Front suspension install issue

Hi folks, long time lurker first time poster here.

What I thought was a Marketplace score has turned into a bit of a wrestlemania situation. I bought some unused takeoff suspension from a 2.5 gen that I am in the process of swapping over to my '08.

The problem is coming from the passenger's side - when I secure the 4 top bolts to the frame the lower portion of the strut splays out so far to the outside that the lower control arm is going to be impossible to install without absolutely fok smashing the strut into place. The driver's side by comparison is no problem and I can get it bolted in with a little bit of elbow grease.

I initially thought that I had been sold two driver's side strut/coil assemblies, but if I compare them nothing looks like it's the wrong part. The only potential issue I see is the top hat of the passenger side assembly looks a bit cockeyed.

Compared to the driver's side which looks square

Here are the two side by side "out" is facing towards the wall

I have tried installing the passenger side assembly into the driver's side but it still splays out by a country mile, so I'm willing to rule out that they are the same part.

Anyone have any thoughts? If I force the driver's side into place and get the truck on the ground, is there any chance the weight of the vehicle will help to correct the cockeyed top hat?

This is my first suspension swap so please excuse anything that might be obvious! Thanks

 

While I'm no expert they look fine to me.
Are the springs seated at the top properly?
If it were me I'd take em to my local Toyota dealer and have them look at em if I weren't certain.
Or see if you can find one at a parts store to compare it to.

 

There should be a painted dot on each spring that should face the outside of the truck when installed. One is blue and one is yellow if I recall. The part number should also be stamped on each one as well.

 

Did you unhook the sway bar? It will fight you on being able to lower the control arm into place. Once the arm is low enough, the remaining part of the fight can be done with a ratchet strap around the base of the strut to pull it in towards the mounting area.

 

Thanks for your feedback guys, after reading up on other top hat misalignment issues in other forums, I'm fairly confident I can try and force the passenger's side home.

As far as I can tell the springs are seated correctly. The top hat looks skewed on the old struts as well, but it's skewed in a favourable direction if that makes any sense? Kinda looks like the top hat settles over time once the weight of the vehicle is on it.

Yup the dots are there and were facing to the outside when installed. Blue/orange driver's and yellow/grey passenger. The only part number I can find is on the body of the strut and it's 48510-0C202 on both the left and right. Toyota lists their strut bodies as left and right specific, so this is why I thought I wound up with two of the same. After looking at individual struts on Rockauto, it looks like left/right specific is not a thing, but it is for the coil spring and sub-assembly support.

Yeah the sway bar is out of the way (after snapping the lower link bolt and getting the base stuck in the lower control arm) and the camber bolts are loosened to the point where the lower control arm can move up and down freely. I like the ratchet strap idea, thanks!

 

(As far as I can tell the springs are seated correctly. The top hat looks skewed on the old struts as well, but it's skewed in a favourable direction if that makes any sense? Kinda looks like the top hat settles over time once the weight of the vehicle is on it.)

Springs can and do lose some of their effectiveness over time.
Are the struts new?

 

They are unused takeoffs from a 2017, so not necessarily new

 

I just replaced my LCA and used a small bottle jack & pry bar to get it in to place for getting the shock bolt and sway bar end link bolts into their slots

 

The top mount will flatten out when mounted into the truck and under load. The coils aren't always made perfectly flat, and they can apply pressure to the mounting plate, which gets leveled out once installed and under load on the truck.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I wound up pulling the base of the problem strut into place with 8-10 clicks of ratchet strap and a floor jack under the LCA. I was pretty convinced the strut was going to be so bent that it would bind halfway through its travel, but everything went back together without much fuss. I just took the truck for a test drive and after yeeting it left and right a few times (on an empty road), everything appears to have settled into place. Hopefully I can get it in for an alignment this week.

 

Most Auto parts stores will lend or rent specialty tools.
In a lot of cases you just need to leave a deposit which they refund when you bring the tool back.
In this case a spring compressor would have come in real handy.
It'll free up all the tension so it's easier to get the strut in place.
Assuming I understand the issue you were having.