Installing MOOG rear shims to correct camber and toe

OK, time to go for reassembly, based on what I've learned:

• Being MUCH more careful to clean surfaces involved in mounting. There was quite a lot of crud to be removed.
• Going to put very thin sparing amounts of anti-seize. Particularly since I now know how to pull rotor and hub w/o trouble.
• New hubs going on
• I have a spreadsheet that calculates shim results at any angle, any shim thickness... AND gives me needed shims for the caliper bolts
  • Important tweak: I measured a 12 degree change between loaded suspension (car on ground) vs wheels-off. Thus, to get the change I want, I need to add 12 degrees to the stated angle in shim instructions. (I'll share it once it's simplified... assuming it actually works )
  • UPDATE Additional tweak: the hub mount holes are 14.3 degrees from vertical. So, drawing lines using the mounting holes (quite simple) and a perpendicular to that as "zero", I only need to add 2.3 degrees to the desired angle to get it perfect. No fuss, no muss.
• We'll see if that works in reality this time!

Predicted outcomes (hahaha)

Before Shims
Left -1.0° Camber, -0.13° Toe
Right -0.6° Camber, -0.99° Toe

Shim Adjustments
Left Camber -0.5°, Toe +0.83° (Left/In marker at 304+2=306°) (54 degrees from top = 9 x 5 degree shim tabs)
Right Camber -.88°, Toe +0.57° (Right/In marker at 35+2=37°) (6 x 6 degree shim tabs)

Caliper washers:
Left Top 2.0mm, Bottom 3.46mm (3.5)
Right Top 1.44 (1.4)mm, Bottom 3.0mm (UPDATED due to s'sheet error now fixed.)

Hoped-for Result (add the above numbers)
Left Camber -1.5°, Toe +0.70°
Right Camber -1.48°, Toe -0.42°
Total Toe +0.28°

I'd love to even up the toe, but will save that for later... Have a hunch banging with a sledge is NOT the right way

 

Oops! RockAuto is my fave non-OEM source. They don't sell fake parts. I went for MOOG, same as I used in front...

Much cleaner assembly with everything very clean. Not using any gratuitous goop on any surfaces that affect alignment. boy is this easier the second time.

 

Just found a long ago post here with a version of the same method. Solved, rear wheel bearing removal, easy way | PriusChat

 

The new hubs are wonderful: MUCH quieter ride.
The calculated caliper shim washers also perfect. Rotors are centered even though shimmed.
Alignment change? Not what I hoped for. *Assuming* the before numbers were correct, my results say it's hard to get the full toe adjust with shims. I now read that others have seen the same thing.

Before Shims
Left -1.0° Camber, -0.13° Toe
Right -0.6° Camber, -0.99° Toe

Shim Adjustments
Left Camber -0.5°, Toe +0.83° (Left/In marker at 304+2=306°) (54 degrees from top = 9 x 5 degree shim tabs)
Right Camber -.88°, Toe +0.57° (Right/In marker at 35+2=37°) (6 x 6 degree shim tabs)

Actual New Results (different place, with numbers to hundredths... hmmm)
Left -1.58° Camber, +0.54° Toe
Right -1.32° Camber, -0.57° Toe

So, change was ~~
Left -0.58° Camber, +0.67° Toe
Right -0.72° Camber, +0.42° Toe

Probably should have pushed the toe as much as possible, and left camber in-spec but closer to the edge..
271 degrees on left side should give tiny negative camber, and close to +1.0 toe.
66 on right gives -.4 camber, +0.91 toe...
That would be L +0.29 and R -0.08 toe... and L -1.0, R -1.0 camber... all in spec except R toe a little out.

From here... What if I add another shim (or metal)...

Ideal adjustment: Left -0.39 degree toe (using a -2 shim); Right -0.2 camber and +0.72 toe (another -4 shim)

It's SO close, feels dumb to do major axle work for something that's off by a millimeter!

One millimeter makes a BIG difference.

 

Well... Sensing that I need to take this to an expert, I found a well-liked car place in town whose owner loves a high end welding shop, also in town. I'm thinking: these guys know what they are doing, and appear to be creative. Maybe they can evaluate the realities, and give me a set of options, possibly including the welding solution I suggested.

Took it down there this AM. Result: he sees what nobody else saw or mentioned, and honestly I can't see either: he can see a small crease at both ends of the solid beam axle. "Pete, yes you need to replace it. And it's not totally safe like this: those creases are weak spots. You do NOT want to get in an accident with that in place." Further from them:

• They can beat the Amayama.com new-from-Japan price by a couple hundred for a used part... but he feels it's well worth getting new at that point.
• Likely $700ish in labor.
• I thanked them for their insights...

