How to tell if lower control arms are bad

Took my car to the shop today for a pretty basic seal replacement and my mechanic came back to me with a huge bill saying I needed to replace my lower control arms. I said just replace the seal I came in for.

My question is how can I tell if the lower control arms need replaced. He took a pry bar and wiggled the bushings and there was play but I've never really dabbled in suspension work before and can't tell if he was serious.

For the price he was asking I could not justify the cost without investigating myself. How can you tell if the lower control arms need replaced?

 

It is not really something you want to break on you. Most notice a clunk or banging when they go over bumps. On these it is the lower ball joint and or the bushing mounts where it connects to the frame. Most shops want to replace them because they are known for the alignment tabs freezing up too. You can rebuild them but in most cases it is cheaper to just replace them. Look up the parts and see what that cost is and then you know what they are charging for labor. It is not all that tough of a job to replace with new. To rebuild you need a press and that is the deterrent to rebuilding yourself.

 

I'll listen for clunks/bumps when going over humps. I haven't noticed anything to this point but have also not been paying attention will monitor more close when I get the truck back.

 

Photos of suspected bad control arm amd ball joint if you don't mind

 

If the lower ball joints have over 100k on them they are most likely failing

Very dangerous if one breaks. Very. For you and those around you. At best you have a good bit of damage to the truck.

This is a known fail point on 1st gens, plenty of threads around to read about that and proper repairs and parts selection.

Be safe. Fix it.

 

Yeah, you do not want the lower ball joint failing. You can check this by simply jacking up the vehicle with the tire on and seeing if you have movement at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. If you have wobble there then you need to get them done. Google some pics of tacoma lower ball joint failure and you will understand.

 

Most likely your LCA bushings are going bad. They all go bad eventually. The bill is high because the shop is probably quoting entirely new control arms instead of just bushings, since the labor to replace the bushings will rival the cost of entire new preloaded arms. Not a horrible job to do yourself, its not a fun one though.

They can cause clunking, and issues holding an alignment. They are not the safety concern that LBJs are though.
Personally, if I wasn't having alignment issues or obnoxious front end clunking (and money isn't growing on trees) I wouldn't worry about it. They go bad gradually, they don't fail catastrophically without warning like an LBJ could.

I'd keep it in mind for the next time there is suspension work, which could be now anyway if the LBJs are in need.

 

So I got the LBJs replaced last June those are squared away. They are telling me it is specifically the LCA bushings.

 

Although those should probably be replace and can decrease the overall life of the surrounding suspension over time, that at least isn't a part that would fail and cause major damage or serious danger like the LBJ's would...you should get under there and do a good visual inspection, and like others said, jack it up and take a look...I'd set your phone up on video and see what everything is looking like as you move the wheel in different directions.

 

time623 right on point

the LCA doesnt fail unless bent(crash) or cracks(very unlikely)

the bushes pressed in the LCA's are what is a wearable part, hence shops request replacement

in most cases, you can use a press and only buy bushings(less $$ on parts).....but tons more work(more labor charge)
much easier(less labor charge) to just install new unit(more $$ on parts)

 

The book time is high for lower control arms on these trucks, because it requires removal or set back of the steering rack & pinion. It's not as easy as a 2nd or 3rd gen Tacoma.

I would definitely recommend OEM arms. Most shops will sell you aftermarket arms that won't last.

Maybe try to shop around, and maybe find a Toyota mechanic like myself that does side work. Then you can save money by buying the parts yourself instead of paying markup on parts.

 

I totally feel ya', I went to have the suspension diagnosed and they quoted me over 5K. They would have thrown cheap aftermarket LCA's, probably ring up the bill with discovered items, and cash the check.

Aside from the above the biggest issue you will experience with bad LCA bushings or even coilover/shock bushings it is just won't align properly (and all the issues that come with that.) There may be looseness and clunking/wobbly rattling, if it gets to that point it becomes a safety issue. Mine drove fine and showed no issues, it just wouldn't align. So . . . if it's not pulling and seems fine, drive it till it drops (or you can afford to do it yourself.) The ball joints are the "big deal."

