Aftermarket (Moog) front lower control arms okay to use?

[3bears]

I just was in an alignment shop the other day. ALl they could do is set the toe as the cam adjusters on both sides were frozen. This particular shop does not do that kind of repair ( cutting out) as then all the bushing etc will need to get replaced. ( small shop, alignments, tires, oil changes)
the tec came out to talk to me about it....he said the shop he worked at in the past used SPC brand cam adjuster for the older toyotas. he recomended I take to his old shop....his boss ws standing right there so its not like he was trying to send good work elsewhere.......but I will do it myself later this summer and replace all the bushings etc. ( took it in because I had just done LBJ's, OTRE's shocks and springs....and it was a giant battle due to rust).
I just read another forum about replacing on these 4runners and several people said the diablo carbide tip sawzall blade was the best to use....dont know if that matters much...just passing that on.

 

[TheSaturnV]

I'll join the Moog trash party. I went with OEM LBJ and Moog UBJ.

Time will tell....

 

[DirtDrift]

...I just read another forum about replacing on these 4runners and several people said the diablo carbide tip sawzall blade was the best to use....dont know if that matters much...just passing that on.

I haven't had very good luck with sawzall's. Just my experience. They tend to have too much movement in the blade and the bolt sleeves are usually in an awkward position, causing the tip of the blade to smack into the subframe, jarring my hands, and pissing me off even further. But, they will work if you're patient.

I have used an air hammer with Snap-on slitting chisel for a lot of replacements and they usually cut through the bolt sleeves VERY well. If you have access to an air hammer, I can't recommend it enough.

Snap-on Store

 

[3bears]

I haven't had very good luck with sawzall's. Just my experience. They tend to have too much movement in the blade and the bolt sleeves are usually in an awkward position, causing the tip of the blade to smack into the subframe, jarring my hands, and pissing me off even further. But, they will work if you're patient.

I have used an air hammer with Snap-on slitting chisel for a lot of replacements and they usually cut through the bolt sleeves VERY well. If you have access to an air hammer, I can't recommend it enough.

Snap-on Store

thanks, will keep in mind, I do have a air chisel/hammer....just not snap on.

 

[Devbot]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that has considered this. Aside from the bushings I realistically I don't see why they wouldn't work, unless the weld quality was just piss poor or they outright didn't fit, which neither seem like thats the case here so :noidea: If anything just pop the bushings out and put in some whitelines
Sucks how there's not many aftermarket LCAs, and what exists is usually for long travel and always ungodly expensive

 

[Topher7]

Hi all, I agree that OEM are superior BUT after going through the front end with lots of OEM parts only to find the LCA bushings needed replacement as well, I went with Moog for the LCA bushings and tie rod ends (used poly for the steering rack). Followed the instructions from the guy on here who YouTube's repairs. I've put ~20k miles on them without issue so far. 90% of those miles have been all around Mexico where the roads are...no where near the condition of some of the worst roads in the US. I feel as though they have been stressed harder than if I was back in the States.

I would recommend OEM to anyone but based on my circumstances at the time, I couldn't justify the added cost and so far, it's worked out for me.

This is me from the future...

Listen to what other, wiser, people in this thread have said and don't buy the Moog - buy the poly or OEM When the pandemic hit, we drove out of Mexico and into San Antonio to lay low for a few months, then out to NC to visit friends and finally down to FL to see family. Our trip from NC to FL was the scariest thing we'd ever experienced driving during a mild rainstorm that was throwing us all over the road. Turned out, the lower control arm bushings were completely, and I mean completely, trashed, giving the truck a nice smiley face in the front and scary road manners at highway speeds. Before we drove back home Mexico, I replaced the Moog's with Poly, had an alignment done and no issues. Drove on the polys from FL -> Monterrey, MX. Then a few short months later from MX back to NC, with a trailer in tow. No issues at all.

To be fair, the Moogs did last 40k miles and Mexican roads are not anywhere close to the quality of what you see in the states, especially where we lived, but man was it scary to drive on trashed LCA's. I was able to pull the inner metal sleeve out of the socket on two of them by hand when I replaced them with the Poly's.

TLDR: Don't buy Moog.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[brillo_76]

Lots of wisdom and real world experience here on this thread. I learned along time ago people will do as they see fit regardless of what folks say.

I can attest that the rear aftermarket control arm bushings are complete crap. Its the bushings through not the control arms themselves. I have snapped 3 upper control arms OEM just driving down the darn roads of PA.

So in my experience that I don't off-road at all and just drive down the road the upper rear OEM control arms are crap ( a pipe is stronger then a solid round piece of steel). The aftermarket rear upper control arms are pipe like the lower ones thus better. You just have to run good bushings in them or they will wear out extremely quickly.

I agree that the front control arms with the bushings and Toyota is very fussy when it comes to aftermarket parts. Always have been and always be.

The front end designs are engineered bad. Nothing will change this fact.
Wither folks want to use OEM or aftermarket is up to them. They been warned what can happen if they do. So its their choice.