Has anyone replaced control arms on 2008 ES 350? Since mine has steering wheel shaking when braking from high speed, I intend to replace them. Just wonder whether it is simple job that can DYI. If anyone has ever done, please give some advices, I greatly appreciate it. In addition, does it require to lift up or remove any engine or transmission mounts in order to remove the control arms out? Thanks in advance.

 

Are you sure it isn’t the brakes/rotors?

 

I am sure it is not brake rotor warp since they are all new. This is likely the control arm bushings worn out after 10 years with 150k miles. My previous 1999 Nissan Maxima also had this issue but gone after I replaced new control arms.

 

The rotors are the problem.

 

Yep, for rotors. If car shakes when braking, it's warped rotors. If only the steering wheel shakes, it's at least one bad front rotor; if the steering wheel does not shake, but the rest of the car does, it's at least one bad rear rotor. If everything shakes, you will have a least one bad front and one bad rear rotor.

And yes, I replaced the LCA's when I noticed the rubber bushings were cracking. Replaced the LBJ's in the process. I don't recall if I lifted the engine. I may have posted the info on a thread that you can search for it. I remember the difficult part was removing the front bolts. I think one of the bolts required moving the CV shaft out of the way, or that could have been the part of lifting the engine a little to access one of the two bolts. But, it's your rotors; you probably got a bad one.

 

OP,

Who did the brake service?
Any info on the brand of rotors and pads installed?
Was the recent brake service performed to fix the steering wheel shake?
How damaged are the LCA bushings?

 

Thanks everyone for the opinions. I bought a car from an old lady in good shape for my son's daily driving to school. She told me that she had rotor brake job done by her nephew at his local shop. I decided to take the front wheels out today for the brake inspection. I've found out that the brake caliper guide pins got stuck. I took all pins from four wheels out. They were all dry. They might have had not apply any grease nor used high-temp grease that caused them dried up. What a poor brake job. Cleaned up the pins and applied high-temp brake grease. Put them back and make sure they slide in/out properly. Now the steering shaking when braking on high speed is gone. For the control arm replacement on this year model, the transmission mount must be removed in order to remove the CA. That means the trans must be lifted up to remove the mount. There is "How To Replace: Lower Control Arm - Toyota Camry 2003 - 2016" on you tube that can be used as a reference. I am not ready for this job but might need to replace the CA along with inner/outer joints in future.

 

I finally replaced ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends. Problem seems gone now

 

I will be replacing control arms today and ever other part up there. will log any difficulties/solutions when done in my strut assembly thread.