The LCA's, as ControlCar mentioned, don't go bad/get bent unless you hit something really hard (I suspected this too.) To save money the bushings only can be pressed out and replaced. However . . . in my case I figured that would take an extra 6 hours of my time and I only had a three day weekend to pull it off. I'd have never made it. So you may very well want to replace the LCA's, by the time you get it all apart you're going to wish you were done and bushings are one less thing to do LOL . . .

In the meantime, when you save up/get to it, consider you're going to have it all apart and now would be the best time to replace a lot of high and age wear stuff. You didn't mention year but being in 1st gens all the rubber in that suspension is 20 years old, cracked or compressed, and needs replacing - outer TRE's, bushings, coilover hardware and shock bushings, all of this affects performance and (safe) handling. Throw in sway bar and rack bushings because they're cheap(er.) Consider the possibility you may want to replace the rack.

This may seem like a Debbie Downer but also consider it will drive like it's new when you're done. It was worth it for me.

Though you did ball joints not too long ago, I would suggest not re-using them. (Read up on here as to why.) For a stock configuration I would go OEM on the LCA's, ball joints and TRE's (and rack.) They don't make OEM coilovers/shocks any more, suspensionlifts.com was the best price I found with Bilstein shocks, Moog coilovers. I wound up doing it for around $1700, attached is my price comparison from 2023.

 

Perfectly Stated rocknbil ^^^^^

 

Will add this
Last weekend, I helped my neighbor with his 09 Silverado 9am to 3pm
Complete front end suspension OV
Went to his mechanic friend’s house
Mech helped him buy RA parts….. and got him to buy WAY above economy/daily driver grades
Holy Crap
The LCA’s were at least 2lbs heavier that stock and the loaded Koni struts seemed so much beefer/bigger….i thought they would not fit. I rode in the truck yesterday after he got an alignment……wow
Feels like a $110k MSRP new Chevy (meh)

what I’m saying…..you get what you pay for……especially at RA

tech tip:
Don’t even bother renting the Autozone inr tie rod remover tool. What a POS.
Used plumbing pipe wrench, those inners came out like butter.

 

Thanks all.

Truck is still at shop I'll be able to jack it up this weekend and get you all some photos.

To summarize what the group has been saying the ball joints are the critical component that fail catastrophically. The LCA bushings should be replaced when possible but are not as urgent as the ball joints.

Sounds like some of you say this is an easy job it just takes awhile? I got the time and a bunch of tools from working on my beater Subaru (I'm much more willing to work on this one because I care way less if a break it lol). This would be my first suspension job for those who have done it do you think this one is too complex for my first suspension job? Or is good for a first timer? I think I found a Youtube video on how to replace these bushing and drop the rack and pinion

 

Truck is an 04 3.4L V6. - TRD off road as well for extra context

 

Simple, would imagine the rubber around your lower balljoint, & rubber around lower control arm bushings are shot...
Simply crawl under it & take a peak...
Dont need a prybar, just a flashlight....

You dont need to jack it up to take a look.

 

Maybe I missed it, but how many miles are on your truck?

 

Oh it's anything but easy. :-D The procedures are simple but definitely not an easy job. Suspension work on any car is brutal. See the link in my post above, you need a big ass hammer, impact wrench, at least two cans of PB Blaster, may need to rent pullers, and tons of persistence. Most of the time is spent just getting things apart. Forgot to mention, be sure to mark the cam adjusting bolts before pulling them, if they are seized they will probably require replacement but mine came out pretty clean (that's an additional $200+ right there.)

 

Holy spreadsheets! I wonder how many of the upper cost echelon BAT 1st gen sales have 100% oem replacement parts. These are silly things I think about.