Ill update this later and make it a little clearer in areas like removing the bushings even though I would say your better off paying to have them pressed out.
Ok well I decided to try and put in my front set of Energy Suspension Bushings I purchased from Grimsta today. Thought Id share my experience going through the ordeal. I was impatient and decided to DO these and not wait till tomorrow to go to a friends show and have them pressed out. I would highly recommend pressing them out but I managed to do it with/o a press. Yes I am a human arbor press.
Tools...
- Breaker bar
- 12, 14, 17, 19, 22mm sockets a believe
- 12, 17, 19, 24mm wrenches 24mm for LCA (you could use another socket but the wrench makes it easier to align it)
- 3" and 6" extensions
- Balljoint remover so you can save yours
- Lots of disposable gloves
- Vise for pressing in bushings
- 3 arm pulley remover
- I forgot the size but you need a hex wrench for a bolt on the sway bar
- Needle nose pliers for removing cotter pins
- Zerk fittings and a tap (whatever size floats your boat but UCA need a longer thread, longest you can find. LCA get a short threaded one)
- Paint pen for marking on dirty suspension shit
- Maybe a few other tools I forgot about using
First get the front end of your Supra in the air, dont forget to break the lugs free befor jacking it up.
With the wheels off crawl under and mark where your LCA are adjusted, I made mine really fancy. Its just important to make it clear so you can match it up exactly when putting it back together.
and the other one too...
Remove the two bolts holding the brake cable to the steering knuckle then remove the caliper, be sure your not letting your caliper hang by the brake cable. Then remove your rotor. Notice my caliper in the picture below.
Now for my balljoint remover to fit on the tie rod ball joint I had to unbolt the dust cover. They dont make access very easy here but you can effectively remove the bolts with a 12mm 12point wrench.
Then remove the sway bar bolt.
Now remove the ball joints, here is a shot of me removing the tie rod ball joint with the dust cover pushed out of the way. Be sure to keep the nut threaded on like in the picture to make sure the ball joint isn't damaged. All of them are pretty much the same so pop all the ball joints out.
Now just remove the bolt holding the strut to the lca, then you can pull your lca out and have the bushings pressed out for you.
OR you can take your 3 prong pulley remover and hook the prongs around one side of the bushing and place the center part on the metal inside of the bushing and press it out. It should put up a little fight but it will tear it out and push it through the other end. Not as messy or terrifying as burning them out and I believe it was faster, takes about 5 min or less per bushing.
Then you take your tigersaw (the brand of saw I had lol) and cut a single cut through the metal outside of the bushing still stuck in the LCA. Dont cut to fast, I didnt even cut all the way through it just about 75% cause I didnt want to damage the control arm.
Take a hammer and a chisel and splay it apart where the cut was. once i started to dog ear the metal a little it started sliding out. Here is a picture of the metal piece and how I made the cut and smaked it out. You should get the idea.
Here it is breaking free, this one would have came out with less chiseling but I failed to notice the bottom of the bushing was hitting the vise lol.
The uca is easier. Just cut the metal lips off here or bend them back. I decided to cut them. This allows you to either hammer it out with a chisel in the center metal part, or to use the 3 prong puller in much the same way as the lca. Either way the whole deal should come out with much less fight than the lca. Forgot to get pictures after this point lol.
Then its time to clean it up, Ive already tapped my holes for the zerk fittings and filed away rough spots inside (including the part made from drilling the hole). Wire brush then its time to put the bushings in.
Use the supplied grease and put a tiny bit on the outside of your bushings and a lot a bit on the insides. Make sure your putting the bushings in the proper sides, there is a wrong way so refer to your instruction sheet from energy. I pushed the lcas in by hand.
Putting in the bushing is a little tougher than the lca. You'll have to grease the outside of it again as in the lca but this time your going to use a vise to smush the bushing in place. Just dont put the metal thing in yet like the picture shows! Once you have the bushing smushed in take the metal insert and force it in about a half inch, then put it in the vise and smush that in. You want the metal insert flush with the side of the bushing that protrudes. The metal insert should be sticking about a quarter inch out of the bushing on the inside of the uca.
There you go, I had the option of having it pressed out for free at my friends shop but Im always up for a challenge and like to try and do things myself. Turned out it wasnt so hard even after hearing horror storied on the forum about the lca. My front passenger side bsuhing was so worn the metal insert slid out once I removed the lca LOL. Much better now, no more squeaks.
