bad control arms/need advise - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

carpetguy00 · 05-25-2010, 10:34 PM

OK so Ive been hearing a clanking sound from the front end since Ive had the car-3 months (just rolled over to 100k!!!) . I think i found the problem. The rubber bushing on the control arms is bad. On the driver side, it looks like the rubber is completely separated from the arm, and the passenger doesnt look so much better. And the price for both of them from OReillys: $280... I was looking around on

.com and they have new bushings for $58 looks like u can buy instead of the entire arm.... Is there a certain brand that good?

what do you guys recommend? And should I replace the ball joints while im there? (they look pretty damn tight..)

another thing: im oozing a little oil behind the timing belt, and im losing trans fluid too. not much. it appears it may be coming out of where the cv shaft goes into the trans. has this seal been known to fail??

Nervous · 05-25-2010, 10:53 PM

I would replace whole control arm along with the ball joint. Beck/Arnley brand is very good. rockauto.com sells control arms with ball joints included for just $108 (beck/arnley).

***JohnGD*** · 05-25-2010, 10:56 PM

Yes, you can buy these bushings and press them in/out. Toyota doesn't sell them, but Raybestos ones are made in Japan. Unless you go for urethane ones that may squeak from time to time. Check rockauto.com for prices. Rent tools from Autozone's free loaner program (of course they would love for you to buy from them too).

(New) ball joints should have some preload. So they may seem tight but should not be binding. 120-150K miles is where I'd do them, but judge based on parts and driving conditions.

The differential axle seals can fail (harden and leaking) and wear a deep groove into the axle (worn out). If that's the case new seals won't help. But at 100K miles with regular differential fluid changes, I would think the former is the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpetguy00

OK so Ive been hearing a clanking sound from the front end since Ive had the car-3 months (just rolled over to 100k!!!) . I think i found the problem. The rubber bushing on the control arms is bad. On the driver side, it looks like the rubber is completely separated from the arm, and the passenger doesnt look so much better. And the price for both of them from OReillys: $280... I was looking around on

.com and they have new bushings for $58 looks like u can buy instead of the entire arm.... Is there a certain brand that good?

what do you guys recommend? And should I replace the ball joints while im there? (they look pretty damn tight..)

another thing: im oozing a little oil behind the timing belt, and im losing trans fluid too. not much. it appears it may be coming out of where the cv shaft goes into the trans. has this seal been known to fail??

johnjan · 07-10-2010, 11:14 AM

How do you replace the whole control arm? Is it easy? Are there any DIY instructions available?

peshwa · 07-10-2010, 12:15 PM

I went for Moog ball joints and Moog Control Arm bushings from Rockauto.com.
Great price on the Moog's! I paid like $30 to press out the old and press in the new bushings at a local machine shop. This stiffened my steering quite a bit.
I also added a Strut Tower Brace aka strut bar to stiffen up my steering and improve steering response. This has helped a lot so far :-)
For the passenger side Control arm I used the Moog but for driver side i just bought a brand new control arm bushing from Amazon.com
Here is the link. They have an absolutely amazing price and the manufacturer is Dorman and made in Taiwan.

Amazon

For $54.00

The cost of buying new control arm bushings+ pressing out in new CA bushings is far more than 54.00 that Amazon sells a new Control arm for :-)
Its actually very easy to change control arm especially if you have worked on cars before.

johnjan · 07-10-2010, 01:14 PM

Thanks, Peshwa!

So far I have just done elementary things with my car like oil change, spark plugs, rocker valve gaskets, wiper motor, etc.
But I do have a technical backgound. Would Haynes have the control arm replacement guidelines?

peshwa · 07-11-2010, 02:27 AM

If you have access to printer just print a manual from this URL online (only applies to Gen3 camry though!)
http://www.**********s.com/camry/

Look for a PDF file named sa.pdf on the web page and download it. You will find tons of information on how to remove a Control Arm, tie rod end etc. Gen 4 should be very similar.
It should not take you more than 45 mins to remove the arm and put a new one back in.
All the best!

***projektvertx*** · 07-11-2010, 08:31 AM

Just a little FYI, changing the control arm bushings is a major pain in my experience. You will probably have to keep the car out of commission for several hours/one day to get a machine shop to press the bushings in. Changing the whole control arm is just soooo much easier...

If you do decide to get just the bushings, advance auto parts has moog's for 52$ a side. They always have a million coupons that you can apply and it will turn out to be much cheaper.

If you decide to get the whole control arm, I would get part #'s and brands from rockauto and check amazon. Last I checked for my car, I could get the whole control arm for ~65$

As for the ball joints, I would do them now, while you have the control arm off, since it's much easier to access them. One thing to look out for: some aftermarket brand ball joints are greasable. That means you will have to take a grease gun every so often and lube them up. I would buy OEM from a website like toyotapartsoutlet.com or partznet.com and save yourself the hassle in the long run

IIRC, OEM shouldn't be much more expensive than aftermarket on any of the above mentioned website...