Warning - Broken control arm bolt!

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by jack black

Thanks for this useful thread. What no one mentioned in this thread, the bolts are very easy to remove for inspection if one has semi-decent tools. I did it in my driveway without lifting the car and I used a cheap breaker bar like this, without any struggle:


My kid's Yaris was made in 2006, but spent all its life in deep south and mostly in south Florida. I didn't expect the bolts to be in bad condition, but there was some rust in the neck of the head, just next to the washer. Either water pooling there and/or galvanic corrosion due to different metal in the washer? Even though it rained a lot a week ago and before, the bolts were dry.

I packed the bolt area under the washer in grease and screwed it back. The 118 lbs/ft torque made me sweat a bit.

IMHO, since this is a simple job, everyone should at least remove the bolts for inspection/lubrication and/or replace if needed.

Yaris experts, anything else that needs to be torqued down there?

It is a very easy job provided they aren't rusted enough to snap. At that point in goes from a simple job with a breaker bar to an absolute nightmare. The problem is that you can't necessarily tell which way it is going to go until you give it a shot, so it is a bit of Russian roulette if you live North of the Mason-Dixon line.