Yaris front lower arms - need confirmation

[m1tch]

Hi all,

Just looking for confirmation with regards to the Yaris front lower arms fitting our cars, from what I have gathered:

They are the same part in terms of shape
Bushes are softer than the MR2 version
Ball joint isn't quite as long and uses a nyloc rather than castle nut

I can see I can get a pair of Yaris lower arms for around £40 a pair, also seen a pair of aftermarket MR2 specific ones for around £110 a pair.

I will be swapping out the bushing with a superpro bush with an offset mount which will increase the caster angle.

I will probably also look to upgrade to the hardrace RCA ball joint to correct the RCA for a lower car.

This just means that I just need to know if the actual arm itself is the same for me to just go ahead and get a pair of Yaris ones (would get the 12mm sort although the bushes will be changed).

I have also heard that some people have run them without issue, some people have run them but had issues with the bushes degrading and some have run them but found that the MR2 bushes don't fit.

Unsure if I should go with the Yaris ones or the MR2 specific ones as from what I can see they are the same but just have slightly different spec hardware/bushes, hence the different part numbers etc.

[Joesson]

@Mitch
As you have said:

  I will be swapping out the bushing with a superpro bush with an offset mount which will increase the caster angle.

I will probably also look to upgrade to the hardrace RCA ball joint to correct the RCA for a lower car.
   

Perhaps you could consider keeping your existing arms, stripping, derusting and refinishing them and then fitting the new bushes etc.

[m1tch]

@Mitch
As you have said:

  I will be swapping out the bushing with a superpro bush with an offset mount which will increase the caster angle.

I will probably also look to upgrade to the hardrace RCA ball joint to correct the RCA for a lower car.
   

Perhaps you could consider keeping your existing arms, stripping, derusting and refinishing them and then fitting the new bushes etc.

I usually get a spare set of things I am working on so the car isn't in bits. My car is on about 180k miles so might be worth freshening up things with new parts. Plus I might need to get the bushings pushed out as well, guess I could look to get some used MR2 arms and refurbish them in my own time.

[Joesson]

@Mitch
As you have said:

  I will be swapping out the bushing with a superpro bush with an offset mount which will increase the caster angle.

I will probably also look to upgrade to the hardrace RCA ball joint to correct the RCA for a lower car.
   

Perhaps you could consider keeping your existing arms, stripping, derusting and refinishing them and then fitting the new bushes etc.

I usually get a spare set of things I am working on so the car isn't in bits. My car is on about 180k miles so might be worth freshening up things with new parts. Plus I might need to get the bushings pushed out as well, guess I could look to get some used MR2 arms and refurbish them in my own time.

This is a link to the discussion thread that may be of some interest:
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?msg=836142

[m1tch]

@Mitch
As you have said:

  I will be swapping out the bushing with a superpro bush with an offset mount which will increase the caster angle.

I will probably also look to upgrade to the hardrace RCA ball joint to correct the RCA for a lower car.
   

Perhaps you could consider keeping your existing arms, stripping, derusting and refinishing them and then fitting the new bushes etc.

I usually get a spare set of things I am working on so the car isn't in bits. My car is on about 180k miles so might be worth freshening up things with new parts. Plus I might need to get the bushings pushed out as well, guess I could look to get some used MR2 arms and refurbish them in my own time.

This is a link to the discussion thread that may be of some interest:
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?msg=836142

Thanks for that, just reading through - think I might still get the Yaris LCA as I have all of the poly bushes for it, will then probably swap out the ball joint to a better one - can always fit it, see how it goes and refurbish my original ones.

[Mr2paul]

Didn't no the bushes were different quality tbh,,, but why would that be. I'm doubting your sources tbh, so please enlighten me to the facts. Yaris arms are 
the same. And a Yaris isn't a million miles from a mr2. It's not mini v
Veyron for gods sake. The 2 is a sweet car which we love, but do not get confused that it is so special n needs special parts. It is a car with a lovely body.
Oh.  How I didn't want to say that!  Apologies folks

[Carolyn]

As I've said many times -the Roadster is a 'parts bin' car.  I can't imagine Toyota having different bushes on A arms that fit several cars.

I think the issues arise with after-market parts than can vary in quality and spec, not to mention how long they've been sitting on the warehouse shelf.

Most issues I've seen reported have come from the very bottom of the price range.

'Oh these are £10 cheaper' can mean the seller is dumping old stock!

I bet medium priced Yaris ones will be just fine.

