Front lower control arm options
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
From: New London, CT
Front lower control arm options I am looking into new front lower control arms since one of mine is shot.
Pretty much I am looking for the best route here... should I just switch out the ball joints and bushings (if so, is that a p.i.t.a.)? Or is it easier to just buy some new ones (aftermarket or stock)?
My car is a daily driver, so I need something that won't become an annoyance...
Pretty much I am looking for the best route here... should I just switch out the ball joints and bushings (if so, is that a p.i.t.a.)? Or is it easier to just buy some new ones (aftermarket or stock)?
My car is a daily driver, so I need something that won't become an annoyance...
I am looking into new front lower control arms since one of mine is shot.
Pretty much I am looking for the best route here... should I just switch out the ball joints and bushings (if so, is that a p.i.t.a.)? Or is it easier to just buy some new ones (aftermarket or stock)?
My car is a daily driver, so I need something that won't become an annoyance...
Pretty much I am looking for the best route here... should I just switch out the ball joints and bushings (if so, is that a p.i.t.a.)? Or is it easier to just buy some new ones (aftermarket or stock)?
My car is a daily driver, so I need something that won't become an annoyance...
Our AA002 Lower A-Arms
Let me know if you have any questions!
- Kevin
Last edited by BMR Tech2; Feb 22, 2012 at 02:03 PM. Reason: **7 lbs, not 8***
If your "New England winters" are anything like the "western New York winters" I've lived through for the last 50+ years, I'd suggest something else.. I personally feel that the Heim ends that are used in there aftermarket A-arms won't stand up too well to any road salt that might be used on the roads. Also, I've found through personal experience, that rod-ended suspension components transmit too much shock to the car's chassis, if the roads are rough and beat up from the cold weather.
Again, I'm not criticizing any company's suspension components, just being cautionary, since these parts are designed for a specific purpose, and I don't thing dealing with beat-up, frost-heaved roads, is one of them. In other words, if I lived in a state that had smooth roads, I'd be all over them, but since I don't, I stayed with the OE style rubber bushed A-arms and LCAs. I don't like the "mushy" feel of the rubber bushings, but they handle road shocks a lot better.
Just my $0.02 worth.
The real problem, most likely, will be the "caster" bolt, the vertical bolt at the rear of the arm, because it frequently rusts itself to the steel center shaft of the rubber bushing. This makes removing the bolt difficult, and it does need to be removed, in order to get the arm off. It's located in a tight area to work in, which compounds the problem.
The other things that have to be removed are the other pivot bolt of the a-arm at the front of the arm, as well as the sway bar link.
PB Blaster will be your friend.....Good luck!
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TECH Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 323
Likes: 0
From: ny
i bought a bunch of tubular parts from 2 different sponsor company on here that i wont mention. and the parts were truley awesome and i loved every minute of them how ever after DD the car for 2 winters just about all the powder coat was gone and adjusting them was even further out of the realm of possibility.
im not saying the parts were bad in any way(because they werent) but they just weren't meant to hold up to new england winters in their out of the box coating the powder wasnt hard... it was gummy? ive never seen powder like that and i spray it twice a week.
i removed these parts, completely disassembled them sand blasted them and painted them like i would a car and havent had a prob since.
im not saying the parts were bad in any way(because they werent) but they just weren't meant to hold up to new england winters in their out of the box coating the powder wasnt hard... it was gummy? ive never seen powder like that and i spray it twice a week.
i removed these parts, completely disassembled them sand blasted them and painted them like i would a car and havent had a prob since.
i bought a bunch of tubular parts from 2 different sponsor company on here that i wont mention. and the parts were truley awesome and i loved every minute of them how ever after DD the car for 2 winters just about all the powder coat was gone and adjusting them was even further out of the realm of possibility.
im not saying the parts were bad in any way(because they werent) but they just weren't meant to hold up to new england winters in their out of the box coating the powder wasnt hard... it was gummy? ive never seen powder like that and i spray it twice a week.
i removed these parts, completely disassembled them sand blasted them and painted them like i would a car and havent had a prob since.
im not saying the parts were bad in any way(because they werent) but they just weren't meant to hold up to new england winters in their out of the box coating the powder wasnt hard... it was gummy? ive never seen powder like that and i spray it twice a week.
i removed these parts, completely disassembled them sand blasted them and painted them like i would a car and havent had a prob since.
Good comments, but I would tend to ask the big question...How smooth are the roads where you live?
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 323
Likes: 0
From: ny
some roads are pretty good but any city roads around here are horrible i hit bump stop often in the rear and i dont go over 25. but i replaced my control arms when my stock bushing were shot so going from shot stockers to new poly really wasnt bad at all it felt much better because it felt stable again
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 323
Likes: 0
From: ny
they are stronger than stockers and allow for more adjustment plus 7 pounds of unsprung weight doesnt seem like much but it makes a difference with tire to road contact so better grip over bumpy roads or even roads that dont feel bumpy...
Well said bwkmaro. Many offer more adjustment, but not all. Although maybe you meant offer as in "one can choose to buy the amount of adjustment they so desire." Also, most correct for popular lowering by tweaking the upper balljoint by 3 degrees. Stiffness is also a benefit for controlling suspension movement: less deflection.
