Consensus on LCA - complete vs just bushings?

[samsquantch]

Hi all,
Alignment shop says I need bushings. I've read what I can find (OEM or maybe poly only), but seems like just bushings at $50ea or complete arms at $180ea wasn't settled. Can anyone weigh in?
Thanks!

 

[jross20]

How much are OEM arms? I wouldn't get anything but OEM LCA's (unless you are going Total chaos long travel or something). I assume OEM LCA's are not cheap?

 

[96RedRunner]

Stay away from Doorman LCA's. I was in a bind got both sides locally, bushings were shot in 5k mi's the arms are not as stout as OE. I dug original's from scrap pile cleaned em up re-bushed OEM no worry's.

 

[mtbtim]

Save yourself some money and swap out the bushings. It's not that hard. The hardest part would be if you found that one or more of the cam sleeves were rusted into the bushing sleeve and then you're forced to cut them out.

Here's a couple videos that show you two different ways to do the bushing replacements.

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[thezentree]

I bent one of my LCAs trying to press out the bushings with a bottle jack. Might have been user error but it cost me several days of my truck sitting on jack stands until my new LCA arrived. The other one came out fine. For what it’s worth, next time I’m just going to buy new OEM LCAs and not fight with rusty bushings for hours.

If you wanna give it a shot, Tim’s videos are super helpful.

 

[Skibber]

I recently faced this dilemma and ended up going with new OEM LCAs. Figured the cost of the OEM bushings and time/hassle to replace them wasn't worth the extra few bucks for the new LCAs. Note that surface rust on the originals played a part in the decision as well, but I think I would've went complete anyhow.

Planning to install in the next couple weeks with the Sonoran Steel 1.2 kit.

I did however opt to do the bushings on the UCAs.

 

[Ser1clymb]

I was also weighing my options on this and ended up buying some nice looking used LCA with new bushings and had been repainted. My truck originally was on the east coast and I've been battling rust and so I opted for messing with the bushings and then just swapping out the LCAs. Saved time and money by just swapping out the entire thing and not paying brand new pricing and not having my truck out of commission for more than an afternoon.

 

[lockedlex]

I also went for new OEM. Like others said, the time factor, not having to worry about the bushings or messing it up and labor for me to swap out the bushings, etc. didn't make any sense. The originals also lasted almost 200k miles, so I wasn't too hurt by making that investment.

It also made the job super easy (with the right tools). I think I can do one side in 30 minutes now. I've told all my 3rd gen friends to do theirs, it's just not pleasant to see the consequences otherwise.