e-man

Hey guys. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea how bad. Basically, I had a loud clunking/clanking from the front right corner whenever I went over bumps. Also, when I would go up the curb at the front of the driveway, the entire front end would rock back and forth. I had Lexus take a look at it and the diagnosis was (no surprise here) a bad ball joint in the upper control arm. They wanted $950 to replace it, and told me that even though the front right was still good, they recommended I replace both sides (for a total of $1,600).

I bought the UCA from Sewell for $270 and had a local suspension shop install it for $130. The difference is night and day. It's like a brand new car (at least on that corner). I have the old control arm, and to say the ball joint has some play in it is an understatement. It's totally loose. I can move it around and in and out freely with my pinky. I can't imagine the force/stress that everyday driving put on it. It's a miracle that it didn't give way. The suspension shop told me that I was basically one hard bump away from failure. Uch.

Anyway, the point of this post is to let you know that if you have this problem, get it fixed. $400 is not a lot of money to ensure your safety. And, as a bonus, you get that tight solid ride back.

e

GS300ToM

iTrader: (32)

Yup good lookin out...

TeCKis300

Do you still have the old upper arm? I interested to see if it's geometry is similar to the IS300 unit as a possible upgrade. If you do, can I pay you shipping for it? Please PM me.

CircuitMS

iTrader: (51)

Wow, that sounds like one seriously shot control arm.

If you need to replace one in the future, SPC makes upper control arms with camber and caster adjustments, our CL member sale price is $375 shipped for the pair.