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Moog definitely has a good reputation in the aftermarket parts world.
Yeah Moog has a decent reputation, so does Doorman, AcDelco, Beck Arnley (even though I've had bad luck with them), Standard, many many more. There seems to be quite a few new names that have popped up online and on eBay over the years. You kind of get what you pay for. World Pack generally is OE parts rebranded to parts stores - from what I've been told by part store owners - and I have had good luck with them.
I'm hoping to find someone that will do this for me. I had a shop quote me about $350 per control arm (need 4), plus the cost of labor.
Find a different shop or order after market ones and just see what the labor cost will be. You should be able to get a full set for around $350 or even less if you look around. If you have a jack and the right basic tools and follow the videos/DIY's it may not be too bad.
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.
how did the MEVOTECH's work out? would you recommend those instead?
I'm going to tackle my front control arms next week. Just to make sure, indexing the control arms while the car is resting on the ground is so that I know how much to jack up the the front hub before tightening everything so as not too stress the bushings?
I'm going to tackle my front control arms next week. Just to make sure, indexing the control arms while the car is resting on the ground is so that I know how much to jack up the the front hub before tightening everything so as not too stress the bushings?
Just an update on the control arms (pictures above), at 10,000 miles they seem to be doing ok with a mixture of aftermarket parts (Beck Arnley and Mevotech). There is some slight surface cracking, I'd consider that some what normal at 10,000 miles (and seeing how they spent the majority of their lives driving this winter).
They are functioning normal...no noises or looseness.
The wheel bearing that I replaced failed (Beck Arnley part). The wheel bearing only lasted 6,000 miles, I replaced it with a Koyo, which was much more expensive and supposedly an OE replacement part.
I’m going to do an experiment, I will saturate all my rubber parts over a few days with aerospace 303i, I already use it on all my leather plastic and rubber so we shall see how magic it really is...the way sweet project cars on YouTube talks about it... lol
So here's a thought, I've got to do my control arms because the vibration is driving me crazy and Lexus dealer in Dallas wants $4610 to do mine. Reading the opinions of everyone on the site, and if DoubleBase is correct about the frequency of the change out of the arms, then why in the world spend more than you have to? I typically don't buy the "Economy" parts on rockauto, but I've started trying a few out (hub Bearings to start) and I've been impressed.
The eight economy control arms from Ultra-Power are $300 for my 2007 LS460. Why spend double or triple for something that is going to fail so frequently on this model car?
So here's a thought, I've got to do my control arms because the vibration is driving me crazy and Lexus dealer in Dallas wants $4610 to do mine. Reading the opinions of everyone on the site, and if DoubleBase is correct about the frequency of the change out of the arms, then why in the world spend more than you have to? I typically don't buy the "Economy" parts on rockauto, but I've started trying a few out (hub Bearings to start) and I've been impressed.
The eight economy control arms from Ultra-Power are $300 for my 2007 LS460. Why spend double or triple for something that is going to fail so frequently on this model car?
Here's the RockAuto screenshot...
its the bushings that fail, I kid you not i think if you protected the rubber or silicone before install and torque at right height might last longer
Well after some considerable review this weekend, I think I'm going to go with MevoTech control arms from RockAuto. Seems that they changed their warranty to a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" compared to 12, 36, or 60 month warranties from others. I think that speaks volumes. I'm ordering mine today.
So JdanielCA, I'm listening...how would you "protect" the rubber?
Well after some considerable review this weekend, I think I'm going to go with MevoTech control arms from RockAuto. Seems that they changed their warranty to a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" compared to 12, 36, or 60 month warranties from others. I think that speaks volumes. I'm ordering mine today.
So JdanielCA, I'm listening...how would you "protect" the rubber?
I'd probably take a look into what their "limited" lifetime warranty actually includes/excludes, because I'm sure they're going to try to cover themselves.
In all honesty if I could do it over again I'd buy aftermarket control arms from a reputable local parts store. The price might by better than people think and you can ask them exactly what the warranty on the parts are going to be, then you just hold on to that receipt and you're good. I find that local parts stores stand by their parts simply because it's their reputation. And it's also very convenient to be able to quickly return something. I started doing this the last couple years with my LS...I was able to return a battery, a wheel bearing...eventually I began buying my control arms off of them but I traded the car in before I ever had to return them. Speaking of that...I still have lower ball joints, a wheel bearing and maybe a control arm in my basement. I probably should put them on eBay or something. Lol.
Well after some considerable review this weekend, I think I'm going to go with MevoTech control arms from RockAuto. Seems that they changed their warranty to a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" compared to 12, 36, or 60 month warranties from others. I think that speaks volumes. I'm ordering mine today.
So JdanielCA, I'm listening...how would you "protect" the rubber?
i mentioned it in the post before that, aerospace 303 watch sweet project cars on YouTube on protecting and conditioning rubber, when I buy the bushings I’ll saturate the rubber on both sides with 303 make sure it soaks in there over a few days until I figure it’s soaked through, wipe off any access, just making sure it’s saturated then maybe cover the exposed parts with honda shinetsu silicone gel just a light coating to seal it up even more. This I think would eliminate environmental degradation of the rubber.
So I wish I had been a little more patient and listened to Doublebase. Was reviewing the pics and reading other comments, and decided to just check local parts stores I have here via online for my own curiosity. Kinda wish I hadn't. AutoZone here locally is selling the "DuraLast" brand, which comes with a Limited Lifetime warranty like MevoTech. With their 20% February special and free shipping to home address, I could have ordered and had the parts shipped to my home for about $57 more than RockAuto. Then to DoubleBase's point, if/when they go out, just take that control arm off and run to the local AutoZone store for a replacement vs shipping it into MevoTech and then counting the down time to wait for your replacement. Dang! Too late for me, but others reading this post, do a little more searching and calling before pulling the trigger.
06-13-18, 01:51 AM
