guess I need to order some new adjusters/bolts and hopefully get the old ones out.
Bump......FYI, I check Amazon every few months and I just discovered these upper 4wd A-Arms are available again (1st page of this thread). They are $59.95 (right or left) and they had 6 of each. I just bought one of the rights, so at the moment of this post they have 5 rights and 6 lefts.
Upper left control arm w/ball joint #48067-28050
Upper right control arm w/ball joint #48066-28050
Ebay has them too...........same price with free shipping. Tim
Bummer, I broke down and paid $100 for the passenger side shipped from Europe when I didn't see them on Amazon for a long time. I can't possibly think I'd need a second back up set??Quote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
And as of this post, they are now down to 2 rights and 3 lefts 'cuz I ordered two of each, and someone else snagged one of each before I got there.Quote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
Gwen
I ordered one of each last night as soon as I saw Tim's post. I was going to order two but decided that seemed greedy. Not that I'm pointing any fingers.......Gwen. Just kidding of course.Quote:
Originally Posted by llamavan
I'm actually thinking with an extra set around to use to make a jig I may see what I can fabricate for a more serviceable and possibly modifiable part. Thinking along the lines of tubular with replaceable ball joints, possibly slightly longer to offset for a lift.
Something along the lines of this. In my abundance of spare time of course. LOL
https://static.summitracing.com/glob....jpg?rep=False
I just took a set as well!!:yes:
JDM
BTW, the last time they ran out it took a little over a year to restock (Amazon ran out towards the end of 2016), so if anybody else wants some you better move quick :yes:.
Got my set too!:thmbup:
Thank you Tim for the head's up!
I just checked and see that all the Amazon rights are gone now but they still have 1 left side. For anybody else interested, Febest USA and what appears to be the same seller from Amazon (Finest auto parts) also has some eBay listings here:
Left side:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Left-Upper-...BadHwU&vxp=mtr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Left-Upper-...hac0IG&vxp=mtr
Right Side:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Right-Upper...dadHwD&vxp=mtr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Right-Upper...9sMNfA&vxp=mtr
Note: at the time of this posting, the Febest USA Right arm is only $50.88 and still has free shipping. Tim
They also have some at https://www.carid.com/1989-toyota-va...er=1&sub-model[DriveTypeName][]=4WD+%28Four+Wheel+Drive%29 but take a pill before you see the price:roflmao:
I am looking for the lower ones, as mine look like the french pastry called "Mille feuilles" a thousand layers of rust held together by thin air:LOL2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonized
check out posting #64,65,66 in this thread. The part numbers are listed and when I just checked the part is still available :thmbup::thmbup:
JDM
Thanks VANMAN, I knew of the ball-joints. What I need is the complete lower control arms for 4WD :rolleyes:. My van comes from a snowy/salty area of the country, and probably never saw a rinse off in it's life. Imagine.... every thing under look like the ship in The Pirate of the Caribbean Dead man tell no tales: see-through:roflmao:
Amazon just sent me an email that my order was canceled. :cry:
Gwen
That sucks..........better jump on the eBay ones fast. I got a Fed-Ex tracking number on mine and it's supposed to be here on Friday (shipped from Florida). TimQuote:
Originally Posted by llamavan
PS: I'd recommend going with the seller FebestUSA as the other guy on eBay is the same as Amazon (Finest Auto Parts). If he's out on Amazon, he's probably also out on eBay.
That sucks! I've been tracking mine like a hawk considering the other people that have had this happen. Mine say they left Florida on Friday and are supposed to arrive by next Monday.
Mine has shipped, should be here between the 8 and the 13 th :?:I live 6 miles from the place!!! Fed Ex??? :redface:
I got a Amazon text update this morning 1057am that the upper arm set was being shipped out via FedEx and ETA is 2/10 Saturday.
I just check the tracking number on the FedEx website and it has departed the origin facility at 1052pm, 1pkg, 21 lbs
JDM
Yeah, by the time I decided I needed a pair the Amazon ones were gone so I jumped on the Ebay ones from FebestUSA. On the wayQuote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
I just grabbed the single remaining left one. Unless I'm unlucky again.Quote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
Gwen
i feel like since we're buying all these up, theyll make more...
BAAMM!! Come to Papa! :)>: Febest from Crapazon, same as Fleabay :cnfsd:
Attachment 6600
now I just have to find the lowers 'cause this is bad...
Attachment 6601
Aren't these RWD van front UPPERs? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Moog-Contro...cAAOSwTVtZa7gb
That #8 look pretty close to the one on our 4WD. https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-OEM-...8AAOSwbyZZeP6Q Same on the Tacoma of that era.
Anyway to crosscheck parts #?
Could it be?:drool:
Looks like 2wd uppers......perhaps he has the wrong picture?
There is no way of filtering 4WD in the vehicle selection. They have the lower 2wd MOOG picture right when they sale the 2wd lower. I think they just mislabeled the upper as a lower: confusing at best, annoying if you do not know the difference and place the order.Quote:
Originally Posted by timsrv
Do we have our self a source for an NLA van part? Is it wishful thinking? Look at the Lower control arm part #
This is the 4WD van:
https://parts.lakelandtoyota.com/sho...rimLevel=18391
This is 4Runner:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-OEM-...8AAOSwbyZZeP6Q
Although similar and maybe even adaptable, I seriously doubt the 4 runner parts are interchangeable. If it's NLA from Toyota, then about the only source I know would be salvage yards...........and these are becoming quite rare to find there (especially 4wd vans). It's an unfortunate reality of owning older obsolete vehicles (as I'm sure you're already all too aware of). Tim
Yes I know.Yesterday I ordered the driver side from The Yotayard in Denver, the passenger side was already gone..
I just called them back, and they said that it would have to be the 90/95 chassis as after that the 4Runner went from shock/ torsion bar (like the van) to coil over. He will send me side by side pics and measurements in a day or 2.
Side note: if any body needs a 4Y engine... it is running but 300something thousand miles. they have one.
Back to our regular program :)
Here is side by side Van VS 4Runner 86/95 and 96/02. No dice !!
Attachment 6794
BUMMER! i was really hoping this mod would work out!Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonized
I've been obsessively checking the Amazon links Tim supplied and it looks like the upper 4wd ball joint/control arms are finally back in stock. As of 7/17/18 they have 15 lefts and 7 rights (minus the ones I ordered). Hopefully it's true! Get 'em while you can.
I also ordered the last set of AC Delco lower ball joints they had. They are cheaper there than on Rockauto.
Hi all,
i think to replace my poor chinese upper arm installed in 2013 because they make a lot of cracking and for alignment they are a little be too short to be Inside the green zone.
I found febest upper arm at 59.95$ each... Should i guess buying theses parts? My other option is to buy directly from JAPAN OEM upper arm at 220$... big difference.
Someone had experience with FEBEST upper arm?
thank you.