[shnazzle]

If that is the case, I've for a set for sale

[m1tch]

I have just ordered a pair of Yaris ones to see what they are like - I have a full set of poly bushes for the car so will see if they fit to the arms. If they don't turn out to be any good then I will still have the current arms I have on the car!

I have found that the Yaris arms are usually around £40-£50 a pair, have seen some aftermarket MR2 specific ones for £110 a pair - will see what turns up.

To be fair, as long as the arm itself is fine I don't think thats an issue as the bushes and ball joints will be changed over and upgraded. Still deciding if I want to go for the double offset caster adjustment Superpro bushes, might just fit standard poly bushes first and see how it goes.

[Dev]

 I personally wouldn't use the caster adjusting bushings unless the car is used for racing and I had access to an alignment machine when ever I wanted for trial. The only other reason I would mess with caster is if that was my only option to fix a caster related issue to bring the car back into alignment which is better than nothing but I would worry about it coming out of alignment over a short period of time. 
Replacing the bushings is very easy with the right tools and no need for a press. I could have it done in a matter of less than half a days work.

[m1tch]

I personally wouldn't use the caster adjusting bushings unless the car is used for racing and I had access to an alignment machine when ever I wanted for trial. The only other reason I would mess with caster is if that was my only option to fix a caster related issue to bring the car back into alignment which is better than nothing but I would worry about it coming out of alignment over a short period of time. 
Replacing the bushings is very easy with the right tools and no need for a press. I could have it done in a matter of less than half a days work.

Yeah, Superpro do caster adjustments for standard caster, one side offset for adjusting caster due to an issue and a performance kit that increase the caster (basically both sides offset).

I have Polybushes for all of the suspension so I will look to swap out the ones that come with it with poly and look to upgrade the ball joint with either a hardrace one to correct the RCA or a better standard one.

Will then try it all out before deciding if I want to increase the caster - will initially keep it standard and see how it feels, will probably be perfectly fine.

[Dev]

I personally wouldn't use the caster adjusting bushings unless the car is used for racing and I had access to an alignment machine when ever I wanted for trial. The only other reason I would mess with caster is if that was my only option to fix a caster related issue to bring the car back into alignment which is better than nothing but I would worry about it coming out of alignment over a short period of time. 
Replacing the bushings is very easy with the right tools and no need for a press. I could have it done in a matter of less than half a days work.

Yeah, Superpro do caster adjustments for standard caster, one side offset for adjusting caster due to an issue and a performance kit that increase the caster (basically both sides offset).

I have Polybushes for all of the suspension so I will look to swap out the ones that come with it with poly and look to upgrade the ball joint with either a hardrace one to correct the RCA or a better standard one.

Will then try it all out before deciding if I want to increase the caster - will initially keep it standard and see how it feels, will probably be perfectly fine.

 Caster is a very hard adjustment to get right for a performance benefit and if it falls out of adjustment on just one wheel it can have a disastrous handling effect. All things adjustable will come out of alignment eventually and this kind of bushing using an eccentric bolt and bushing offset is not ideal. A much better way is to do it is from a camber plate on a strut mount that is inverted.

 As far as ball joint to correct for the roll center it is a great idea for many cars but for our car its not necessary unless you slam the front end or for those that are into drifting their car to gain some advantage in a very radical set up. That is what they were originally made for our car but are not popular since most do not go ultra low to effect the roll center to where it is detrimental.
 In some ways you might actually hurt it if you do not take the rest of the suspension into account as you will probably need to run different spring rates if you use coilovers. 

[Bossworld]

Put very briefly (as I went into loads of detail on one of those previously linked threads)

- Some people have struggled with replacing the 3rd party Yaris arm bushes with poly bushes
- I had to redo the job having fitted the ~£40 energisedcustoms ones after 18 months. I went for a different brand, made in Turkey, second time out (that's just like for like, no polybushing)
- Seems the main MR2-specific aftermarket ones (Febi Bilstein or Blueprint) run to hundreds of pounds for the pair. Cheap ones are either Yaris (Europe) or Scion (US). Bear in mind the named Scion models are based on the Yaris platform anyway.

Agree with Carolyn's post.

[Carolyn]

As I understand it, this car is being built to go down the strip, which is an entirely different proposition to going round corners.

