Toyota Land Cruiser 4.7L Engine Repair Information
Here you can find information regarding the assembly of the Toyota Land Cruiser front end. In this guide we will cover the
essential repairs for the front end of this vehicle. Included within these repairs
is the inner and outer tie rod removal and change, the front wheel hubs installation, ball joint removal and
installation, the upper and lower control arms, and the front shock installation. Along
with the repair procedures we also include the corresponding bolt torque specs for each fastener involved. These
guides are intended to assist in each procedure to help diyers with the job.
Toyota Land Cruiser Tie Rod Change/Removal
To install a new tie rod on a Toyota Land Cruiser you must first remove the old one from the vehicle. This can be
done by raising the vehicle up by either the use of a floor jack or a vehicle hoist.
Once the vehicle is in the air you can remove the corresponding tire for the side that you want to change the
tie rod on. Once the tire is off you can now access the old tie rod and remove it for replacement.
The inner part of the tie rod uses an nut that will need to be removed, this nut may spin depending on how
rusty it is. I suggest using a pair of vice grips to hold the portion of the bolt to prevent it from
spinning. You may also use a wire brush to clean off the threads prior to removal and or use penatrating oil to
aid in the removal. Once removed you can now tap out the tie rod from the spindle and
start to remove it completely. If you want to replace just the outer portion of the tie rod you can use a wrench
to hold the inner tie rod and spin off the outer tie rod. I usually count how many turns
it takes to come off so that I can then use the same number when installing the new part. This helps to avoid
alignment costs and hassles, although you may still want to get your vehicle realigned.
Once the outer tie rod is off you can now screw on the new part and reinstall it the same way it had been
removed. Once you get the nut back in place you can torque it to 90 ft-lbs. Be sure to tighten
back up the nut on the middle of the tie rod to ensure it does not move your alignment. Always install the cotter pin once the nut
has been set into place. If you happen to take the steering knuckle arm off as well the 2 bolts which hold it to the steering knuckle
need to be torqued down to 108 ft-lbs. If you happen to be
installing the inner tie rod as well you will need a special tool to loosen and tighten
the inner part. The torque specs for the inner tie rod are 75 ft-lbs.
Toyota Land Cruiser Outer Tie Rod Torque Spec : 90 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Tie Rod Steering Arm to Knuckle Torque Spec : 108 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Inner Tie Rod Torque Spec : 75 ft-lbs
Front Wheel Hub Installation
The wheel hub on the Toyota Land Cruiser is different from most other vehicles and floats on the bearings within it. To replace the old wheel
hub and bearings you will first need to jack the vehicle up and remove the tire from the appropriate side. From here you can remove the brake
caliper mounting bolts. With the caliper out of the way we can remove the 6 nuts that hold the center flange onto the hub. This flange holds in fluids so
be ready for some to ooze out. With the flange out of the way we can then remove the giant lock nut from the center axle. This nut is large but not too
tight so I recommend using hand tools for this part. Once the lock nut is off behind it is a lock washer. This washer simply pulls off to reveal another nut.
This second nut is not tight at all and is the same size as the first. Remove this last nut and from here the wheel hub will come off. The bearing within the
wheel hub is pressed in and can be pressed out for changing. Once you have the new bearing or hub ready you can place it onto the axle while turning it slowly.
This ensures that all bearing surfaces mate appropriately. From here you can loosely hand tighten the inner axle nut onto the axle. This nut gets tightened down to
4 ft-lbs which is not a lot at all. Once torqued turn the hub to ensure everything moves smoothly. From here we can place the lock washer on and hand tighten
the second nut. This nut can be torqued down to 47 ft-lbs. Once torqued be sure to fold the lock washer tabs down onto the nuts going different ways. This
means that one tab should go over the inner nut and one over the outer nut. From here we can install a new flange gasket and some silicon and then place the flange
onto the axle. The flange nuts get tightened down to 25 ft-lbs. Once complete be sure the wheel hub is tight with no play and turns smoothly. If everything is
good you can then pound the grease cap onto the vehicle.
