I did my control arms today (some pictures, etc)
#46
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Just helped a friend do the lower rears today, and it was MUCH easier than the 1st time learning curve when I did it to mine. Few pointers:
- If the bolt holding the sway bar link spins, have a 6mm allen wrench to hold the bolt while using a pass-through socket or open wrench to loosen it.
- If you're still having trouble removing the long bolt near the inner tie rod, after having someone rotate the wheel all the way to the opposite direction, insert a medium length flathead or dowel and hammer it out. If done correctly, it won't abrade the boot and the long bolt pops right out.
- Get a cordless impact wrench rated at least 300 ft/lb. I had used mine out of curiosity and it shortened my work time to 30 mins each side. most of the time spent was getting the bottom bolt out of and into the control arm near the hub. Everything else was cake.
- If the bolt holding the sway bar link spins, have a 6mm allen wrench to hold the bolt while using a pass-through socket or open wrench to loosen it.
- If you're still having trouble removing the long bolt near the inner tie rod, after having someone rotate the wheel all the way to the opposite direction, insert a medium length flathead or dowel and hammer it out. If done correctly, it won't abrade the boot and the long bolt pops right out.
- Get a cordless impact wrench rated at least 300 ft/lb. I had used mine out of curiosity and it shortened my work time to 30 mins each side. most of the time spent was getting the bottom bolt out of and into the control arm near the hub. Everything else was cake.
#47
Pole Position
Thread Starter
It's been a year and 29,000 miles since I did this repair and I must say that the after market parts have held up wonderfully. As I write this I'm sitting here snowed in - just like last year when I said to myself...hey this would be a perfect day to do the control arms.
I must say that at the time I ordered the parts and did the control arms I wasn't exactly pleased about it. I have somewhat unrealistic expectations about this car and to do any sort of repair whatsoever kind of bugged me a little bit. But it's been a full year and after another 29,000 miles of driving I've only had to put a blower motor into this car. Not bad. I would have liked to say I did nothing to it - and if the blower motor had made it one more week before failing - I could have. But what are you going to do? That's a lot of driving. Hopefully I'll be able to come back to this thread a year from now and write that nothing needed replacement (wouldn't surprise me all that much, the first two years I owned this car nothing broke). 143,000 miles and counting.
I must say that at the time I ordered the parts and did the control arms I wasn't exactly pleased about it. I have somewhat unrealistic expectations about this car and to do any sort of repair whatsoever kind of bugged me a little bit. But it's been a full year and after another 29,000 miles of driving I've only had to put a blower motor into this car. Not bad. I would have liked to say I did nothing to it - and if the blower motor had made it one more week before failing - I could have. But what are you going to do? That's a lot of driving. Hopefully I'll be able to come back to this thread a year from now and write that nothing needed replacement (wouldn't surprise me all that much, the first two years I owned this car nothing broke). 143,000 miles and counting.
#48
Lexus Fanatic
Weather has socked me in too, so my CA's are gathering dust in the garage (where there's no room for my LS). LOL. Ah well, better weather is just around the corner.....
#49
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Well just a little update on my aftermarket control arms, after two years and 60,000 miles of driving, my upper driver side control arms are wiped out.
The bushing is torn in one of them and the ball joints are destroyed on BOTH of them. I'm getting all sorts of little clunks from them, especially when braking.
The control arms i used were Beck Arnley and Mevotech.
Personally I'm staying the hell away from anything with the Beck Arnley name on it...don't care what it is, I'll never buy another thing from them. The Beck Arnley wheel bearing I put in only lasted me 7,000 miles. 7,000 miles!! And the control arms lasted 60,000.
Overall I'm still pleased with my aftermarket control arm experience because I saved a boat load of money not going OE, but make no mistake, these cars have horrendous front end suspension designs.
The bushing is torn in one of them and the ball joints are destroyed on BOTH of them. I'm getting all sorts of little clunks from them, especially when braking.
The control arms i used were Beck Arnley and Mevotech.
Personally I'm staying the hell away from anything with the Beck Arnley name on it...don't care what it is, I'll never buy another thing from them. The Beck Arnley wheel bearing I put in only lasted me 7,000 miles. 7,000 miles!! And the control arms lasted 60,000.
Overall I'm still pleased with my aftermarket control arm experience because I saved a boat load of money not going OE, but make no mistake, these cars have horrendous front end suspension designs.
#50
Lexus Fanatic
Keep in mind that OEM was the issue in the first place. That's why we're all going through this replacement.
