New Control Arms

[daka320]

Replaced all of the control arms front and rear. Used Toyota OEM parts. The front lower arm bushings were toast. The front upper bushings were still okay but figured replace those while things were torn apart. The rear upper and lower arm bushings were wearing out so those were replaced also. Also, replaced the lateral bar.
What a difference!!! She drives like a new car!!! The suspension is tight and firm now. It feels like I am driving 10 mph slower than I really am. She handles the curves faster also!
Took it to a local shop. Charged $405 for labor and $150 for additional parts/hardware. Had to cut the rusted bolts out of the lcas. That along with almost $2000 in parts put the final bill right at $2500. Well worth it if she lasts another 200k miles!

 

[dkyleb]

Damn. Spending that much and replacing all that, you could have gone a totally different route if you were into off road kind of stuff.

 

[daka320]

Damn. Spending that much and replacing all that, you could have gone a totally different route if you were into off road kind of stuff.

It is my wife's dd, so only limited offroading. Also, willing to spend the extra coin on oem. Non-oem is about half as much but would have to replace them again in a year or two. I've read a bunch of the reviews.

 

[dkyleb]

It is my wife's dd, so only limited offroading. Also, willing to spend the extra coin on oem. Non-oem is about half as much but would have to replace them again in a year or two. I've read a bunch of the reviews.

I wasn't talking about saving money by going with the cheap stuff. I was just thinking along the lines of a full Icon setup.

You didn't actually need to replace most of that stuff, to be honest. You could have replaced the bushings in the rear linkage. The front stuff is arguable, though.

 

[Drunner97]

For future reference. Probably could have saved a lot of money if you had shopped around and replaced some tie rod ends at the same time.

GX470 4Runner FJ Cruiser Control Arms Sway Bar Links Tie Rods $5 Years Warranty$ | eBay

Also, I believe Rock Auto has the rear upper arms for about 200 for the set, not sure how much for the lowers and lateral though.

 

[07V8]

For future reference. Probably could have saved a lot of money if you had shopped around and replaced some tie rod ends at the same time.

GX470 4Runner FJ Cruiser Control Arms Sway Bar Links Tie Rods $5 Years Warranty$ | eBay

Also, I believe Rock Auto has the rear upper arms for about 200 for the set, not sure how much for the lowers and lateral though.

No way these are quality. OEM cannot be matched.

 

[coldwiz]

Very nice [MENTION=68966]daka320[/MENTION]! its hard to beat OEM stuff if you aren't tearing it up off road. How many miles were on the old parts you replaced?

 

[daka320]

Very nice [MENTION=68966]daka320[/MENTION]! its hard to beat OEM stuff if you aren't tearing it up off road. How many miles were on the old parts you replaced?

202,000 miles. Asked advice of a few local offroad and suspension places here in Phoenix. Also read a lot of reviews. Considered replacing the bushings only, but labor basically was the price of the whole control arm. Considered doing all of the work myself but I do not have the time and some of the tools. Considered some light offroad racing arms, but the quality is questionable on some and the prices are about the same on the better ones. The price for oem is not cheap, believe me. Finally decided to buy oem online from Camelback Toyota. They have some of the cheaper prices on oem and are located here in Phoenix. Also choose a local suspension shop that replaced everything for $400 including cutting out the front lca rusted bolts.
Hopefully we can get another 200k miles out of these. We only occasionally do some light offroading. No rock crawling. If it was a dedicated offroad vehicle I would have saved some money and went a different route.

 

[Drunner97]

No way these are quality. OEM cannot be matched.

[MENTION=101553]t-man[/MENTION] has them. They're OEM quality.

 

[t-man]

No way these are quality. OEM cannot be matched.

Oem can suck a bag of D#&*s

 

[robaroni]

Oem can suck a bag of D#&*s

LOL! Can't argue with that logic! :baby:

 

[dkyleb]

Oem can suck a bag of D#&*s

Those control arms holding up? If you are tell me yes, I'm gonna pull the trigger tonight lol.

 

[t-man]

Those control arms holding up? If you are tell me yes, I'm gonna pull the trigger tonight lol.

Of course. I've been to the offroad park about 8 times, and been down uncountable two tracks, not to mention the pot hole filled roads around here and just plain drove it like I stole it with zero issues so far! Lol
P.S. I hit two tracks, and pot hole filled dirt roads at 50-60 on a regular basis.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

[MENTION=68966]daka320[/MENTION]

How badly cut up are the old ones?

 

[dgmorr]

What's a good source for aftermarket rear arms? The ones I'm seeing are very small diameter compared to oem, or are they good enough?