...and contacted my expert mechanic friend, who said:

• Yes, get the Japanese part
• I'll help you get it installed. (He has lift access and more...)

SO, I'm now learning what it takes to order direct from Japan!

• Axle plus two bushings, initial estimate incl UPS: US$860
• They need to review order and possibly tweak for adjusted costs (possibly a dimensional shipping charge; I don't think so. I played with it... if over 240cm total L+W+H, it adds $200+!)
• There may be import duty. Under US$200 is free, under US$2000 is a fixed price (but I don't know what it is)
  • Somehow, it makes a difference if I am reselling or using personally, but there's no place for me to say one way or another.
• Supposedly, the parts may arrive here March 6-10 ... this is before they have completed their review.

I'm grateful for all I've learned so far in this thread! I now have new hubs, and am confident I can do rear brakes myself, pretty easily. I'll finish the shim writeup etc ASAP.... and when all is said and done, I plan to carefully measure old vs new axle and publish... have I been hoodwinked or is this a very Real Issue?

 

That was my first thought... but as my mechanic friends pointed out, ensuring it's truly undamaged is not easy. And for only a couple hundred more, I get brand new, guaranteed, and it's in stock.

(I checked a few sources at parts houses etc...I can find ebay parts of ??? background, or costing almost as much ($660), or priced right, if I can pick up locally in SoCal LOL )

 

Banged against a curb a year ago. Primary damage was to right-front wheel ('twas dented a bit so I replaced it. Replaced hub and ties. Rear wheel had some curb rash, that's all. But the rear alignment has been off ever since.)

He pointed but I couldn't see it. I'll jack it up and take some pics.

In the meantime... Amayama is quite the adventure. They approved the purchase, with a RADICAL increase in UPS cost. I looked up what I could in UPS Japan cost guide (mostly in Japanese)... I suspect they chose an "express" shipping option, which makes no sense, so I've asked if there's a lower cost shipping option.

Listed price for shipping was US$321. Now US$898
UPDATE: That's due to dimensional weight ...

New solution: they shifted to DHL, so shipping is under US$500
Total including new bushings: US$1023.43

(Best price new I found here for the same: $1769.34 including $300 shipping!)
2 x 48725-47030 - bushings
1 x 42101-12171 - axle

IF I could find an available guaranteed good used part locally, yeah I'd do it... but I can't. Shipping for an axle is simply Not Cheap.

 

Yes @Mendel Leisk -- I would appreciate that VERY much.

He was just looking from behind, no lift. Here's my best photo of right and left side.... honestly if those curves along the bottom are "creases" then I highly doubt. How could the left side be harmed like that due to a bang on the right? Just doesn't make sense.

I think I'll try to get it up on my friend's lift and see what he thinks.

 

Up on the lift... he can see: right side only, definite bend. New axle needed.

I did another search for parts....

• A bunch of Chinese sources (really all the same) on eBay offer New! Lifetime Warranty! Free Shipping! only $500... BUT: in reality it's a 30 day warranty. No thanks.
• JASKAutoParts.com -- I am impressed so far, without yet seeing the final result. US$610 for them to custom pull off of a car w/ no rear damage, inspect, ship to me, arriving ~ 10 days. That includes everything. I specifically explained my caution that a rear "bump" would wreck alignment... And here is what happened:
  • At first he thought he could ship one for $310 -- relatively higher mileage (60-90k)
  • There were four in that range. Three already committed to dealers... and the remaining one their mechanics said that was bent and won't work.
  • He has others in the 30-50k miles range 100% fine -- from non-damaged cars but costs more. I went for $600 all inclusive.
  • Still saves me $400 over buying new. Not any quicker but oh well.
  • (Here's hoping the bushings are fine, which saves $$ as well.)

 

Yep... found a repair summary for 2010, presumably similar to 2011. It says the bushings are not reusable.
Preparing for this... I have questions about other repair instruction summaries in the PDF that are links... are these important? I wasn't aware my car even has a height control sensor! And I've not seen "stabilize suspension" discussed anywhere here..

• REAR HEIGHT CONTROL SENSOR SUB-ASSEMBLY (remove, install, one on each side)
  
• STABILIZE SUSPENSION (?!!)
• Use a special formula to calculate torque; use a Union Nut Wrench (for work on brake lines) -- no idea what a union nut wrench is? And formula is hidden behind link

 

What a painful journey.

