Lower Control arms and why I went with OEM

Stock ones lasted me 240k miles and I want to do the repair once.

Lots we claiming after market were lasting only 30-60k like moog and detroit axle.

There are a lot of posts about bushing failure (i.e. crumbling within 10s of thousands of miles) with aftermarket LCAs.

I dont off road much so no need for fancy ones with my 3rd gen shocks n coils.

saw 560.00 for the pair shipped from a dealer online and ordered them.

 

There's very little reason to get aftermarket lowers, unless going LT. The OEM lowers are well-built. Just make sure you antisieze the hardware.

 

Agreed on OEM LCAs. Even better if you upgrade to poly bushings from Whiteline when it's time to rebuild

 

I took the gamble with the Moog LCAs and a year and a half / 15k miles and still going good. Moog seems to have a bad rep on this forum, but I haven't run into any issues in the past and present. Only time will tell. I didn't have the money for OEM's at the time and one of my lower shock bolts seized up in the OEM LCA requiring me to cut out the bolt. I ended up messing up the shock mounting tabs and needed a new LCA.

 

waiting for delivery

 

I wish I did this when I replaced this winter. They way I see it the MOOG's I have in there now are just a band-aid. I'll likely replace with OEM this winter.

 

so I’m new and this is my first post. I just had an icon stage 3 installed on my truck. And then went to align it and the caster bolt on the passenger side seized up. They quoted me at $650 just to replace one side with a bolt and bushing. Is that a reasonable price for instal and parts? I’m not too familiar with the truck yet I’m learning. Just want to know I’m not getting over charged. Thanks for any information.

 

Just got new OEM LCA & Eccentrics. Pricey but worth it!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

I may have a passenger side OEM LCA for sale. Its bare, so you would need bushings and the lower ball joint. Ive used Moog bushings and ball joints in the past, and have had 0 issues. Even the ball joint is greasable.

The bolt new is about $60. The bushing is around $60 as well. $500 in labor seems high to me, but I also try to do alot of my own work, so my numbers are very thrown off.

I will need to verify that it is the passenger side, and then I could sell/ship it to you for a very reasonable cost.

Also, Ill have a pair of OEM LCAs that I got with my new frame, for sale soon - with all bushings

 

You can get the SPC branded bolts for about $50, and the bushing may only be bad if they tried torching the bolt and damaged the bushing. But they are cheap too. Its the labor if they have to pull the lower control arm out to replace the bushing that will get you. The entire new lower control arm OEM is about $300 with bushings and ball joint installed. Whiteline bushings ( considered better than Toyota brand By most) Are about $120 per truck side. I guess it comes down to do you have more time or more money? Doing it yourself is an great way to learn about your vehicle and help be able to make repairs down the road, and also save some money. But its not for everyone. Doing my own work has been incredibly satisfying and given me tremendous confidence in my vehicles and my ability to go places and get myself out of sticky situations.

 

Ive heard the SPC bolts are not good. They dont hold the alignment. OEM is best in this case, just need to use plenty of anti-seize

 

Good to know. I just bought some lightly used in case I cannot get my oem ones out. Been shooting them with PB Blaster every once in a while getting ready to do the job in the next 2-3 weeks. Like everything OEM bolt sets are pricey.

 

get some of this too

 

always!

 

OEM hardware only for the LCA.

 

just wondering what online dealer you used to get your LCAs? I'm looking to replace mine on a 2010 closing in on 185k miles.

 

found used oem lca's on ebay for 300 a pair

 

McGeorge Toyota Parts. Arguably the best prices and shipping costs

 

Having just done this replacement here is my two cents: My factory LCA's only lasted 50k with a parking lot queen (ball joint failure.) Odd, and according to my Toyota mechanic friend rare. I went with factory for the same reasons given above (despite the early death of the originals.) I was able to get mine for @ $230 each from the dealership. Very easy to do with a minimum of tools.

My truck is clean and rust free, but one of the cam bolts was seized. I had to cut it out and replace. Doable job-there are several articles on TW about how to do it. Make sure you have a short metal cutting blade for a sawzall (all I had were loooong bimetal blades and it was a PIA.) Big hammer is also helpful. Use the factory parts they are better in my opinion. You can buy individual sides and even separate front or back. Also, they are not terribly expensive; I recall the the front being only around $30 (although to buy them all seems that way.) As stated above use grease or anti seize. my guess is it will all was out over time, but this extends the usable interval-why Toyota did not make these grease-able is beyond me!

Whole thing took about 4 hours because of the cam bolt. Truck was out for three days because the cam bolt had to be ordered. I looked into changing the ball joints, but I did not have a big enough press and ambition to try. It can be done, but with the mixed review of Moog, and the fact that it is NOT a Toyota option I opted for the whole LCA. UCA's came from a 3rd gen take off (800 miles!) as well as the struts. New front end!