Rear Lower Arm Bolts - Replace?

[Alex Pope]

Hi,

Removed the rear lower arms today to replace the cross-member.  The bolts all came off OK although one took some persuasion. I've seen that the camber bolts can be purchased new from MR2 Ben ( m https://mr2-ben.co.uk/products/840 m ) but can't find the others so would need to get them from Toyota. Is whether there is any value in replacing them?  I do less than 3k miles per year in this car, will be using it on track and may end up changing the shocks and springs later in the year.  

They're reasonably rusty on the surface but look in good shape overall and I would re-condition them as much as I can if re-using.  Torque settings are very sensitive to surface condition therefore it seems like there may be a risk of not getting the correct tightness and pre-load as I'd assume the torque settings assume new bolts and nuts.  

Is it worth sourcing new? If so any advice on where to buy them from?

[JoeCool]

I got a bunch of them from Toyota, they're a few quid each, and took a couple of days to come into stock. I knew I'd ruin a few of them, so got replacements so I can just truck on through with the job rather than waiting.

I'm happy to reuse any that aren't necked/corroded, but having pulled my front suspension apart today there were a few bolts I really wasn't happy with. They love to corrode in the middle of the crush tubes. It's just a nicer job if you have fresh bolts to hand.

These two diagrams give you all the parts numbers a lot of them are actually the same part numbers if you tally them up, so the same bolt used all over the rear.

The camber bolts are for the upper hole on the rear strut bracket where it bolts to the hub knuckle, to give it a bit of inny-outy movement to adjust camber.

[Alex Pope]

Thank you, that's incredibly helpful.  I'll replace the bolts; I've asked Toyota for prices and lead times of the parts I need.

I'm planning on using copper grease on the bolts and nuts when I put it all back together - any issues with that plan?

[1979scotte]

copper grease will alter your torque setting wont it?
not that it bothers me i havent seen my torque wrench for a while.

[shnazzle]

It will indeed. I've just stripped a bolt on my suspension a few weeks back doing this rookie mistake.
To be honest I'm not 100% on which bolts you can and can't lubricate/protect. But I leave suspension bolts well alone

[JoeCool]

Yup. Suspension bolts are all dry torqued. Any kind of grease will screw the torque values up and also could let them self undo.

The bolts Toyota put in at the factory are thread locked. I don't, personally.  

What I do do is this: I put a spot of grease on the smooth bit of the bolt that sits in the crush tube, so it doesn't contaminate the threads as you push the bolt through. My theory is that this will inhibit the bolt rusting to the tube, and help the breaker who wants to take the arms off the car in 7 years when it's at a scrap yard......

[Alex Pope]

I'm picking up the bolts from Toyota on Saturday.  When I was looking at the image linked by JoeCool I noticed the No.1 Lower Arms are listed as handed - the LH and RH have different part numbers.  They look identical to me and Toyota workshop manual doesn't indicate whether they are handed or not.  Does anyone know if they are handed and, if so, how to tell the difference between them and tell which orientation?  I'm not 100% sure which is which and have no idea which way up they go.

[JoeCool]

THe part numbers (like 43304D/42305A) on some parts are different, then when you look up the actual toyota part numbers they're identical.

Don't sweat it. As far as bolts go, they're not handed and are interchangeable left to right.

Suspension Arms, springs etc however are handed. Which is where reference photos etc come into play. If you need confirmation I can check my car because I haven't dismantled the rear yet, so I'm fairly sure it's correct!

[Alex Pope]

Thanks but I am referring to the suspension arm labelled 48710A(RH) / 48720A(LH) in the image you linked to above.  I can't tell any difference between the two.  Any idea how to work out which one is which?

[Alex Pope]

Thanks but I am referring to the suspension arm labelled 48710A(RH) / 48720A(LH) in the image you linked to above.  I can't tell any difference between the two.  Any idea how to work out which one is which?

[Alex Pope]

I've had a response from Toyota:

"They show sided on the parts lookup but when you go to order them they are both the same part number so that tells me they are both the same."

[JoeCool]

Cool. I was going to check for you but I've suddenly become a bit busy with work.

[Alex Pope]

Hi all.  Quick update.  Replacement sub frame rust-proofed and fitted using all new bolts for the suspension.  Thanks for the advice.

[JoeCool]

Awesome stuff.

Quick favour to ask: did you replace the cam-plated bolts that locate the rear toe arm (the one with the ball joint) to the cross member?

I sheared one, I wondered if you had the nut and bolt lying around if you've pulled them out? It's quite specialist, the bolt has 2 channels along it to hold the cam adjustment plate in place.

[Alex Pope]

I've binned the old bolts as they were pretty rusted, especially the camber plates themselves.  They're in an envelope so I can get to them but I'd suggest going for a new one rather than using the ones off of my car.  If you'd like them I can post them but I won't be able to reply until this evening at the earliest I'm afraid.

[JoeCool]

I've binned the old bolts as they were pretty rusted, especially the camber plates themselves.  They're in an envelope so I can get to them but I'd suggest going for a new one rather than using the ones off of my car.  If you'd like them I can post them but I won't be able to reply until this evening at the earliest I'm afraid.

Can you please keep just those bolts, I'm calling Toyota shortly but if they haven't got stock I may be in a pinch! Even as a stop gap they could be a life saver. I actually have one of the camber plates, it's the bolt and nut I may need! I'll let you know asap.

[Alex Pope]

Kept the bolts.  Let me know if you'd like me to post them.