acidstorm

Does anybody know a good place to buy upper control arms. 3 month ago my mechanic found them for 130, but was stupid not to buy them , now I really need them and I can not find them cheaper then 400.
Also how hard it is to change them?

SoCalSC4

I'd be interested to hear more about the symptoms that led to this discovery.

Lately, my 2000 GS400 has developed a "thump" in the front suspension-
the noise has progressively gotten worse over the last month. It occurs when
I turn a little left or right and over some (but not all) bumps.

I replaced the lower ball joints and tie rod ends last year, so I know those are okay.

I was just troubleshooting the car out in the driveway- I can duplicate the
thump when I tap the suspension upright or upper control arm with a
dead blow hammer.

Och

iTrader: (3)

The upper control arms has a ball joint, that is also often called "upper balljoint". You can't replace just the ball joint, its integrated into the arm, and you need to replace the whole thing, preferably both sides.

The ones that your mechanic found for $130 are aftermarket. You could probably find them at rockauto.com or even autozone for similar price, but I advise against it. Aftermarket ball joints WILL fail withing 10K miles you will end up doing the same repair twice. Take it from my experience, I replaced lower ball joints and steering rods on my LS with aftermarkets in 2006, and I have only put on around 10K since then. They are completely shot already, I just ordered replacements from Carson Toyota, will be replacing them soon.

acidstorm

Is it hard to change them? Is it possible to do it by yourself or I need to bring the car to mechanic?

lowKut

iTrader: (3)

I searched the entire CL>GS>Suspension forum and did not want to create a new post for this topic cause I know ppl would say something about searching.
Can someone please post a few websites/after market company that sells the upper control arm. The dealer price is $500 each, which I find ridiculous so I am hoping (fingers crossed) to find a better price online.

Thanks in advance folks,

Mark

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

I had this done last year at Lexus of Rockville Centre.. I will have to look at my bill since I had brake pads replaced at the same time.. The total bill including labor, parts, wheel alignment (which will be needed after the install) and the unrelated brake job was $1024.00..

lowKut

iTrader: (3)

Thanks Sean

4play4dr

ebay has em for bout $180 each side..i kno cuz i been searchin too..and thats the cheapest ive found

lowKut

iTrader: (3)

How confident are you purchasing those upper control arm from Ebay, anyone purchased got them from there before?

4play4dr

honestly..i wouldnt mind..its worth a shot to save a couple hundred..ive ordered a few things from ebay before and it cant be THAT much of a difference

lowKut

iTrader: (3)

PM me or post a link to the item page.

Thanks

lowKut

iTrader: (3)

FYI I thought you folks might be interested in knowing, don't know if it would be helpful to all but for me it was.

When I originally purchased my car approximately 4 years ago (not from a Lexus dealer) I purchase an extended warranty from a 3rd party company not the dealer where I bought the car, it is good for 7 years or 100,000 miles which ever occurs first.

The day I was going to order the upper control arm from Carson I saw I have the identification card in my wallet and decided to contact the company before I order the parts... I was told to take the car to a shop (any license shop) and they will send someone to inspect it. Well, the good news is they will cover $1109.80 for the parts and labor I am so ecstatic I had two long island ice tea just for this.

To those people who have a 3rd party warranty on their car and needed this part (upper control arm) replaced contact your claims department first... never hurt to try.

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

I just replaced mine this fall. It's an easy fix, just a MAJOR PITA to align the bolt to the nut.

I saw those eBay ones but something like an upper control arm and upper ball joint is NOT what I would trust eBay with. I contacted Aliga and R&J Dist and I got mine for under $200.

crap, here's my thread btw
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...placement.html

sam430

iTrader: (10)

I'm glad I found this thread.

Take a look at this...you be the guinee pig.




I haven't lowered my car yet...but this will fix camber issues too.

lexusscturbo

iTrader: (12)

I think you can press the uppers out according to Autofashion.