What's the smart money on LCA bits?

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OregonLC

OregonLC

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I'm due for a suspension refresh. Icon CDCV's have about 80k and have aren't really damping anymore and the SPC racing UCA's are due for new bushings. CDCV's are getting replaced with the same and have some new Nitro UCA's that I bought on sale a few years ago but never installed.

I'm debating what to do with the LCA's, either leave alone, rebuild or replace. The bushings don't look horrible (as they are on the 100). I don't have a hydraulic press for the ball joints, though I could pick one up at HF. But for an additional $350 or so I could just go with new complete LCA's and avoid the rework time?

Thoughts?

Also, on the 100 getting the LBJ to release is an absolute bear. Any easier on the 200? Wondering if I'd be ahead by just buying the lower ball joint attachment for $55/side to make it be an easy button.
 
As a fellow northwesterner, mine are getting crusty but LBJ is still tight. I plan on a refresh this fall and was gonna do the easy button and just replace whole assembly.
 
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Total mileage?

I bought new LCAs for $460/pair delivered during the recent 25% off sale from Serra Decatur Toyota. I think new bushings alone are like $200, plus throw in new ball joints and it was much easier and faster to just swap LCAs. At 150k my bushing sleeves had separated from the bushing material. I probably could have run mine for 50k longer, but my steering is definitely a tad more responsive now so I can tell there was a little slop on them.
 
linuxgod said:
Total mileage?
Click to expand...
175k.

Did you have any struggle with getting the lower ball joint to release from the knuckle?

The LCA assemblies are only about $310 at ToyotaPartsDeal.
 
I just did this and I think for the amount of work it's just easier to replace the whole LCA assembly. I had to cut off my frozen cam bolts as well. Very quick work with a diablo amped carbide blade.
 
OregonLC said:
175k.

Did you have any struggle with getting the lower ball joint to release from the knuckle?

The LCA assemblies are only about $310 at ToyotaPartsDeal.
Click to expand...
Shop down the street did it for me. I don't have a free weekend until June. So no, no struggle for me at all!

To my knowledge they did not have any issues getting it apart but YMMV of course. You can buy the lower mount if you're really concerned, but typically a BFH to the side of the mount will pop it loose, or failing that a separator will pop it apart.
 
linuxgod said:
To my knowledge they did not have any issues getting it apart but YMMV of course. You can buy the lower mount if you're really concerned, but typically a BFH to the side of the mount will pop it loose, or failing that a separator will pop it apart.
Click to expand...
I'm battle scarred from the complete front end rebuild on the hundo last year. Ended up bending a few pickle forks and breaking a separator. Kroil and heat were the eventual victors, but only after losing a day.

I agree that a few solid whacks from BFH have always done me well on the UCA.
 
OregonLC said:
I'm battle scarred from the complete front end rebuild on the hundo last year. Ended up bending a few pickle forks and breaking a separator. Kroil and heat were the eventual victors, but only after losing a day.

I agree that a few solid whacks from BFH have always done me well on the UCA.
Click to expand...
If you’re worried, 4862560020 and 4862660020 are the lower ball joint mounts you can source for $50-60. Likely unnecessary but if you can get them off Amazon or someplace that has free returns it’s better to have and not need than need and not have.
 
Yeah, PartSouq has them for ~ $57 ea. Will probably do that.
 
After going through the complete PIA process of pressing out just the LBJ I would recommend doing the complete LCA to anyone esle. The price difference isnt much if you can time the work around the periodic online Toyota parts sales. The whole LCA assembly is only around $200 a piece.
 
Did you guys do an alignment after replacing the LBJ or complete LCA? I'm having a grunching noise on my 2011 LX570 at 135K and think the LBJ may be bad.

Also, are there other items that are "worth it" to do at the same time like shocks or coil springs, etc? Or just leave stuff until it causes an issue.
 
I will definitely re-align. Even if you indexed them to the same position the combination of manufacturing tolerances and bushing wear could easily put the alignment out of spec.
 
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