Lower Control Arm Bushing Replacement On 1989 Camry

[JOET/CAMRY]

Hello,

I have a 1989 camry that has the original lower control arm bushings. apparently there are two bushings on each lower control arm. the ones I really need to replace on both the passenger and drivers side because of excessive slop/play/deterioration is the bushing on the lower control arm that the front swaybar goes through. ( what an odd design)
the inner bushings that the bolt goes through to attach the lower control arm to the frame seem ok. just a little dry rot which can be expected on a 17 year old car.

anyway, I have a few questions.

#1. which lower control arm bushings, if any can be replaced?

#2. is it a do it yourself job? are their any special tools needed to get the job done?

#3. can I buy the replacement bushings on ebay or could I order them from the dealer; that is, IF THEY ARE REPLACEABLE.

#4. if I am looking at lower control arm replacement where could I buy them for a reasonable price? im sure the local toyota dealer would charge big $ for them. I'm sure the local salvage yard would probrally have replacement lower control arms but the bushings would most likely be in bad shape also.


as usual, any help/advice is appreciated.


Regards,

JOET/CAMRY

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

The bushings are not replaceable - you need to replace the control arms.
There are only three bolts each for the control arms - but they can be very tight.
Check pricing online. My local Toyota parts manager has begun price matching on some of my orders, so the two control arms were around $280 plus tax.
I was able to spray Kroil on the rear bolt and loosen it with my air gun set at max. apx. 625 ft. lbs., but the air gun would not budge the front two bolts that go into the subframe on the '94 Camry where the penetrant didn't reach.
Finally got a neighbor with steel boots to kick the Proto wrench hard enough to break the bolts loose on the left side. Then he used my sledge hammer (and gloves) to bang against the wrench on the right side. That sledge hammer trick never worked for me, but he has a landscaping company, moves a lot of heavy materials and apparently had enough strength to break those bolts loose in a matter of moments. Make very sure the car is secure before applying that much shock force to the bolts. I had two jack stands at the front subframe and cinder blocks at the rear wheels.
I did find the rear bushings were split all the way through in back were they could not be seen until the control arms were out of the frame.

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

[quote=JOET/CAMRY]Hello,

I have a 1989 camry that has the original lower control arm bushings. apparently there are two bushings on each lower control arm. the ones I really need to replace on both the passenger and drivers side because of excessive slop/play/deterioration is the bushing on the lower control arm that the front swaybar goes through.
=========================
If you're only talking about the stabilizer bar bushings and not the control arm bushings - they're quick, easy and inexpensive.
Only about $20 at the dealer. The bushings are split and you just unbolt the little cover on each side and install the new ones. Try using some silicone grease to minimize squeaking.

[Brian R.]

To replace the bushings on the sway bars, after you have the old bushings off, take a strip of emory cloth and polish the sway bar (like you are polishing shoes) where it goes through the bushing. Roughness due to corrosion is one of the things that destroys the bushing.

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by JOET/CAMRY

Hello,

I have a 1989 camry that has the original lower control arm bushings. apparently there are two bushings on each lower control arm. the ones I really need to replace on both the passenger and drivers side because of excessive slop/play/deterioration is the bushing on the lower control arm that the front swaybar goes through. ( what an odd design)
the inner bushings that the bolt goes through to attach the lower control arm to the frame seem ok. just a little dry rot which can be expected on a 17 year old car.

anyway, I have a few questions.

#1. which lower control arm bushings, if any can be replaced?

#2. is it a do it yourself job? are their any special tools needed to get the job done?

#3. can I buy the replacement bushings on ebay or could I order them from the dealer; that is, IF THEY ARE REPLACEABLE.

#4. if I am looking at lower control arm replacement where could I buy them for a reasonable price? im sure the local toyota dealer would charge big $ for them. I'm sure the local salvage yard would probrally have replacement lower control arms but the bushings would most likely be in bad shape also.


as usual, any help/advice is appreciated.


Regards,

JOET/CAMRY

I was looking on ebay today and came across a polyurethane bushing rebuild kit for a 1987 - 1991 toyota camry lower control arm.

http://cgi.ebay.com/87-91-CAMRY-90-9...QQcmdZViewItem



I also saw this ad for new lower control arms including the ball joints. I am unsure about the quality of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Control-Arm-Toyo...QQcmdZViewItem


Anyways, I drove to the local toyota dealership and tried to buy the bushings there. I was told that the bushings that the front sway bar ends go through were replacable but I would need a air gun with the chisel attachment on it to get them out of the lower control arm.

I was told the (inner) bushings (that a bolt goes through to attach control arm to the frame) on the lower control arm were not replaceable and if they were bad I would have to replace the whole lower control arm.

I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer.

1. how tough is it to rebuild a lower control arm on a 1987 - 1991 Camry?

2. is it hard to remove the old bushings from the lower control arm?

3. would it be best to replace the whole lower control arm or just replace the bushings?

4. would I need to have the bushings pressed in or would a rubber hammer be enough to install them?