A short wheelbase car with power will be very twitchy on a dragstrip.  I saw a pro-mod Lambo in the pits at Sydney with a fuel engine in the front!. A lovely looking build.  It was there for its first run. I looked at the wheelbase and remarked "That's going straight in the wall".  It left hard, turned hard left and demolished itself in the concrete.

The best way to counteract twitch on the strip is caster, and plenty of it. 

We ran 15 degrees on the rocket car.

So, I think a bit of caster may be a good thing, in this case.

Depends on how the car is going to be used!

[virginpaul]

Last Monday, I had a set of front wishbones replaced (along with lots of other suspension bits).  I bought the TRQ Scion's from eBay - came from the USA.  They fitted just fine, the ball joints are castellated with split pins and the ride is lovely.

I'm on an iPad, so not good at linking code.... pics at

Wishbones with new bolts
IMG_5928 by virgin_pabs, on Flickr

Wishbone ball joint castellated nut
https://flic.kr/p/2kEQU4T

My suspension parts post...
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=70661.0

Via Ebay at https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351007624127
TRQ Front Lower Control Arm Left LH & Right RH Pair Set for MR2 Scion xA xB
Unit Price $94.95  Shipping $33.67 Import Duty (at source) $31.23 Total $159 (at current exchange Rate £117.24

I really wanted to salvage the offcoming parts to clean up and rebush, but they were so corroded in, they had to be cut out!

Hope this helps.  Paul

[m1tch]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I found these listed for only the MR2 as well at £110 so about the same as importing them over:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-TOYOTA-MR2-MK3-1-8-99-07-FRONT-LOWER-CONTROL-WISHBONE-ARM-PAIR-X-2/293828421221

With regards to the caster, I think I will keep it as standard initially - as mentioned the offset bushes might cause issues if they aren't 100% perfect - we don't have the luxury of being able to have an adjustable arm for caster.

The car will be road going with a few trips to the drag strip and probably a few track days at some point so will keep the standard caster for now.

[shnazzle]

I've got the 40-something GBP and the Scion 110GBP USA wishbones in the house so I thought I'd put them side by side.
I placed the on top of each other as well.

No difference.

The only differences are slight internal shape differences, the castles nuts are different, the covers for the associated bushes are different but other than that.... Seem the same to me.

You cannot view this attachment.
Left is 45ish GBP Yaris, right is 110gbp Scion

[Nordoff]

Great topic, is there any certain year or model yaris to search for when finding them?

[Bossworld]

I've got the 40-something GBP and the Scion 110GBP USA wishbones in the house so I thought I'd put them side by side.
I placed the on top of each other as well.

No difference.

The only differences are slight internal shape differences, the castles nuts are different, the covers for the associated bushes are different but other than that.... Seem the same to me.

You cannot view this attachment.
Left is 45ish GBP Yaris, right is 110gbp Scion

Shout if you want/need a hand fitting, surely they couldn't be 'that' hard on the third go...

[shnazzle]

I've got the 40-something GBP and the Scion 110GBP USA wishbones in the house so I thought I'd put them side by side.
I placed the on top of each other as well.

No difference.

The only differences are slight internal shape differences, the castles nuts are different, the covers for the associated bushes are different but other than that.... Seem the same to me.

You cannot view this attachment.
Left is 45ish GBP Yaris, right is 110gbp Scion

Shout if you want/need a hand fitting, surely they couldn't be 'that' hard on the third go...

Thank heaps. I've got a quote from my friendly mobile mechanic. 80gbp to do them both. That's 100% worth it haha


I haven't got the time to be lying under a car for hours anymore

[Carolyn]

He'll wish he had quoted more when he tries moving the bolts!

[shnazzle]

He'll wish he had quoted more when he tries moving the bolts!

Correct.

I'll let him sweat for a while and then hand him the new bolts and an angle grinder

[Smithy]

Quite a hard job to take off and replace then? Will i need new bolts? and anything else i need before attempting this?

[virginpaul]

I purchased new bolts for my full suspension replacement in advance - and really glad I did as the garage had to angle grind the wishbones off and angle/torch heat the bolts out.

Paul

[cptspaulding]

Question on the Yaris wishbones.

I pulled the trigger on a set of embay wishbones & got a question from the seller - "PLEASE NOTE THE DIAMETER OF THE HOLE IN REAR BUSH FOR THE BOLT IS 12MM. PLEASE CHECK PRIOR TO PURCHASE AS SOME YARIS MODELS HAVE 14MM HOLE IN THE BUSH FOR THE BOLT."

I take it the 12mm bolt hole is correct for us?