Much like similar-era Nissans, Toyota use a multi-link lower arm set in the rear. Usually these are referred to as the toe, traction, and lower control arms. In the case of the JZZ30 and JZA80, the toe arm has a ball joint and the traction arm just has a through-bolt. The LCA also has a ball joint.
The rear upper control arm is a true A-arm.
As with the front, the sway bar endlink was also disconnected from the LCA and will be replaced with a fancy adjustable unit. The Whiteline sway bar used the OE endlink in the rear.
I was looking for specialty wheel stud removal/installation tools. Sure, you can just bang them out with a hammer, but, like a ball joint, this can damage the threads. This stupid ball joint separator works perfectly and was super cheap — Amazon to the rescuel. I figured I would upgrade to extended studs while I was having the knuckles and hubs rebuilt, so I saved myself a few bucks and popped the studs instead of paying the specialty shop to do it.
Get it? Arm-y?
OK, you’d be a little punchy after spending all this time pulling your car apart, too.
So what’s next? We get the knuckles, hubs, and axles rebuilt by a true professional. We get some cool new arms. We put all of that back on the car. Then we finally install the brakes that we were supposed to install. And then we finally can put some new wheels and tires on the car.
And then… the driving!
I hope.
6 comments
This is real garage work, not your fancy Discovery Channel scripted stuff. Nice work!
You shouldn’t reuse hubs, they are just as much a wear item as the bearings.
@Mikhael – which part of the hub is a wear item? It rests inside the bearing / rides on the bearing.
Metal fatigue, I’ve seen hubs and bearings both let go on track cars. It’s also usually very difficult to remove the stuck on inner race without damaging the hub. Even if you do a lot of the time the hub is scored and scratched in the process and you risk spinning the hub inside the race once it’s installed.
Good points. I didn’t notice any issues with the hubs. The fronts were very clean and the rears are splined. We’ll see how it goes, I guess!
Pff, I’ve been running good tight junkyard hubs on my road race Camaro for years. It’s about a grand to upgrade to to the Corvette SKF hubs with the adapters. You’ll know when they’re bad, and if they were good last time out no need to waste money. They’re not going to suddenly explode and send you into the wall down the back straight at Road America. As far as popping ball joints with a hammer, it also works very well to just bash on the knuckle itself while leaving the nut loosely on. I rarely use a separator anymore, so much faster and easier to give it a few whacks and the boots and everything are reusable too. You’re definitely spending more than I would, but it should turn out like a show piece in the end. You gonna go with sphericals in the control arms?