replacing my lower control arms....

9

97T4RL

New member
Any suggestions on certain brands that may be more durable than others?

Also I see control arm kits and then control arms. Do I need to buy bushings seperate? or the ones i have might still be fine and I just need to replace the control arm.

The shop that told me estimated 350 in parts for each side plus 85 dollars an hour for labor for 7 hours.

It came out to around 1350, that seems outrageous i think i can do it myself for like 400.

Thanks for any help yall can give, especially if you have done this before yourself!



PS
This is my last issue i have, i have been doing alot of maintenance lately, i had to replace my valve seals, my rear axle differential seals, all my brakes and my inner tie rod.
And after my inner tie rod i got an allignment not knowing i had this lower control arm problem as well, and I think I need to get in alligned again after i do these!!! FML haha
 
Register to hide this ad
Will be doing this in the near future as well. There are some good writeups out there. Don't have my links handy, but they should be pretty easy to find by searching for lower control arm or something like that. There should only be 4 things to remove IIRC: 1) lower shock bolt, 2) front cam bolt, 3) rear cam bolt, and 4) lower ball joint.

I have the same alignment problem, and will be replacing all ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, and lower control arms in one swoop.
 
I'm about to replace the bushings on mine in the next few weeks. Why are you replacing the whole arm?
 
the shop i go to told me the hole arm needs to be replaced, they must be bent or something.

I trust them they are a very good shop and usually reasonable with there prices, last time i went there they estimated 860 and called me while they were working on it and said they didnt need a part they thought they needed which cut the price in half, so i definately trust them. They arent like most shops i have seen
 
Control arms don't go bad unless they are damaged from an impact (very difficult even for an impact to damage them) or maybe very rusted.

the bushings wear out... So you likely need new bushings, not new arms.

I've heard the bushings are somewhat difficult to press out and in, but I haven't done it myself. I would buy new OEM bushings, take out the arms myself, and probably take them to a shop to have them install, labor charge should be less than an hour that way.

Yes you will need an alignment.
 
Are we talking front or rear lower control arms here?? I'm guessing front since you mentioned front suspension parts in your original post. What problems are you having? Like stated above it's pretty hard to damage a front lca. Unless it's corroded or rusted out you most likely just need need bushings. I also don't see how it's a 7 hour job either. If they think it's bent or damaged ask for them to show you the proof they found to make that call. Despite shops being good or not, they hustle to get their money. Dealerships do this all the time. People go in for an oil change, and end up spending $300 on some new random parts the techs claimed were bad. It's a scare tactic.
 
Last edited:
I have a set(L & R) of front 3rd gen lower control arms (used from salvage yard). PM me for pics if interested.
 
LCA VS Bushings

I have been wondering the same thing. Do I need to change the entire LCA or just the bushings? I got started down this road by looking at replacing tie rod ends. I have a slight steering wheel vibration/shimmy around 70mph. Tires are balanced with new brakes and rotors. Down the rabbit hole I went.
 
Tomffmedic said:
I have been wondering the same thing. Do I need to change the entire LCA or just the bushings? I got started down this road by looking at replacing tie rod ends. I have a slight steering wheel vibration/shimmy around 70mph. Tires are balanced with new brakes and rotors. Down the rabbit hole I went.
Click to expand...

You might not get any responses from the OP since the post is from 2013, but I have done my front control arm bushings using write ups from here, pretty easy actually. As the others talked about above, unless your LCA is damaged or bent, should just need to do the bushings. Timmy the Toolman did a whole video on youtube for this, shows you the bottle jack/heat method to remove the old bushings. Put your new bushings in the freezer for a few days before install.
 
tystaco said:
You might not get any responses from the OP since the post is from 2013, but I have done my front control arm bushings using write ups from here, pretty easy actually. As the others talked about above, unless your LCA is damaged or bent, should just need to do the bushings. Timmy the Toolman did a whole video on youtube for this, shows you the bottle jack/heat method to remove the old bushings. Put your new bushings in the freezer for a few days before install.
Click to expand...

Here's the two videos [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I have on the subject. You would only need to replace the arms if they've received some type of impact damage or they have been compromised by rust. In my opinion, replacing the whole arms for worn out bushings is a waste of money.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kmaZNBp1gZM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6FzEHygizoI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I appreciate the response priced some bushings today. Work at O'Reilly's part time so it offsets my cost. Nothing upraded but at least OEM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 433 (members: 3, guests: 430)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,307
Messages
3,554,056
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top