Toyota Land Cruiser Inner Axle Nut Torque Spec : 4 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Outer Axle Nut Torque Spec : 47 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Axle Flange Nuts Torque Spec : 25 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Lugnuts Torque Spec : 125 ft-lbs
Front Ball Joints Installation
The Toyota Land Cruiser has two sets of front ball joints being the upper and lower ball joints. The most common one
for replacement is the lower ball joint which on this vehicle is a separate part from both the lower control arm
and the steering knuckle. To remove the old lower ball joint you must replace the entire lower control arm on the vehicle.
This consists of the lower ball joint nut, 3 frame fasteners, a stabliizer nut, and a lower shock bolt.
Once the old control arm is removed you can install the new arm into the vehicle and start by tightening the frame bolts to 170 ft-lbs. Once those are tight the
shock bolt gets tightened down to 100 ft-lbs. The stabilizer gets tightened down to 38 ft-lbs and finally the lower ball joint nut can be tightened down to 117 ft-lbs.
With everything tightened the job is done and you can reinstall the rest of the wheel and lower the vehicle. To replace the upper ball joint you will
need to remove the entire upper control arm just like the lower arm. The upper arm is held in by 2 frame bolts and a single ball joint nut. When installing
the new part be sure to align the frame bolts the same way and tighten them to 72 ft-lbs. The upper ball joint nut gets tightened to 81 ft-lbs.
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Lower Ball Joint Torque Spec : 117 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Upper Ball Joint Torque Spec : 81 ft-lbs
Front Control arms Installation
Lower Control Arm
On the Toyota Land Cruiser there are two control arms being the upper and lower control arms. The lower control arm has 3 bolts on the frame side and the upper
control arm has 2. There is also a ball joint which
fastens the control arms to the steering knuckle. On the upper control arm the frame bolts need to be tightened up to 72 ft-lbs. The ball joint nut
gets tightened down to 81 ft-lbs. On the lower control arm the 3 frame bolts get tightened down to 170 ft-lbs. The lower ball joint nut gets tightened down
to 117 ft-lbs. When tightening up the lower control arm fasteners be sure to set the wheel height to a level that it would be at during riding or when on the
ground. This is best done with a bottle jack under the suspension.
Toyota Land Cruiser Lower Arm Ball Joint Torque Spec : 117 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Lower Arm Frame Bolts Torque Spec : 170 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Upper Arm Ball Joint Torque Spec : 81 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Upper Arm Frame Bolts Torque Spec : 72 ft-lbs
Front Shock Installation
To replace the front shocks on the Toyota Land Cruiser you will need to lift the vehicle up into the air and start by removing the tire on the side you want to replace.
With that removed we can now remove the bolts and nuts
that hold the shock to the vehicle frame and lower control arm. Starting with the lower bolt we simply remove the nut from one side and then
lightly guide the bolt through the hole on the control arm. Be sure not to ruin any of the bolts threads if you end up using a hammer to
tap it out. With the bottom bolt removed we can move to the upper nuts which hold the shock to the frame. These nuts can be accessed with either a
wrench or socket depending on how much room you have. There should be 3 nut in total. As these are removed the shock will separate from the vehicle and
can be moved out of the way. To install the new shock simply line up the upper studs with the holes in the front and start hand tightening the nuts. Once
hand tightened you can line up the bottom bolt hole and install the bolt and hand tighten its nut. From here you can torque the upper nuts down to 47 ft-lbs.
The bottom bolt can then be tightened down to 101 ft-lbs. Once both sides of the shock has been torqued down you can reassemble the vehicle.
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Shock Upper Nuts Torque Spec : 47 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Shock Lower Bolt Torque Spec : 101 ft-lbs
Front Swaybar Installation
The front swaybar on the Toyota Land Cruiser consists of a series of brackets that hold it to the frame of the
vehicle and a couple of endlink nuts that fasten it the the outer side of the car. To remove
the swaybar you will need to jack up the front of the vehicle and remove both the endlink nuts as well as the
brackets. To install the new swaybar you will need to move it back into the place as the old one
and torque the endlink nuts to 38 ft-lbs and then torque the bracket bolts to 19 ft-lbs as well.
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Swaybar Bracket Torque Spec : 19 ft-lbs
Toyota Land Cruiser Front Swaybar Endlinks Torque Spec : 38 ft-lbs
