another white 1st gen

[4xFoorOffroad]

I was able to get some time in the garage after work, i I did find when pulling my upper control arm that the bolt on the driver side is bent, do any of you Toyota guys know if i can buy a grade 8 bolt
for up there.

UCA bolt is a M14 so 9/16 grade 8 the same length would work. Or this approach replaces it with shorter bolts.

October 2021

Starting fitting the double shear plates for the upper arms. I got the total chaos ones and they fit good! I used the All-Pro Off-road ones on the Tundra rebuild and they fit like shit!!
Also changed to upper arms to separate 9/16” bolts instead of that uber long factory 14mm bolt.

Did some staring at the engine bay and trying to visualize an engine cage. There is zero room above the intake when the hood is closed. I’m going to have to work around the intake for sure.

View attachment 8516

If it bent though it might have been taking too much load and front is not bumping out before it’s putting a lot of load on the shock tower / uca bolt.

 

[tunde.tanner]

UCA bolt is a M14 so 9/16 grade 8 the same length would work. Or this approach replaces it with shorter bolts.

October 2021


If it bent though it might have been taking too much load and front is not bumping out before it’s putting a lot of load on the shock tower / uca bolt.

That would makes sense, i hit hard on the driver side and the truck does not have bump stops as of now. Bumps are definitely on the list as the spindle bolt has almost put a hole in the inner fender (that also needs to be cut out) because 37s…. Ive got some work to do this off season

 

[Camper shell fun]

I would not use anything other than the factory upper arm bolts in my opinion. They are incredibly strong so I would imagine something went wrong in terms of bum stops etc. You can always do the double shear tabs for the upper arms as well that helps with that. We have done some 3rd gen 4-Runners and newer Hilux's that weigh 12,500lb (literally) and use the stock bolts for the upper arms without bending. On top of that I don't think a 9/16" bolt will go through the arm mount because its slightly bigger than the 14mm hole.

 

[4xFoorOffroad]

I agree with adding bumps and sticking with the stock bolt - you can get the part number by putting in your vin at partsouq.com and searching for the part in the diagrams. It’s a pretty useful website with good deals if you’re ordering a lot of oem stuff.

He already has the double shears. Gusseting the actual shock bucket is a good idea on these and / or adding a bolt on engine crossover tube using the shock mounting bolts. The tops of the coilover buckets will bend and even break in some cases. Even a flat round disk welded to it with holes for the bolts and shock top will work.

9/16 is 12 thou over M14 which is less than factory bolt clearances - that said those bolts can be sticky in there once you add the gussets and any added diameter will make it harder to remove them over time. I coat the ones on my daily and my wife’s runner with antiseize to make them easy to remove when needed.

I ditched the whole shock bucket on my off road truck and went with upper arm mounts using two short 9/16 bolts which fit factory / bolt on replacement arms no problem. I hate those bolts with a passion - having heimed uppers it made it a huge pain to make any adjustments to them.