Control Arms replacement questions
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 18,373
Likes: 1,801
From: Ohio
I have done a nut and bolt restoration on a Mercedes AMG and consider myself a fairly skilled wrench. I have seen cheap aftermarket parts vs high quality German parts and cheap parts vs high quality Japan parts and the quality of aftermarket parts is woeful at best in my experienced opinion - particularly suspension parts that bear the brunt of the weight of S-class cars like the Lexus LS and Mercedes Sxxx.
I absolutely agree that almost all Mercedes and probably Lexus parts are purchased by Mercedes and Lexus from contracted manufacturers that follow strict manufacturing quality standards set by the manufacturer. I also know that these contract manufacturers also make the same parts in plants that do not supply MB or Lexus. I carefully check the country of manufacture of a part that does not come from MB or Toyota/Lexus. If Delphi makes parts for Lexus and every part from Delphi is made from the same plant that supplies Toyota/Lexus, that is fine. But your comment encompassed ALL brands and that is simply not accurate.
FEBI Bilstein and Meyle used to be OEM suppliers to MB. Both of these parts manufacturers now make MB aftermarket parts in China and I won't touch them. I bought my 16 LS460 for the Toyota/Lexus build quality and standard. If it costs $2k-$3k in parts for the front suspension (from wholesale Toyota/Lexus suppliers - NOT from a dealer), I will gladly pay it because that is why I bought the car in the first place!
I absolutely agree that almost all Mercedes and probably Lexus parts are purchased by Mercedes and Lexus from contracted manufacturers that follow strict manufacturing quality standards set by the manufacturer. I also know that these contract manufacturers also make the same parts in plants that do not supply MB or Lexus. I carefully check the country of manufacture of a part that does not come from MB or Toyota/Lexus. If Delphi makes parts for Lexus and every part from Delphi is made from the same plant that supplies Toyota/Lexus, that is fine. But your comment encompassed ALL brands and that is simply not accurate.
FEBI Bilstein and Meyle used to be OEM suppliers to MB. Both of these parts manufacturers now make MB aftermarket parts in China and I won't touch them. I bought my 16 LS460 for the Toyota/Lexus build quality and standard. If it costs $2k-$3k in parts for the front suspension (from wholesale Toyota/Lexus suppliers - NOT from a dealer), I will gladly pay it because that is why I bought the car in the first place!
I couldn't find out who the OE was but Delphi was the one that has the same casting and measured the same durometer so I went with them.
The German cars have the info printed on or cast onto the parts so it's FAR easier to know exactly the plant and brand to buy. Lexus is cryptic as hell about it. With my W12s and 4.0 I know exactly who made all parts and exactly what to buy and it's easier and cheaper.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 18,373
Likes: 1,801
From: Ohio
Is that dealer prices or places like FCP? I like the layout of FCP and it does show the manufacturer on the part description. Figs sells a complete set of fronts for $1400, they are Mevotech and I've used their balljoints for my f350 and they look like good quality but I don't use that much so I'll never get a long term opinion.
The lower mains here are "only" $400 cdn each.
The lower mains here are "only" $400 cdn each.
Last edited by Striker223; Jan 12, 2025 at 01:23 PM.
Dysfunctional Veteran
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,103
Likes: 319
From: Van Alstyne, TX
I have done both uppers and lowers a few times on on 2008 (non-air, 2WD, SWB), and I have it down to where I can do all 8 in about 3 hours on the lift in my garage. When i first bought the car in 2018 with 83,000 miles from Park Place Lexus in Plano, TX, they told me it needed $14,000 worth of work. I fixed everything that was on their list, plus some things i found that they did not, with mostly aftermarket parts, at a cost of about $1,800.