I want to clarify that I am not talking about the sway bar bushings that are split and if old/worn out cause the car to make a clunking noise when going over bumps.

any help/advice is appreciated...

Regards,

JOET/CAMRY

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by JOET/CAMRY

I was looking on ebay today and came across a polyurethane bushing rebuild kit for a 1987 - 1991 toyota camry lower control arm.

http://cgi.ebay.com/87-91-CAMRY-90-9...QQcmdZViewItem



I also saw this ad for new lower control arms including the ball joints. I am unsure about the quality of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Control-Arm-Toyo...QQcmdZViewItem


Anyways, I drove to the local toyota dealership and tried to buy the bushings there. I was told that the bushings that the front sway bar ends go through were replacable but I would need a air gun with the chisel attachment on it to get them out of the lower control arm.

I was told the (inner) bushings (that a bolt goes through to attach control arm to the frame) on the lower control arm were not replaceable and if they were bad I would have to replace the whole lower control arm.

I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer.

1. how tough is it to rebuild a lower control arm on a 1987 - 1991 Camry?

2. is it hard to remove the old bushings from the lower control arm?

3. would it be best to replace the whole lower control arm or just replace the bushings?

4. would I need to have the bushings pressed in or would a rubber hammer be enough to install them?

I want to clarify that I am not talking about the sway bar bushings that are split and if old/worn out cause the car to make a clunking noise when going over bumps.

any help/advice is appreciated...

Regards,

JOET/CAMRY

Anyone....

is there any toyota mechanics out there that would know?

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by JOET/CAMRY

Anyone....

is there any toyota mechanics out there that would know?

Are thier any mechanics out there that would know if the lower control arm bushings can be easily replaced on a 1989 Camry?

http://cgi.ebay.com/87-91-CAMRY-90-9...QQcmdZViewItem


JOET/CAMRY

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by JOET/CAMRY

Are thier any mechanics out there that would know if the lower control arm bushings can be easily replaced on a 1989 Camry?

http://cgi.ebay.com/87-91-CAMRY-90-9...QQcmdZViewItem


JOET/CAMRY

UPDATE....

I bought this polyurathane lower control arm bushing kit on ebay for my 1989 camry.

http://cgi.ebay.com/87-91-CAMRY-90-9...QQcmdZViewItem

I managed to remove the old bushings and rebuild both lower control arms with the replacement polyurathane bushings. I tried removing the old bushings with a hammer and chisel at first. it was very difficult to remove the bushings this particular way.

my next door neighbor who works on his own car let me borrow his propane torch and told me to burn out the old bushings. he said to let them catch fire and let them burn till I could remove the bushing without too much difficulty. this way of removing the old bushings worked great. however, the old bushings located in the middle of the control arm did have metal sleeves that needed to be banged out with a hammer and chisel.

after removing the old bushings and cleaning the holes they were mounted in with a wire brush I lubricated the polyurathane bushings with anti-seize compound and installed them in the lower control arm with a rubber hammer. I did a search on the internet and found out I can use antiseize compound on the polyurathane bushings and it will not harm them. I put the car back together and it rides real nice now. all set for another 200,000 miles

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

[Brian R.]

Thanks for the update.

Next time, take pictures

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

Thanks for the update.

Next time, take pictures

Yea, I was going to take pictures of each step of the lower control arm rebuild that I did on my 1989 Camry. oh well...

I just bought my first digital camera about 2 months ago. a basic point and shoot camera. a Kodak C530 5 M.P. I learned how to take decent pictures with the camera, but I am unsure how to go about inserting pictures in my posts/threads.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

[Brian R.]

Get an account at Photobucket.com and upload the images from your computer (or camera directly) to there. Then copy and paste either the Url link to the image file or the Img reference itself to a post. Both the Img link and the Url link are generated under the image on photobucket.com by that site automatically. Here's a couple of examples:

If I post the following link, you only see the link in the post, clicking on it will allow you to download the linked image from photobucket.com:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/i1010.gif

If I post the IMG link (as below), then I will have the actual image inserted into the post, as long as I don't break the link by moving the image file on photobucket.com. If you do, you have to update the links to that file or you only see a placeholder, no image any more.

[IMG]xhttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/i1010.gif[/IMG]

gives you without the "x" at the beginning:

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

Get an account at Photobucket.com and upload the images from your computer (or camera directly) to there. Then copy and paste either the Url link to the image file or the Img reference itself to a post. Both the Img link and the Url link are generated under the image on photobucket.com by that site automatically. Here's a couple of examples:

If I post the following link, you only see the link in the post, clicking on it will allow you to download the linked image from photobucket.com:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/i1010.gif

If I post the IMG link (as below), then I will have the actual image inserted into the post, as long as I don't break the link by moving the image file on photobucket.com. If you do, you have to update the links to that file or you only see a placeholder, no image any more.

[IMG]xhttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/i1010.gif[/IMG]

gives you without the "x" at the beginning:

This is the only picture I took of the polyurathane lower control arm bushings before I installed them. oh well... at least I know how to insert pictures for future posts/threads. Thank You Brian.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY