My lower control arm bushings have been cracked/cracking since I purchased the car over 4 years ago. I have almost 118,000 miles on my 01 LS430. Front tires have always worn fine and there is only an occasional front end clunk noise when backing out and having the steering wheel turned hard. Is it recommended to replace the entire control arm or just the bushing? Which should cost less? I only get Lexus OEM parts. Thanks all.

 

I just did mine recently. The cheapest I can find were from Bell Lexus in Scottsdale, Arizona. My local dealers quoted me almost double the price. I happen to have a press, so I just removed the bracket and pressed out the old bushings. The whole job took about 15 to 20 minutes per side. I believe the bushing with a new bracket was a bit over $200 each.

If you do choose to buy just the bushing, make sure you make a note of the orientation of the old bushing. I believe the little rubber nub is supposed to be facing either the 6 o clock or 12 o clock position.

The following link is who I bought them from:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-OEM-FACTORY-FRONT-LOWER-CASTER-BUSHING-2001-2006-LS430-/331480929184?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d2dcd93a0&vxp=mtr

 

Two of these guys will do you right. Ebay price is good.

http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.co...865550012.html

 

Wouldn't my tech charge me more labor to replace the bushings as the entire arm has to come out anyway? Is there anything else on the arm that wears other than the bushings? It becomes an expensive ordeal to replace both arms + an alignment.

 

There are two bushings on the lower arm. Only one is replaceable. The 2nd smaller bushing can fail as well but does not usually till 200k+ miles as the main one last usual about 1/2 that.

 

How do you torque the contol arm when the car is down with the tires on? Can you get under the car and access the bolts? I'm trying to figure this all through before I buy the parts and install it.

 

How are the bushings so far? A couple of my friends (mechanics) told me that it should have a load before torque or else you will stress them and it would wear out prematurely. I'm not saying you are doing it wrong. I just want to know if it wll be okay to go ahead and torque it before the wheels. If the ones you installed are still good, I'd rather do it the easy way.

 

To replace the rear bushings that are serviceable the suspension arm doesn't need to be removed from the vehicle. Two bolts and one large nut hold the housing in place. The easiest way to get to it would be drive on ramps as then the suspension would remain loaded for the retorque.