The roads around here suck, so I have had the entire front suspension of my 460 apart more times than I care to admit. I replaced all 8 arms with cheap stuff from amazon in early '19. By early '20 they were knocking ans squeaking again, so I did it again, this time with polyurethane bushings from AutoAcer on Ebay. Could not get the creaking and squeaking from the poly bushings to stop, so I replaced with traditional rubber ones again (from ebay, think i payd like $150 for all 8), and all was well for about another year. Then I had to change tie-rods in early 2022. When I was changing the tie rod ends I noticed the bushings were cracked again. This time, I replaced them with MevoTech from Rockauto. At the same time, I replaced the sway bar links and bushings, and the lower ball joint thats pressed into the steering knuckle, along with both front struts with KYB OE equivalents and after reassembling the car and getting an alignment, aside from a slight rattle/knock (which is from the linkage on the AFS height sensor), the car is dead quiet and dead smooth. I think all 8 MevoTech arms in 2022 ran me about $500. Since then, the car has been smooth and quiet as it should be.
TL; DR-While there is little difference in longevity between Lexus parts and most aftermarket parts in the front end of these cars, spending more than $300 on a set of them is highly reccommended
The roads around here suck, so I have had the entire front suspension of my 460 apart more times than I care to admit. I replaced all 8 arms with cheap stuff from amazon in early '19. By early '20 they were knocking ans squeaking again, so I did it again, this time with polyurethane bushings from AutoAcer on Ebay. Could not get the creaking and squeaking from the poly bushings to stop, so I replaced with traditional rubber ones again (from ebay, think i payd like $150 for all 8), and all was well for about another year. Then I had to change tie-rods in early 2022. When I was changing the tie rod ends I noticed the bushings were cracked again. This time, I replaced them with MevoTech from Rockauto. At the same time, I replaced the sway bar links and bushings, and the lower ball joint thats pressed into the steering knuckle, along with both front struts with KYB OE equivalents and after reassembling the car and getting an alignment, aside from a slight rattle/knock (which is from the linkage on the AFS height sensor), the car is dead quiet and dead smooth. I think all 8 MevoTech arms in 2022 ran me about $500. Since then, the car has been smooth and quiet as it should be.
TL; DR-While there is little difference in longevity between Lexus parts and most aftermarket parts in the front end of these cars, spending more than $300 on a set of them is highly reccommended
Driver
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 73
Likes: 16
From: TN
aftermarket parts.
I used mevotech parts and have about 40000 miles only small hairline cracks so far ride is smooth no cluncking. I changed all at the same time. I did increase the preload. By 1/2 on both sides. Thinking speed bumps are the real issue here. So far so good. While I had the car in the air I observed the travel of these arms while having someone turn lock to lock. No noticeable bind. Thus I think speed bumps or potholes could be the culprit. I have a 2012 and used the 2013 parts from Rockauto.i did 1 additional thing that may help I increased the load range on my tires from 97 to 101 and this limited the body roll during cornering. I'm really thinking this helped it feels so much tighter. Lmk what you think about this change. I'd like know if anyone thinks this could help shes so heavy. But I like it like that. 😆
Last edited by Mastiffman; Jan 12, 2025 at 06:54 PM.
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2025
Posts: 281
Likes: 66
From: Australia
I used mevotech parts and have about 40000 miles only small hairline cracks so far ride is smooth no cluncking. I changed all at the same time. I did increase the preload. By 1/2 on both sides. Thinking speed bumps are the real issue here. So far so good. While I had the car in the air I observed the travel of these arms while having someone turn lock to lock. No noticeable bind. Thus I think speed bumps or potholes could be the culprit. I have a 2012 and used the 2013 parts from Rockauto.i did 1 additional thing that may help I increased the load range on my tires from 97 to 101 and this limited the body roll during cornering. I'm really thinking this helped it feels so much tighter. Lmk what you think about this change. I'd like know if anyone thinks this could help shes so heavy. But I like it like that. 😆
Measurements?
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 332
Likes: 104
From: Guelph, Ontario
Using a mix of NTY control arms and FEBEST ball joints. The NTY upper control arms that are two years old are holding up well and showing no signs of cracking after roughly 10,000km. I can also happily report that after changing all 8 control arms, both tie rods, and both sway bar end links - the Lexus glide has returned to the car.
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