UCA bolt won’t come out.

TacoKen

TacoKen

Well-Known Member
68F4933D-AD13-4C45-841A-6E572F5014D4.jpeg 118F9D54-D7FD-41DC-853C-CFAE2078D315.jpeg Ok, I’m replacing uca on passenger side. Bent the fender inner structure but there is a second support welded to it and it’s too strong to bend. Is the only alternative to cut the piece out?

2015 Tacoma 4x4
 
TacoKen said:
View attachment 19896 View attachment 19895 Ok, I’m replacing uca on passenger side. Bent the fender inner structure but there is a second support welded to it and it’s too strong to bend. Is the only alternative to cut the piece out?

2015 Tacoma 4x4
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You shouldn't have to cut anything out, I used a 3' pry bar and gently pried out the fender to push the bolt head past. Leave the big flat washer down by the control arm. There was a wiring harness that I had to unclip to let the bolt slide by. I also reinstalled the long A arm bolt backwards to not fight the fender again.
 
The problem is there is a second plate welded to the inner fender shield that the power steering reservoir sits on. I can’t get that area to budge. SPC tech says they have seen this problem and best to cut the bolt. So now so now I’ll order the two bolts from Toyota and try again in a couple days. Got to put it back together and get it out of the driveway. Bull **** is all I can say. Must be a problem with 2015 as they told me only a few issues like mine. Look at the pic. You can see I’m screwed.
 
TacoKen said:
The problem is there is a second plate welded to the inner fender shield that the power steering reservoir sits on. I can’t get that area to budge. SPC tech says they have seen this problem and best to cut the bolt. So now so now I’ll order the two bolts from Toyota and try again in a couple days. Got to put it back together and get it out of the driveway. Bull **** is all I can say. Must be a problem with 2015 as they told me only a few issues like mine. Look at the pic. You can see I’m screwed.
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42” bolt cutters from harbor freight use one of those 20 or 25% coupons bring it to about $25 https://www.harborfreight.com/42-in-bolt-cutters-61321.html
 
You just need to bend it more you can get it out the passenger side is like that on all of them my 2010 was just like that don’t be afraid to bend that piece of metal then tap the bolt out with something from the opposite side
 
Boss_Taco77 said:
You just need to bend it more you can get it out the passenger side is like that on all of them my 2010 was just like that don’t be afraid to bend that piece of metal then tap the bolt out with something from the opposite side
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It won't bend because of the area where the power steering reservoir has a double thick piece of metal that even a 4' crowbar won't bend. So cutting the bolt is the only option. Going to cut drive side also. Ordered the bolts from Toyota for $6.95 each.

Bolts were wrong, had to re-order and total was $34.
 
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If you have to cut it to get it out, how are you going to get the new one in? I've done this on a third gen so it may not be the same, but I would be very surprised if something was in the way that couldn't be temporarily removed or bent as well. Can you take a pic of the power steering wheel reservoir is in your way? I'm curious
 
geekyadam said:
If you have to cut it to get it out, how are you going to get the new one in? I've done this on a third gen so it may not be the same, but I would be very surprised if something was in the way that couldn't be temporarily removed or bent as well. Can you take a pic of the power steering wheel reservoir is in your way? I'm curious
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You put the new bolt in from the rear. Lots of room and nothing in the way from that direction.
 
Update, for those with a 2015 4x4 v6 who plan to install upper control arms I recommend cutting the passenger side bolt head off to remove it VS trying to bend the inner fender. The bolt is $17 and took about 1 minute to cut the head off and slide it out. I spent an hour trying to bend and beat the inner fender and still couldn't get it to clear. The driver side was way easier and minor bending of the inner fender. That bolt came out easily and the new one also went back in with no issues. I'll be taking it in for alignment tomorrow. Going with caster at 3.4 driver and 3.6 passenger. Camber will be .02 driver and .02-.04 passenger. Toe .02 and .02. These were recommended by SPC and Toytec. Also by a forum member.
 
TacoKen said:
Update, for those with a 2015 4x4 v6 who plan to install upper control arms I recommend cutting the passenger side bolt head off to remove it VS trying to bend the inner fender. The bolt is $17 and took about 1 minute to cut the head off and slide it out. I spent an hour trying to bend and beat the inner fender and still couldn't get it to clear. The driver side was way easier and minor bending of the inner fender. That bolt came out easily and the new one also went back in with no issues. I'll be taking it in for alignment tomorrow. Going with caster at 3.4 driver and 3.6 passenger. Camber will be .02 driver and .02-.04 passenger. Toe .02 and .02. These were recommended by SPC and Toytec. Also by a forum member.
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Pics when it's all done!
 
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TacoKen said:
Update, for those with a 2015 4x4 v6 who plan to install upper control arms I recommend cutting the passenger side bolt head off to remove it VS trying to bend the inner fender. The bolt is $17 and took about 1 minute to cut the head off and slide it out. I spent an hour trying to bend and beat the inner fender and still couldn't get it to clear. The driver side was way easier and minor bending of the inner fender. That bolt came out easily and the new one also went back in with no issues. I'll be taking it in for alignment tomorrow. Going with caster at 3.4 driver and 3.6 passenger. Camber will be .02 driver and .02-.04 passenger. Toe .02 and .02. These were recommended by SPC and Toytec. Also by a forum member.
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Bolt cutters :D
 
Bogunn said:
Good advice. You might save some poor dude a couple of hours and a lot of cussing with this thread in the future. Lol
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Hopefully.....this was supposed to be a bolt on less than 1 hour per side. Well, that might be true on older Tacoma's but not on my 2015. Not sure it the new Taco's inner fenders are the same and in the way. Hopefully Toyota changed them to allow for clearance.
 
TacoKen said:
Hopefully.....this was supposed to be a bolt on less than 1 hour per side. Well, that might be true on older Tacoma's but not on my 2015. Not sure it the new Taco's inner fenders are the same and in the way. Hopefully Toyota changed them to allow for clearance.
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My 2010 and 2017 were no problem and straight forward, maybe it's something different about the 14-15's. Who knows. Glad you finally got it taken care of!
 
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