msekanha

'97 Es300 with 215K..

Front driver's side control arm bushing finally blew out.
It's the bushing that has two loops to insert bolts into.

Anyone have any tips on changing these if a press is not an option?

I could take it to my work and change it, but that kills the fun out of it.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Get new control arms. They're $40ish/side from rockauto for Dorman brand ones. That's what I did. I wasn't about to spend the money on having a guy press in the harmonica bushing, as odds are it will rip when pressing it in into an older control arm... My 0.02$

Bdub215

iTrader: (1)

^This. save time and trouble.

msekanha

awww foowie... You guys have a point...

Considering the bushing I bought from autozone was $25.99 and a new control arm
on ebay is 35.00, mind as well go the that route.

I'm just a cheap@$$ sometimes lol, but i'll save the headache of me taking apart my car
at work and pressing it in there.

Thanks for the feedback guys

BenES300

Hold on. I'm not all that savvy when it comes to the technical stuff with cars. So please forgive me if this question seems elementary.

I was told that my control arms might need to be changed about a year or so down the road. The rubber pieces in them are cracking and there is no way to change just the rubber.

Here is my thread about this. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mai...rm-issues.html

I was also told that they cost about $180 or so a piece and that the total cost to change them would be
1) Lexus dealership: $1200
2) Lexus mechanic shop: $900

Either way I was told that this is a labor intensive job.

How are you guys talking about control arms that are $35 and about changing it without spending too much money. Or are there different control arms under the front of the car?

Thank you guys.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

it's four nuts/bolts in the 3ES. One point of contact is the balljoint [two short bolts], and then two in the frame/subframe. Was about 45mins-1hr of work, didn't have to remove the wheels either, just tricky getting the back bolts in/out and messing about with wiggling the new ones in place.

The rear-end is a different beast, it's four control arms, plus two trailing arms. But even then, they're about 40$ ish per from rockauto as well. They didn't have stock when I changed those so I had to resort to an 'ebay special' set with "some" warranty in case the quality isn't up to par...

180$ sounds about right, since it's dealer pricing. When doing the rears my mechanic had ordered new bolts which are [no kidding] about 8-10" in length and those cost approx. 9$ each.

PFB

Make sure that your quote includes a 4 wheel, wheel alignment, or at least budget for one


Phil

Power6

An alignment is not required with lower control arm swap. There is nothing adjustable on the the arm mounting. Only toe is adjustable on the front suspension on this car, via the tie rod which does not need to be removed to swap the LCA.

charley240

iTrader: (6)

Bad advice ^. Alignment is needed
And i prefer to go poly bushings because they last longer with a slight performance gain. When you buy a control arm for $40, they probably use some generic bushing that doesnt last long
Charley

donmcc

I have a 94 es300 with a bit over 200k on it I replaced my drivers side control arm a year ago. I bought the whole control arm for about $100 from Autozone.. Lining up the bolts to the frame are a bit tricky lining up. It takes a couple of hours but saves a lot of money. I had the front end aligned soon after and have had no more problems with mine

Power6

Uninformed advice ^ do you even know how suspension works LOL. I would check alignment if my car is in the shop anyways but it is not needed for the LCA swap. You need to know how the strut suspension works and what is adjustable on this chassis to know why so I'll leave that up to you and Google.

Poly bushings not a bad choice, you lose a little comfort over rubber might be a concern with a Lexus also the concentric front bushing in the arm will need to be lubed like any other sliding urethane bushing. You can't buy the whole arm with the bushings (Well you can for $500 from Whiteline is there a cheaper one?) so you need a press. Hard to make the case they last longer, rubber will crack but poly will flow over time probably depends on the quality of the part more than the material. I'm sure those $40 arms are the absolute lowest quality they could get away with but if they last 50k at a pop not bad still probably the cheapest route?(If you swap them yourself)

BenES300

So I have a 2003 ES300. I think that is a 4 ES right? Is it harder to put the control arms into that car? Because like I said I am being quoted exorbitant amounts for labor.

I have factored that in.

I was told by the dealers and several mechanics that I would need an alignment.
So I am planning on getting on, when I do decide to get this done. For now, I am just making sure that I do not go over bumps too hard and that I drive carefully. Figured I can get another year or more out of these control arms.

Some people were talking about Poly vs Rubber bushings. What is the difference?

The mechanic who has quoted me the lowest price was asking me if I would be okay with aftermarket control arms. He said they were cheaper. OEM's are about $180. Aftermarket = about $90-$100.

Any opinions on the aftermarket parts?

Thank you for all the help and advice guys.