Another Tale of Woe With Arnott (UCA's)
09-18-10, 08:22 PM
#16
I actually remember when some of you were getting these awhile back and everyone was praising them. I reserved judgement for longevity and thanks to you I now have a more solid opinion. Honestly, for something as important as a suspension component, I REALLY WOULD NOT cheap out in this department. I myself have a first gen(92), and bought my UCA's slightly before you bought yours from Arnott and have not had a problem at all from them, and my car is lowered. I think I shelled out somewhere around $300 per side for OEM, and am sure with ALOT of searching, you may be able to still find OEM close to that price still today. The purpose of my response is not to say "I told you so" or anything like that, but DO consider that this IS an important part of your suspension, so aftermarket really should not be a factor here(nothing against aftermarket,,I just do use for certain things).
As far as overpriced components for the first gen,,am sure that you can agree that(for what it is) the strut rod bushing is FAR more overpriced for what is deleivered. LOL!!
As far as overpriced components for the first gen,,am sure that you can agree that(for what it is) the strut rod bushing is FAR more overpriced for what is deleivered. LOL!!
09-18-10, 11:51 PM
#17
In the case of front UCA's on the 1st Gen, it's strictly economics. The OEM UCA's are one of the most overpriced OEM components on the car for what they are... They list out for around $720 each and you can buy them online for around $560 each... The Arnott UCA's are $200 for the pair compared to $1100+ for the OEM.
I'm sure you've considered and maybe even installed aftermarket suspension parts in your cars before. Maybe because of the OEM replacement cost, or as a performance enhancement. Sometimes these things don't work out as planned.
I'm sure you've considered and maybe even installed aftermarket suspension parts in your cars before. Maybe because of the OEM replacement cost, or as a performance enhancement. Sometimes these things don't work out as planned.
I know that aftermarket parts are often much cheaper, but when you consider the fact that they wont last as long, and you have to pay for labor once again to replace them, and then for alignment, it simply becomes cheaper to just take the plunge and buy the OEM.
09-20-10, 05:45 AM
#18
Lexus Test Driver
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10-09-10, 04:06 AM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
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10-15-10, 11:42 PM
#21
Sorry Jim for this late response. Work has kept me pretty busy. Haven't been able to locate myrcord book yet. Kinda bothers me b/c I have a few receipts in there I really need to keep track of. I will keep looking.
01-29-11, 09:36 PM
#23
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Another update... Started installing the replacement Arnott UCA's this morning. Drivers side first. The taper on the stud of the upper ball joint of the new arms they shipped is different than the original Arnott UCA's I bought 1.5 years ago. The diameter of the taper is smaller, so the taper never seats in the knuckle. The nut makes up all the way to the end of the threads. To get the torque to 48ft.lbs on the nut, which is the OEM spec, below is what it ends up looking like. (sorry for the crummy pic quality)...
I'm glad I'm not paying a mechanic to do this work or I'd be PO'd...
I have a digital readout micrometer, so I checked the taper dimensions of the original Arnott UCA and the one they just shipped. Here are the results:
Original Arnott UCA: Taper goes from 12.98mm to 14.60mm...
New Arnott UCA: Taper goes from 12.95mm to 14.0mm...
.60mm makes all the difference in the world in this case.
So now what? Other than calling Arnott, any suggestions on a reliable way of adding back .60 to .75mm to the taper so the stud doesn't make up all the way and the cotter pin actually has the ability to do its job?
I'm glad I'm not paying a mechanic to do this work or I'd be PO'd...
I have a digital readout micrometer, so I checked the taper dimensions of the original Arnott UCA and the one they just shipped. Here are the results:
Original Arnott UCA: Taper goes from 12.98mm to 14.60mm...
New Arnott UCA: Taper goes from 12.95mm to 14.0mm...
.60mm makes all the difference in the world in this case.
So now what? Other than calling Arnott, any suggestions on a reliable way of adding back .60 to .75mm to the taper so the stud doesn't make up all the way and the cotter pin actually has the ability to do its job?
On a positive note...the boot on the arnott ball joint appears to have a number that could match the number on my stock boot. I didn't feel like cleaning off the crud from the old boot tonight but maybe tomorrow I'll look. Could these be real lexus boots or just the same crap with lexus part number on them
I surely need a new arm with correct size taper on the ball joint.
02-01-11, 05:55 AM
#24
ball joint boots are pretty cheap. if that is all that is wrong with them, why not buy a new set, then replace the boot with a higher quality boot? napa has universal ones and you can take one you remove in to match it up. could prolly even find a poly one from p-s-t that would work.
02-03-11, 07:25 AM
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Arnott has no idea why the ball joint taper is too small since they have sold thousands of these with no problem. They offered a full refund, but I still want to replace the arms so I am asking other sellers on ebay to tell me the diameter of the taper so I can be sure it will fit. I would expect the same arms made for arnott are sold by others as well. That is just my guess.
02-03-11, 12:05 PM
#26
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Arnott has no idea why the ball joint taper is too small since they have sold thousands of these with no problem. They offered a full refund, but I still want to replace the arms so I am asking other sellers on ebay to tell me the diameter of the taper so I can be sure it will fit. I would expect the same arms made for arnott are sold by others as well. That is just my guess.
02-03-11, 12:20 PM
#27
Lexus Test Driver
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Whoever they're sourcing these from in China is either a different manufacturer than the one they've used in the past, or the manufacturer screwed up the spec. Either way, for Arnott to say they've sold thousands in the past without a problem, doesn't change the fact that what they're selling today is different and the taper is WRONG...
02-04-11, 06:47 AM
#28
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APX Auto Parts at 910-653-6181 :
Bottom part of bolt 13.48MM
Upper part of bolt with threads 11.82MM
02-04-11, 06:50 AM
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Whoever they're sourcing these from in China is either a different manufacturer than the one they've used in the past, or the manufacturer screwed up the spec. Either way, for Arnott to say they've sold thousands in the past without a problem, doesn't change the fact that what they're selling today is different and the taper is WRONG...
02-04-11, 12:27 PM
#30
Hi, im sorry to hear you got all those problems. its our worst nightmare. This is safety issues like others said.
But i totally feel your pain in giving big bucks for oem parts. Well i searched a bit and i just bought a refurbushed rack and pinion and thought that i might as well buy some tie rods too.
I've searched and find that Raybestos sounds like pretty good quality but i might be wrong? But they state on they're website that they use polyurethane boots, and same or better than oem ball joint specs. Check it out here: http://www.raybestoschassis.com/wps/...jhDOFY2VTFRNTM!
i bought them at www.rockauto.com and they costs about $23. I might install them tomorrow and see what happens.
But i totally feel your pain in giving big bucks for oem parts. Well i searched a bit and i just bought a refurbushed rack and pinion and thought that i might as well buy some tie rods too.
I've searched and find that Raybestos sounds like pretty good quality but i might be wrong? But they state on they're website that they use polyurethane boots, and same or better than oem ball joint specs. Check it out here: http://www.raybestoschassis.com/wps/...jhDOFY2VTFRNTM!
i bought them at www.rockauto.com and they costs about $23. I might install them tomorrow and see what happens.