Ok well I decided to try and put in my front set of Energy Suspension Bushings I purchased from Grimsta today. Thought Id share my experience going through the ordeal. I was impatient and decided to DO these and not wait till tomorrow to go to a friends show and have them pressed out. I would highly recommend pressing them out but I managed to do it with/o a press. Yes I am a human arbor press.
Tools...
- Breaker bar
- 12, 14, 17, 19, 22mm sockets a believe
- 12, 17, 19, 24mm wrenches 24mm for LCA (you could use another socket but the wrench makes it easier to align it)
- 3" and 6" extensions
- Balljoint remover so you can save yours
- Lots of disposable gloves
- Vise for pressing in bushings
- 3 arm pulley remover
- I forgot the size but you need a hex wrench for a bolt on the sway bar
- Needle nose pliers for removing cotter pins
- Zerk fittings and a tap (whatever size floats your boat but UCA need a longer thread, longest you can find. LCA get a short threaded one)
- Paint pen for marking on dirty suspension shit
- Maybe a few other tools I forgot about using
First get the front end of your Supra in the air, dont forget to break the lugs free befor jacking it up.
With the wheels off crawl under and mark where your LCA are adjusted, I made mine really fancy. Its just important to make it clear so you can match it up exactly when putting it back together.
and the other one too...
Remove the two bolts holding the brake cable to the steering knuckle then remove the caliper, be sure your not letting your caliper hang by the brake cable. Then remove your rotor. Notice my caliper in the picture below.
Now for my balljoint remover to fit on the tie rod ball joint I had to unbolt the dust cover. They dont make access very easy here but you can effectively remove the bolts with a 12mm 12point wrench.
Then remove the sway bar bolt.
Now remove the ball joints, here is a shot of me removing the tie rod ball joint with the dust cover pushed out of the way. Be sure to keep the nut threaded on like in the picture to make sure the ball joint isn't damaged. All of them are pretty much the same so pop all the ball joints out.
Now just remove the bolt holding the strut to the lca, then you can pull your lca out and have the bushings pressed out for you.
OR you can take your 3 prong pulley remover and hook the prongs around one side of the bushing and place the center part on the metal inside of the bushing and press it out. It should put up a little fight but it will tear it out and push it through the other end. Not as messy or terrifying as burning them out and I believe it was faster, takes about 5 min or less per bushing.
Then you take your tigersaw (the brand of saw I had lol) and cut a single cut through the metal outside of the bushing still stuck in the LCA. Dont cut to fast, I didnt even cut all the way through it just about 75% cause I didnt want to damage the control arm.
Take a hammer and a chisel and splay it apart where the cut was. once i started to dog ear the metal a little it started sliding out. Here is a picture of the metal piece and how I made the cut and smaked it out. You should get the idea.
Here it is breaking free, this one would have came out with less chiseling but I failed to notice the bottom of the bushing was hitting the vise lol.
The uca is easier. Just cut the metal lips off here or bend them back. I decided to cut them. This allows you to either hammer it out with a chisel in the center metal part, or to use the 3 prong puller in much the same way as the lca. Either way the whole deal should come out with much less fight than the lca. Forgot to get pictures after this point lol.
Then its time to clean it up, Ive already tapped my holes for the zerk fittings and filed away rough spots inside (including the part made from drilling the hole). Wire brush then its time to put the bushings in.
Use the supplied grease and put a tiny bit on the outside of your bushings and a lot a bit on the insides. Make sure your putting the bushings in the proper sides, there is a wrong way so refer to your instruction sheet from energy. I pushed the lcas in by hand.
Putting in the bushing is a little tougher than the lca. You'll have to grease the outside of it again as in the lca but this time your going to use a vise to smush the bushing in place. Just dont put the metal thing in yet like the picture shows! Once you have the bushing smushed in take the metal insert and force it in about a half inch, then put it in the vise and smush that in. You want the metal insert flush with the side of the bushing that protrudes. The metal insert should be sticking about a quarter inch out of the bushing on the inside of the uca.
There you go, I had the option of having it pressed out for free at my friends shop but Im always up for a challenge and like to try and do things myself. Turned out it wasnt so hard even after hearing horror storied on the forum about the lca. My front passenger side bsuhing was so worn the metal insert slid out once I removed the lca LOL. Much better now, no more squeaks.
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I had no problems removing any of mine, uppers and lowers to install nylon bushings.