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Ogun360 (03-22-21)
#51
Lexus Fanatic
All Lexus Indy’s I’ve spoken with (LexTech, Charleston SC / Hudson Import, Mount Pleasant SC) say OEM is by far the better option and both claimed “do it once, or I’ll see you in 50,000 miles to do them again”. Over 100 LS control arm jobs done between them.
There might not be any single correct answer just my two cents.
In fairness, do these indy's frequent these forums? Do they know of the abnormal issues we're experiencing in our LS's? If so, why would they recommend going with OEM? Just wondering....I'm not harassing you.
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Ogun360 (03-22-21)
#52
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I probably should have added - or at least made clear - that I definitely believe that after market is the way to go with these control arms, simply due to cost. For me to purchase 8 factory control arms for this car would run me somewhere around $1,600 bucks. I'd have to replace after market control arms three times to reach that figure, and like roadfrog said, a lot of these companies offer warranties. I don't think mine had lifetime warranties.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
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Ogun360 (03-22-21)
#53
Driver
I probably should have added - or at least made clear - that I definitely believe that after market is the way to go with these control arms, simply due to cost. For me to purchase 8 factory control arms for this car would run me somewhere around $1,600 bucks. I'd have to replace after market control arms three times to reach that figure, and like roadfrog said, a lot of these companies offer warranties. I don't think mine had lifetime warranties.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
#54
Lexus Fanatic
I probably should have added - or at least made clear - that I definitely believe that after market is the way to go with these control arms, simply due to cost. For me to purchase 8 factory control arms for this car would run me somewhere around $1,600 bucks. I'd have to replace after market control arms three times to reach that figure, and like roadfrog said, a lot of these companies offer warranties. I don't think mine had lifetime warranties.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
This is what I'm planning/expecting in the future. I'm expecting to have to replace my upper control arms with aftermarket parts every two years. Without a warranty that will cost me around $200 every two years. Not bad. And it's such a quick and easy replacement to do the uppers. I believe the uppers take most of the abuse - I've changed the bottoms and honestly they didn't even need it - but the uppers?? They seem to get pounded because of the geometry of the suspension. They get wiped out very quickly. Even the OE's don't last much longer than 100k.
But this what happens to cars, the only reason why it's a big deal with the LS460 is because if cost. Every car on the road goes through ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings and links, control arms, struts. This is normal.
#55
Pole Position
Thread Starter
And I'm not replacing all 8 control arms, I'm past that phase of...let's replace everything, I want the car to feel just like new. I'm replacing what is needed, that's it. Upper control arms...maybe two...maybe all four...maybe one...maybe three. Right now I have two that are bad after 60,000 miles of driving.
Last edited by Doublebase; 03-02-18 at 01:26 PM.
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Ogun360 (03-22-21)
#56
Pole Position
Thread Starter
#57
Lexus Fanatic
Exaclty, I am putting 30,000 miles on my car per year. That's a lot of driving. Not really sure where you're from but where I am driving through the winters around here is like driving on the surface of the moon. Plows create holes so big in the roads that it's not uncommon to blow the tire right off the rim. Picture hitting a 100 of those on the way to work everyday - now some are only an inch or two deep - but when you hit them going 40-50 mph, it takes its toll. Add in the frost heaves, ice, sliding while braking. It stresses the hell out of your front end.
And I'm not replacing all 8 control arms, I'm past that phase of...let's replace everything, I want the car to feel just like new. I'm replacing what is needed, that's it. Upper control arms...maybe two...maybe all four...maybe one...maybe three. Right now I have two that are bad after 60,000 miles of driving.
#58
Need all 8 after 1 year...parts are covered from rock auto but I won’t go with Dorman again...
what at would you suggest?
maveotech or Moog...I know your not going with B n A ever...lol
thanks...
what at would you suggest?
maveotech or Moog...I know your not going with B n A ever...lol
thanks...
#60
Pole Position
Thread Starter
With mine I ended up replacing the uppers agin after 50/60k miles or so. Very very easy to do, and parts are readily available (and cheap). The lowers seem to hold up much much better and don't take anywhere near the abuse.
I ended up trading the car in at 178,000 miles...miss that car quite a bit. I still have parts in my garage I've been meaning to put on eBay, lol. I have a right front wheel bearing, ball joints and a right front forward facing upper control arm. The wheel bearing is from BA, warrantied. The arm I bought in a pair (which I didn't need). And the ball joints I bought because I thought I needed them (I didn't). They all are making great paper weights now...probably end up using them as center pieces at my daughter' wedding gen years from now.
Last edited by Doublebase; 06-13-18 at 01:55 AM.