• Waited two weeks. Suddenly an axle beam showed up on our driveway. No warning. And no paperwork at all, nothing to sign for, no label.
• Worse, it isn't even a Prius axle beam. It's for a Corolla! No mount for shocks or springs, and 90 degrees off. Useless. Called sales guy - he had no idea anything had shipped. (Obviously they have serious process/management issues.)
• To their credit, they searched inventory and found nothing worth shipping me (what they had were vehicles that sustained rear-end accidents, so most likely bent.)
• They asked for one more week to expand the search. Today's the deadline. They found an appropriate axle beam... BUT
  • It's obviously quite rusty... I asked for provenance: how old, how many miles, what region?
  • Answer: 2010 Prius, in Pennsylvania, 110k miles.
  • I'm saying no way. As seen elsewhere here, serious surface rust, especially from that part of the country, could easily mean more underneath.
  • (Plus, they will lose even more money on the deal. Shipping is a bear cross-country for a large part like that.)

SO, I'm hunkering down to be patient. Unless I can find one nearby within a week or so, it appears we will drive round trip to Arizona in late April on the current axle. Meanwhile, I'll install the replacement left front hub, bearing and tie rods. Should be a nice quiet ride at that point!

 

One more step... and now I'm ready to do a new-to-me repair job. Here's an update, and a question (possibly for @Mendel Leisk ??)

• As noted above, supposedly wonderful national parts place JASK completely failed me. The good news: they gave me a 100% refund. I'm left with a lug of an unusable axle beam.
• Inspiration hit: I examined the wrong axle carefully and found a few P/N's. It is actually a Gen 2 2005-09 Prius Loaded Axle Beam (ABS, Drum brakes.) Still useless to me.
• GREAT news: Central Auto in Denver has a 2014 Prius being partsed! US$160 for a loaded axle beam (meaning: it also has hubs and brake rotors....). $175 to ship the 75 miles to here, $0 to pick it up.
• Today I drove to Denver. I'm the grateful owner of a good looking replacement axle beam. I also gave them the useless-to-me Gen 2 axle beam, AND the brand-new-but-badly painted front bumper cover. Whew. Saves a ton of space in my garage. (So frustrated: the junk beam managed to get nudged, fell, and scraped a small hole in a corner of my brand new clear bra on my Prius ... SO glad it is gone.)

I'm ready to tackle replacing the axle beam, re-checking alignment, possibly doing a hopefully-minor shim if necessary. And I bought the parts to re-do the driver front-left hub/bearing and tie rods. They are the only remaining original non-shock moving parts ... looking forward to a much improved ride and hopefully another 100-200k of driving (got 60mpg from here to Denver with our new 2015 engine )

QUESTIONS:
1) Anybody seen an instructional video on this area of a prius? I've been hunting...

2) @Mendel Leisk shared the pdf of axle-beam replacement instructions a bit ago (https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2019/06/168278_2010_Toyota_Prius_Repair_Manual_-_Rear_Axle_Beam.pdf)

• This PDF has quite a few blue-box "Info" highlights throughout. Presumably they refer to further instructions for each of those items.
• When I click, nothing happens. Am I missing something?

A number of these seem important and/or not-obvious to me... starting at the top:

• I am a bit surprised so much up front needs to be done?! I wonder why?
• Here's several of the INFO boxes that seem important and not obvious to this noob:
  • DISABLE BRAKE CONTROL
  • (REMOVE REAR WHEELS)
  • REMOVE FRONT DOOR SCUFF PLATE LH
  • REMOVE COWL SIDE TRIM SUB-ASSEMBLY LH
  • REMOVE LOWER INSTRUMENT PANEL FINISH PANEL ASSEMBLY
  • LOOSEN PARKING BRAKE CABLE

Then...

• DISCONNECT REAR SPEED SENSOR WIRE (for LH Side)
• SEPARATE REAR SPEED SENSOR WIRE (for LH Side)
• DISCONNECT NO. 3 PARKING BRAKE CABLE ASSEMBLY
• DISCONNECT NO. 2 PARKING BRAKE CABLE ASSEMBLY
• SEPARATE NO. 3 PARKING BRAKE CABLE ASSEMBLY

​

What else do I need to learn these things?

MUCH THANKS!

(I will create a new thread w/ info on what I experience as I do this little project...)

 

YES YES YES.

I also see evidence that Toyota moved away from this (torsion solid beam) design in Gen 4. Yet LOTS of other vehicles still use it. I had NO idea... Driving more like a grandpa every day LOL.

I never even thought about this until now. I mean... my wife is a nature photographer. We go off-road ALL the time! All I was ever cautious about was topping out when dirt roads get too crazy. Worst case, go get another lifetime alignment. But now? Going to be much more careful.