I totally forgot to post the last update from January! Here you go!
With the fancy new downpipe all welded up, what better way to stress test it than one more trackcross for the year? After the event, it was time to put the Corolla up on jackstands and start taking measurements for the winter project ahead.
Last time I tried to align the car I just could not get the rear toe right. This is because of the eccentric cam sleeve design of the adjuster. What often happens on these is the bolt, cam, and inner sleeve of the arm bushing all seize together. I already planned on replacing all the rear bushings, and really wanted to get rid of this stupid system at the same time.
Yep, the cam was definitely seized to the bushing sleeve. The only way to remove the arm from the car was to cut the cam out.
That thing was not budging. Even a sawzall wouldn’t go though, I had to use an angle grinder.
This is where the cams allow the bolt to slide back and forth to adjust rear toe. The goal is to eliminate this as a point of adjustment, and instead use an arm that has an adjustable length.
Theoretically you are supposed to be able to turn the round part independently, but rust and time have eliminated that possibility.
I had replaced the front bushings with polyurethane a year or so ago, now it’s time to finish the rear as well. The following Super Pro part numbers will do all of the rear suspension arms:
SPF0825K - outer bushings for the control arm and toe arm (go in the knuckle)
SPF1216K - inner bushings for the control arm and toe arm (go in the arms)
SPF0823K - bushings for the trailing arm (one pair in the arm, one pair in the knuckle)
Once you remove the brakes and sway bar the whole assembly can just drop down. Easy peasy. Well, after you cut through the stupid cam sleeves.
A combination of propane torch, hammer, and various size sockets in the vice will get the old bushings out. This makes a huge mess and lots of very toxic smoke so definitely wear a respirator, glasses, gloves, etc.
After a few very messy hours you’ll end up with this!
I contacted TechnoToyTuning about making some custom arms, giving them the measurements from the stock arm for reference. They did a great job, except that I had totally mis-measured somehow and ended up with arms that were 2 inches too long! Once I realized my mistake we swapped out the center sections with ones of the appropriate length.
Since these arms are using off-the-shelf components for other cars, there was a little shimming necessary at the knuckle end, but T3 included most of the washers I needed.
I did have to special order some bolts and nuts to replace the sleeves that were cut out. These are the part numbers I ordered from Fastenal:
Bolts: 11114726 - M12x80 960-10.9 bolts (2x)
Nuts: 11508302 - M12x1.25 nylock nuts (2x)
Washers: 1140359 (bag of 25)
Total spent on hardware: $7.23
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Not only do these look great, but they will make adjusting the toe much easier.
Pardon the ugly welds, as my welder was running out of gas. I do think I may end up changing this, as I’m not sure the washers are up to the task of keeping the bolts securely located. I may end up cutting/drilling plates to fit in the little tabs where the cam used to ride. But this works for now.
And here’s the progression of how I eliminated the stock adjuster. No more seized sleeves for me!