Jaden1

Ordered some new front lower control arms for my 3ES. Got a great deal on them from Advance Auto Parts. $93.72 out the door for the pair. Moog R-series control arms. RockAuto sells them for $57.79 a side. Anyway, the control arms arrived today and other than obviously being Left and Right control arms, they look different and appear to be of different quality. The lower quality arm has a D on it. Anyone know what that means? I'm hoping the higher quality arm is the Moog arm, but I have no way of knowing. I just got off the phone with Advance and they shipped me the last two arms they have. No more stock anywhere in the country. Guess I'll be returning these and getting the Dorman arms from RockAuto for $40.79 a piece.

DJPsystems

I would stick with oem from the dealer. I bought some aftermarket ones a few years ago from ebay and they were junk.

Jaden1

I bought the Dorman arms from RockAuto. We'll see what they look like. I'm trying not to invest much in this car, since I'm only planning on keeping it for a couple of years.

LeX2K

I'm all for using OEM parts, but each control arm is $220 from an online dealer, over $300 if you buy locally.

Bdub215

iTrader: (1)

and for 50 bucks from RA 75-80 with the ball joint, how can you go wrong?

Jaden1

Doorman arms arrived. They're decent quality, not as nice as the one good Moog arm I received. For the price of $40 per arm, you can't beat it. Made China. Moog arms were made in Spain. Neither place instill a ton of confidence.

rome6809

I used Beck and Arnley control arms on my 3es and they have been working out well for me the last two years. I have had my 3es for 5yrs and put 100k on it.

Jaden1

How much did those run, if you don't mind me asking.

Jaden1

I installed the new control arms yesterday. Pretty easy job. The Dorman arms seemed lighter than the stock arms, so hopefully that doesn't cause a problem. It was amazing how bad the bushings were on the stock arms. Especially the bushing with the two bolts on the K-member. The wheel would just wiggle back in forth because the bushings were so hollowed out. The only issue I had with the Dorman arms is that the ball joint holes were a bit on the small side, probably because of the paint on the inside of the holes. Had to run the bolts up into the holes once, let them back out, run them in again, let them out, and then torque them down.

Test drove the car today and it's a night and day difference. Nice cheap repair at only $90.