jollyczar

I waiting on a quote from Amayama. I am looking to order upper control arms and lbj's for my 2000 ls400. I'll try to update this post with my progress. If this pans out, Amayama may beat out sliced bread.

dveneman

Welcome to the forum. My quote for UCA pair was about 450 usd shipped to CA.

jollyczar

Thanks for the welcome. I've been monitoring the forum since I bought my 2000 ls400 back last October. I've been very disappointed in the fact that all the aftermarket UCAs look the same and nothing like the original ones. I didn't really want to plunk down over $1000 on the ones from Lexus.

fencera

I did not mention half price. They are currently listed at $130 each. When I purchased them, they were listed for less than that. To get them for about $80 now either:

1. Wait for this (it happens pretty frequently):
http://slickdeals.net/f/6641878-adva...-100-purchases

2. Just google advance autoparts + coupon. The first result is a retailmenot coupon for 35% off. 35% off on a $130 arm is $85. Clearly not as good as the $80 if you get the good coupon above, but it's pretty close.

Shipping is free, but of course you pay tax (depending where you live). Whichever you do, place it as two separate orders. It could not be easier.

Again, as I mentioned before however, they do not seem to be currently stocking the Dorman arms I purchased. Give it a while and that may change, who knows.

jollyczar

Amayama just got back to me with this quote:

Lower ball joint assemblies (4333059045 and 4334059045) - $73.40 each
Upper control arms (4861059015 and 4863059015) - $191.57 each
Shipping - $104.14

Total - $634.08

They implied I would receive this order within 2 weeks and they prefer PayPal.

valex

Do aftermarket UCA change the ride at all? I would hate to lose the original Lexus quality ride, I heard some aftermarket suspension parts can make ride stiff and choppy, not sure about UCA.

Greg5OH

100 bucks for shipping?!!
I got my front lower BJs for about 54$ a piece, beck arnley. Looked quality, fit was fine, made in taiwan. Time will tell. Old one were shottt, when doing a slow full lock turn the front of the car woudl literaly shift over

Valex as long as the upper arms retain the rubber bushing ride quality should be unchanged. once you go poly, there is very little deflection and damping thru them which translates to more road harshness into the chassis.

valex

So, as long as the bushings are not poly, it doesn't matter? Just a matter of how long UCA will last?

valex

Ordered UCAs on Amayama, $447 shipped to CO. Should get them by the end of April.

valex

Got my UCAs from Japan couple days ago, sooner that I expected. You can also order LBJs(cheaper than Partscom) there too, just make sure you make one order to save on shipping.

I odered UCAs and was going to change them when changing Strut bars, but discovered that my ORIGINAL UCAs are still in good shape - 170,000 miles! Just put the struts bars for now, last set lasted around 80,000 miles. So, I am on a 3rd set of strut bars and still original UCAs.

Would you change the UCAs anyway, or leave them alone since they are OK for now?

Finn

Would you please post a photo or two of those Amayama upper control arms?

I would like to compare them with originals and aftermarket such as Moog which I got some time ago.

valex

Here are some pictures

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Maybe it's just me but that looks identical to the Moog Arms i bought....
Are they made out of flat steel?


Any chance you could take pics in better lighting withOUT the flash?

Finn

In another topic there are OEM and aftermarket upper control arms shown side by side:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/6311027-post15.html



My Moogs are pretty much identical with the above shown aftermarket ones. The ones from Aoyama posted by valex above seem a lot beefier than Moogs.

valex

No, they are not flat steel, lust poor light in pics, sorry