4ntvings

iTrader: (6)

i've done tons of research and i'm pretty stumped when it comes to control arm bushings and castor arms.

my car '03 2GS only has about 30k miles and only do about 8k-9k miles/year. i will be installing espelir springs and figure, since my car will be on the lift, might as well change out the bushings; since i've read so much about vibrations at certain speeds and oem bushings dont like the pressure of being lowered (my car is stock height now, as you can tell from my sig, and drives perfectly fine).

so my question, should i just go ahead and spend the $100 for the daizen control arm bushings and have them replaced when my car is being lowered? also, since my car is still fairly new but i will lower it, should i change the castor arm and/or control arms altogether? and whats the purpose of each? i just want to avoid any possible issues in the future and do it right ahead of time. so i hope you guys can chime in and help me understand better. thanks!

ElitistK

iTrader: (4)

caster arm = lower control arm. Spending $100 on the daizen bushings could also mean another 300-500 dollars on labor for replacing those bushings. The OEM bushings are not designed to be replaced, so a lot of time and effort goes into that. Doesn't matter if you are a speed racer or a granny, if you're going to keep your car beyond 120k miles, then replacing the bushings is worth the time and money; otherwise, just change the lower control arms and call it a day. The polyurthane bushings by daizen lasts as long as the car does if installed and lubed properly.

If you HAVE to lower your car now, then lower it now. Check out the bushings though, and see if they're in good shape. If yes, just wait until 60k and do another inspection. If they're still in acceptable condition, wait until 80-90k and change the ball joints with the bushings. I am suggesting this because i am assuming that you are driving normally; if you drive aggressively, change the bushings at 60k.

Keep in mind that every time you change the height of your car, or change out control arms, you will need an alignment. The ball joints are more forgiving - I did not need an alignment after changing my ball joints.

I'm getting the control arm bushings set right now and will have them installed by next week. My original bushings are totally gone for the lower control arm (metal to metal). I'm saving my steering rack bushing until i get tein flex/trd sways. Jefftsai has pretty much every suspension mod possible for our car, and he claimed that the bushings don't have much effects to handling until he installed the tein flex/trd sways.

airahcaz

well, more specifically, caster arm = lower control arm #2? as there are 2? I thought the general practice is that the LCA #2 needs replacement, or do both need to be changed at the same time?

lyonkster

There are actually 3 arms per side:

Caster arm (known officially as FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER ARM NO.2)
Lower control arm (officially FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER ARM NO.1)
Upper control arm (officially FRONT SUSPENSION UPPER ARM)

They all have bushings in them, none of which are available from Lexus.

airahcaz

Excellent, thanks for sharing the knowledge. At a high level, in terms of importance and replacement hierarchy/priority, would it be fair to say:

1. CASTER
2. UPPER
3. LOWER

lyonkster

Can't say for sure. All I know is that my caster bushings were shot by 80K, and the other ones are still fine at 115K.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

I'de agree with airahcaz. I had my UCA's replaced first, and then my Caster Arms. I still haven't had my LCA's replaced and I'm at 150,000 miles (98 GS 400).

airahcaz

lexusben,
that's actually opposite of what I wrote for 1st and 2nd, but seem both are equally important. Caster is a must (LCA #2).

FstrThnYou

So I just hit 168k and my caster arm busing went out. I got the daizen control arm bushing kit and was going to install it tomorrow. Is there any reason that I can't do the install? I have a 20ton press I figured I could use....??

Sash1mi

iTrader: (18)

ditto.....