Upper control arm jam

Have a 04 tundra 4x4 trd v8 access cab. So I went to have an alignment done, they said needed new outter tie rod ends. So I asked them if that was it, inner tie was good? Ball joints good? They said yeah, so I went to replace my tie rod ends myself so they could align it. As i lifted heard a clunk. Checked it out and I noticed my sway bar was touching my tie rod, and then realized my upper control was stuck in the coil of my strut. Was very stubborn to unstick it, but got it out. ( by slowly lowering it and prying out where the upper balljoint meets UCA ) Now that it's on the ground again I'm noticing a difference in ride height on driver side, compared to passenger. andneverytime i lift it now, it gets stuck like that. Difference in clearance between strut and control arm, and other differences in clearance as well on that side. Two things I noticed are driver side shock is after market, and also there's a junk yard LCA on it from an 02 sequoia, on that side. I've had the truck for close to a year, have had it in the air to fix flats, replace ball joints, cv axels, and never had a problem like this. Any ideas of factors an causes. And where to start to get it running straight again. Havnt even started my tie ends yet after noticing all this. Can post more pics and give more info if needed. Thank you

 

Why is the castle nut on your UBJ about spun off completely?

How are the UBJ and LBJ, generally? Look OK?

How's the rust, knowing these trucks have massive rust problems?

Did your truck have its lower balljoint recall done?

You already know there are certain parts you'll shoot yourself in the foot with buying non-OEM on the front suspension right?

How many miles on this, looks like those are the original factory struts.

This should be torqued to spec, tight, and have a cotter thru it, if memory serves.

​

 

Is that a hole in your upper control arm?

 

Castle nut was almost off because couldn't get arm un lodged from strut, so was going to remove the ball joint out of uca. And the ball joints where replaced this fall, from napa with what they said was equivalent to oe. And I live in northern wi so rust is huge up here, but that said, everything is seeming solid still.
And everything else as far as suspension parts, ive done nothing with was from previous owner.

 

Do you have a spacer on top of the coil?

Another member here had a similar issue with a 1.5” spacer so I have to ask since you didn’t mention it.

 

Doesn't matter if they say it's OE. With LBJ at least, too many people have had them straight-up snap off. Doesn't matter what brand. Aftermarket just didn't over-reinforce the lowers, which have significantly more stress on them due to the specific design.

This was my next question: Any lift or spacers?

Have you detached the swaybar just to see how things hang without it?

And yeah, that hole in the UCA is why I was asking about rust - It's possible it's just a shitty aftermarket UCA though, and they don't give a damn about beefing it up.

 

Man with a hole in your upper control arm it's hard to believe your frame is safe. I've never seen anything like that.

 

What wheels and tires are on this truck? I’m suspicious that the upper arm was given the old grinder treatment to fix rubbing issue with non OEM setup

 

WOW

 

I'm curious to see that LBJ. After you get this fixed, you should remove and replace those lbj's with Toyota parts. No aftermarket lbj is acceptable for 1st gens, from anywhere. Also, don't order off Amazon, even if it says authorized dealer. Order these critical parts directly from a dealer, many of them ship.

 

What is tire clearance for 200$

 

That seems like a pretty drastic solution instead of spending a few bucks for wheel spacers. haha

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures

 

ftfy

 

There’s so much going on in those pictures. But to try to pinpoint the original problem you asked about, the shock appears to be blown out, having puked all of its oil. Perhaps that’s the new development on that side.

won’t get into the missing keeper, cotter pin and dust cap on that side. Or the sway bushing that’s practically disintegrated. Zip ties holding brake lines. Lots to unpack there.

 

His poor truck needs a ton of TLC.

 

Agreed. Needs new shocks, new upper control arms, new upper ball joints. Probably needs the lowers too. Ouch.

 

Woof! If they can help I have some factory uca's sitting in my garage but I suspect there's a reason those have been chopped off and may not help before fixing the real problem.