I'm new to the Club Lexus family and eager to contribute some of the things I've learned about my 2009 AWD! I do have a question about control arms that have me scratching my head. Are the control arms exactly the same between the AWD and RWD platforms? It seems that most parts listings are only listed for RWD. I do plan to replace all of them in the very near future. Any suggestions?

 

Unfortunately the control arms for the AWD LS are not the same as the RWD LS. It sucks because there are some very affordable aftermarket control arms for the RWD LS but there is little aftermarket support for the AWD LS now. You may want to wait until there are some decent affordable AWD control arms for the LS before you change them which will save you a bunch of money or you can try to just change out or have someone change out the bushings instead of the whole control arm.

 

Udel, thanks for the information. I was concerned that the all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive or different. I can certainly wait on some of the arms but may have to look into some bushings.

 

vegasdave - unfortunately we are sol on the bushings too for awd as they are different than rwd bushings, that is actually the only difference between awd and rwd parts is the bushing are different otherwise they look dead on, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

A member above mentioned that the only RWD AWD difference is the bushings, does this mean the ball joints are the same? I'm asking because I'm about to replace all front bushings and ball joints but if I can get the RWD arms and just swap the bushings I think I'd rather spend the extra rather than remove and press ball joints hoping I don't damage them.