Upper Control Arm questions - need input! (1 Viewer)

[ultra_runner]

2000 LC with 374K still running strong. Very much a weekend beach and road trip vehicle with some towing in between. Not wheeled hard.

Replacing original axle, original brake lines, lower ball joints, outer tie rods.

I've searched but posting some questions here. I was so tempted to ask if aftermarket bushings are better than OEM but at risk of my mother being called out as a whore, etc., I will refrain

About four years ago we were busy moving and I had (at that time) a local indy install upper control arm bushings and ball joint. Soon after the install I notice some bushing squeak when going over larger bumps (speed bumps) and has been driving me nuts.

Before I pulled the UCA, I checked the torque on both bolts and both were are 72 ft lbs thinking they might be over torqued.

Pull UCA and found this (pics below). Now I'm questioning everything. I assume this is NOT normal.

You can see in the second picture the bushing starting to tear after maybe 25K in 4 years??

So - I would ask opinions on OEM vs Aftermarket but any ideas as to why this might happen so that it is not repeated on install? Was it a half-assed install job? Crappy bushings (I think these are Moog or other)?

Open to inputs BEFORE reinstalling. Thanks!

 

[DuckLN]

My advice is to get oem. Hurts once. There are some products out there that simply don’t hold up.

 

[OregonLC]

... but any ideas as to why this might happen so that it is not repeated on install? Was it a half-assed install job? Crappy bushings (I think these are Moog or other)?

Open to inputs BEFORE reinstalling. Thanks!

Sometimes arms are torqued when still on a lift at full droop. This puts the bushing at an impinged state when the truck is back to neutral buoyancy on the ground. It also adds resistance to up travel.

Always wait until on the ground and settled before torquing them up.

Not saying those pics necessarily exhibit that mode, but if you see rubber failing prematurely after a suspension job this is a common culprit.

 

[ultra_runner]

Sometimes arms are torqued when still on a lift at full droop. This puts the bushing at an impinged state when the truck is back to neutral buoyancy on the ground. It also adds resistance to up travel.

Always wait until on the ground and settled before torquing them up.

Not saying those pics necessarily exhibit that mode, but if you see rubber failing prematurely after a suspension job this is a common culprit.

Thanks! That was also a suspicion. As I have things apart at the moment, I'll do new bushings. Assuming I can put a floor under the LCA and get the entire assembly at ride height and then torque them down. Thoughts?

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Before I pulled the UCA, I checked the torque on both bolts and both were are 72 ft lbs thinking they might be over torqued.

Pull UCA and found this (pics below). Now I'm questioning everything. I assume this is NOT normal.

You can see in the second picture the bushing starting to tear after maybe 25K in 4 years??

So - I would ask opinions on OEM vs Aftermarket but any ideas as to why this might happen so that it is not repeated on install?

Not overtorqued (the FSM spec is 72 ft-lbs), but those are definitely cheap, crappy aftermarket bushings, not OEM.

 

[nissanh]

Whenever possible use OEM: A broken OEM bush outperforms a new aftermarket bushing! I deal with toyotas since 1990 and their quality is superior (I laugh when A/M part says meet or exceed the quality of a toyota part)! You can buy OEM bushings still. I bought a set of OEM bushings for the upper (all 4 from partsouq) and then bought complete OEM upper and lower controls arms from partsouq. If you plan to install OEM bushings, and interested in the 4 bushings I have, let me know.