roadfrog

As a result of abnormal tire wear and the resulting diagnosis of bad lower front control arm bushings, I'm starting a thread that will chronicle my DIY replacement of these components. As many of you have faced this same repair, I'll be hitting some of you guys up for advice and pointers as I progress. Since doing this job will involve removing the front shocks, I decided to
go ahead and replace them. This is where some of you reading this may benefit. I got these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371765928836?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2650&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
As you can see, they are a fantastic deal! At 65 bucks for both inc free shipping, it's a no-brainer. There's also rears for about the same price, so that would be about 125 dollars for all four shocks.

Anyway, next step is to order the control arms. I'll forego replacing just the bushings, since there's not a lot of savings by replacing just the bushings. I've found a pair of control arms with the ball joint for about 60 dollars apiece. Or, I can get all four front control arms (forward and rearward) for 379.00.....I'm just not sure if I replace just the forwrd front control arm with the ball joint or do the rearward one as well. When I say "rearward", I'm not talking about the back end of the car but the front end and the rearward arm. I'm looking at these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201487285272?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Or, replacing just these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-UPPER-...pYFsqW&vxp=mtr

Any advice, tips or comments are welcome and encouraged!

johnnyg66

I didn't have to remove my struts when I did all 4 uppers.

Don't think you have to for the lowers either. I am on the fence about those struts just wish they told you the brand name.

I had a shop do my struts last summer used OEM. Was less then Dealer price.

2v1g

different brand of struts will make your ride feels different. I didn't know that before and replace OEM struts with Monroe barnd on my 2000 Infiniti L30. The ride is completely changed and almost make me cry. Switched to OEM struts and right away I felt I got my car back.

Maybe OEM and after market Control arm are not that different in terms of rides

Gillz460L

I second that! I would definitely stick with a qaulity replacement strut... these cheaper aftermarket shocks and struts do not last nearly as long as OEM. Not saying aftermarket is bad... just have to purchase the right stuff. When i owned my shop i ordered and replaced my lincoln town car shocks with monroe sensa tracs... not a horrible ride but definitely not Oe. Aftermarket control arms seem to be widely used here with no issue. I think you will be fine.

Doublebase

Like everyone else has said, I'd be careful when considering aftermarket struts...a lot of these companies are not going to care about spring rates...all they care about is legally putting a unit out there at a discounted price safely. I'm pretty sure KYB only makes struts that match the specifications and spring rates of each vehicle, either that or OEM. And you're going to need strut equipment to get those springs off to replace those strut cartridges...unless you're having someone do it for you.

Rhambler

Yeah, my inside tire wear on my previous car was due to my worn struts. No amount of alignment fixed if, but it went away as soon as my leaking struts were replaced. I also had a slight pull as well that couldn't be fixed by alignment. I had it aligned twice and everything was within specs both times, but as soon as my struts were replaced, bam, instantly gone.

They mentioned it was probably due to the struts slightly sagging a few mm, enough to throw all of that off. All my struts were leaking.

There's many people on Acura's forum that replaced with aftermarket with success, although some have reported early failures. However, none have reported ride differences, or I can't recall. However, the only thing I would suggest is to replace them all with the same brand. No mixing and matching. If you replace your fronts with KYBs, I would also replace your rears with the exact ones. I have no idea on the differences in dynamics, but at least there would some consistency.

I know most of the reports on Acura's forum were from people replacing all four at once. I can't recall people replacing pairs. They also took the time to replace any bushings with the suspension off, like bump stops and anything else soft under there. They replaced mine while working on it.

Try googling aftermarket strut ride differences versus OEM or KYB versus OEM, etc.

roadfrog

This is the company that manufactures the shocks that I referenced above:

http://www.drivetechamerica.com/

I ordered them, so I'll be the guinea pig. They should be fine and at least better than the worn out ones I'm replacing. For the price, I can't really lose. They're made to manufacturer spec, so I doubt they'll ride much differently. Lots of good reviews online and on other car forums. Obviously, I'll post my review when I get them done.

Rhambler

I would also suggest getting an alignment done after you replace. They did mine after new struts to make sure the geometry was in spec.

If you can wait a few days to get the alignment, that would be even better, allowing it to fully settle.

Kennyr44

I attempted to replace the upper control arms without removing the strut. It was possible but way too much trouble. The strut came out in minutes allowing free access. Once the upper control arm ball joints were removed then it was easy to push down on the hub assembly enough to clear space for the strut removal. It looks like the strut will stay in place and not have to be removed to do the bottom control arms.

roadfrog

The more I think about it, the more I feel like I should replace the uppers as well. They said they were fine....but for how long? And since I'm already in the vicinity......

What say you guys? Opinions?

Doublebase

The way I see it, there are four different ways to remove the uppers regarding whether or not to remove the strut.

I had to do it two different ways because on one side I couldn't loosen the upper strut mounts (they were so tight I thought I'd snap them). So on that side I removed the uppers without removing the strut - I just worked around the spring with extensions, etc...it was a pain. So that's one way, and it s a pain.

The other way I did it was I just unbolted the strut from the top - but not the bottom - and just pulled down the strut hard. It gave me plenty of room to work.

You can remove the whole strut.

And maybe the easiest - and best way I've seen - you can take out 2 of the three upper control arm mount bolts, leave the top mount bolt in and the mount will pivot and swing out enough at the top, clearing the arms from the spring on the strut. A member on here posted pictures of him doing it...I thought it was a very cool idea. If I had to do it over, I'd probably give that option a try.

Kennyr44

The uppers are cheap I would not skip them.

roadfrog

Done. I went with Rock Auto. My total bill to do the ENTIRE front end (inc stab links) is 514 dollars. This includes shipping to Washington state.

4 upper control arms
4 lower control arms
2 stab links

Including the shocks I ordered separately for 65 bucks, I'm just shy of 600 dollars..with enough leftover for a case of beer. Not bad!

Doublebase

[QUOTE=roadfrog;9690304]Done. I went with Rock Auto. My total bill to do the ENTIRE front end (inc stab links) is 514 dollars. This includes shipping to Washington state.

4 upper control arms
4 lower control arms
2 stab links

Including the shocks I ordered separately for 65 bucks, I'm just shy of 600 dollars..with enough leftover for a case of beer. Not bad![/QUOTE

Under $600 bucks and you get basically a whole new front end. Unbelievable. I've said it before, I'll stay it again...this control arm "issue" is the single most overblown thing on the Internet.

roadfrog

[QUOTE=Doublebase;9690394]
LOL. Yep, like pretty much everything else on this forum. Albeit, the brake actuator is an issue, but even Lexus is addressing that one.

So now the research begins on the labor that I'll be diving into for this job. And hopefully, a dry couple of days.