Frozen Cam Bolt Sleves 2022 SR5

What’s up all, I have a new to me 2022 4Runner, 47k on it. Went to get an alignment and was told the adjusters have no more movement. I was playing around with the truck this weekend and confirmed it’s the cam bolt sleves that are stuck. Bolts come out fine. Any tricks or tips to get these out without cutting them out? Truck is a 2022 but due to miles it’s out of the 3 year warranty. I was going to see if Toyota can try and do the alignment and see if there’s anything they can do since the truck is fairly new to help with this fix. Anyone have experience with out of warranty work? It’s still within the 3 year window but out of mileage window. Since this isn’t really a mileage related issue I’m hoping they would do the fix… doubt it it we’ll see. Any advice on this would be great.

 

I think most people end up replacing their LCA's when the cams freeze up.

But this hasn't been an issue for me yet so I don't have personal experience.

Hopefully someone who does will chime in.

 

Have you tried heat already?

 

You can't put heat in that joint effectively without destroying the rubber bushing. Most people just cut it out.

Do you actually need an alignment? What are your current numbers?

 

Is the sleeve part of the eccentric on your last picture? Does it move at all with a big ole socket and breaker bar?

 

This is the whole set, so you can see how the sleeve does need to turn to adjust the cams:

 

Soak the $h1t out of it W/this Then hit the LCA W/heat gun(Not over heat either & Cam W/Quick freeze. Give it a whack ,then socket Impact gun or breaker bar.

 

It seems like you should be able to tap it out with the bolt partially inserted. Am I seeing it wrong?

 

You're seeing it right. I would try spraying a good amount of the Liquid Wrench or Kroil, let it sit for a bit, then thread the bolt in a few threads, then give the cam adjuster with the threaded nut a whack. There's a considerable amount of rust on that control arm, however...

 

The shank end of the sleeve protrudes out of the frame flange about half an inch (so the small cam can engage its wrench flats). You don't need the bolt inserted at all. However, when you hammer on it, the bushing rubber and the frame flange both flex and absorb all the impact energy.

 

@Rpm6100 you're doing this with the front end jacked up by the frame and weight off the suspension, right?

 

Is friction from the bushing perhaps a bigger factor than rust?

 

^The rubber bushing has a metal sleeve bonded to its inner diameter. The sleeve is larger than the hole in the frame flange and therefore only only come out with the LCA.



The cam sleeve rides inside the bushing sleeve with metal-to-metal contact. This interface is where rust develops and bonds the two sleeves together.

 

Thanks for that. Yikes, I could see why that would be a bear to get out. I hope the good woolwax soak I put over the bolts is enough to keep water from getting in.

 

So when it’s time to cut the whole deal off, what’s the best approach? Is there enough room to get a sawsall blade between the LCA bushing and the LCA tabs on frame where the sleeve slides in?

 

As in the bushing sleeve wouldn’t be able to spin around the eccentric sleeve as the suspension moves up and down?

I’m pretty sure a properly tightened LCA bolt will not allow for any relative movement between those two surfaces. It’s my understanding all rotational movement happens as a result of the bushing flexing. Which is why you need to be careful to tighten the LCA bolt to spec with full weight on wheels. That makes sure you don’t tighten it in a position that will require the rubber to rotationally flex more than it can handle.

If that’s correct, then it's starting to dawn on me how much a pain in the ass it would be to remove it. Because they would be well and truly bonded together. And there’s two sets of these per side!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llnxWBPqBiA

 

Nice find!

 

Just coat this surface in cosmoline, grease, or anti-seize. It comes out fairly easy when the truck is new as long as you take the weight off the suspension:



Also those SPC alignment cam bolts shown at the end of his video are garbage - the D-shaped bolt holes on the cam washers round out in a short time and your alignment drifts.

 

Agreed. Hopefully @Rpm6100 can get the sleeves out and get some anti-seize on them (or new ones) going forward.

 

A little Mastinox on going back together, never seize up.