lower ball joints/control arms

Hi guys. Just getting some other opinions/thoughts. This is such a great community, I came here first!

2012 SR5 4 wheel drive, 120k miles. Bought it a year ago for my son with 109k miles on it. I had heard some creaking this winter when my son or I sat in the driver seat, and then I swear on the highway the steering started feeling a tiny bit loose last week. I took it to our local shop that is loved by the locals for being honest (we live in a resort town). I thought the shocks were probably shot and asked them to check all the front suspension out as well as check out the brakes while they had it. I told them my plan was to let my son upgrade the shocks with Bilstein 5100s so he could get a small lift that would accommodate new rims and tires that this shop also sells.

They had it up on the lift for a few hours, as well as taking it out and driving it. They said the brakes were fine, shocks were actually fine, but I should not proceed with new Bilsteins/rims/tires because the lower ball joints/control arms were near the end of their life, and is what was causing the problems I reported. To replace them will be $1190. They said if 10 was the worst condition, these were at an 8, and they asked me how I wanted to proceed, and if I wanted to replace them now, or wait.

We live out west where prices are known to be higher across the board. Is this a reasonable price, and has anyone else replaced these around 120k on their Tacoma? Other than it is seems like a low mileage for them to be toasted, I think it sounds legit, and am planning on okaying the work in the morning, especially since they would have made a lot more selling me the Bilsteins/rims/tires, but I have a friend who is looking out for me and wanting me to shop around. Thought I would bounce it off you guys in case I am being stupid to proceed. If it helps, the going labor rate is around $90 or $100 at independent shops out here. Offroad speciality shops charge $120/hr. Not sure what dealers charge- I tried to call two different ones and after being on hold for 30 minutes was told to leave a message.

Also, if I go this route, are there any aftermarket brands of ball joint/control arms that I should avoid?

Thanks!
Angie

 

I replaced mine at 200k miles with some $300 aftermarket ones, within a month they were trash. I am on 35s but still. Best way is to try and find used Toyota ones with somewhat low miles

 

I know some people buy new white line bushings and moog lower ball joints and rebuild them but it looks like a huge pain

 

Ya, single mom here.... definitely agree it is a huge pain! This is for the shop, no doubt. I can do minor stuff, and have even taught my son a few things, but even if I tried, my tools aren't enough for this project. My rechargeable impact wrench wouldn't cut it! Gotta hire this one out, I am afraid. I have heard Moog is one of the good ones, though. Thank you!!!

 

Moog used to be top notch when it came to aftermarket replacement parts. Since the change in ownership a few years ago though, that's not always the case. I'm not saying their stuff is all junk (like Dorman), but depending on the particular part, it's hit and miss.

If you want my personal opinion, OEM Toyota is the absolute best quality - but you're going to pay a premium for it. As has already been said, if you can find a decent set of used OEM LCA's in the classifieds here, that might be a good way to go. The other thing you want to think about is how much longer your son is going to be driving this particular truck and what kind of driving he does. If he doesn't go off-road often and isn't going to put another 100,000 miles on the truck, Moog might be a good bet.

 

I recently replaced both my lowers with Napa certified rebuilds. A local shop here, who I trust, recommended them. They were cheaper than OEM, and carry a lifetime warranty.

 

I just replaced upper and lower ball joints , and CV axles, both sides, on my ‘09. 240k miles. Took 3.5 hours for everything. I did have a very experienced set of hands helping me. Fairly easy job with the right tools.

I went with MOOG ball joints. $100 for all 4 from Amazon.

$1200 is just to replace lower ball joints??? If so, sounds steep to me, but not sure what the book time calls for. If they’re quoting $200 in parts $1000 labor @ $120/hr that’s just over 8 hours. 4 hours per ball joint?

 

I would believe them that the lower ball joints are shot. What most people do is just replace the whole lower control arm at that point because the bushings will be wearing out as well. You have a couple of options for replacement and it just depends on what you want to spend. Depending on how long you want to keep this truck, I would go OEM. You got a decade out of the current OEM ones, so what's an extra few hundred to get another decade out of these.

Moog sells complete replacements for ~$110 per arm last I checked. A lot of people run them with good luck but being aftermarket, it's always a little bit of a crapshoot.

OEM replacements for ~$260 each.

https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-lower-control-arm-see-description-4806804040

https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-lower-control-arm-see-description-4806904040

As far as time to complete that job, as long as none of the bolts are seized, that's two hours tops, and then you'll need an alignment too.

 

No, people keep gravitating to Moog because of their past reputation. That reputation is long gone. IMHO they keep alive by their name only as their parts are now total junk, unless you can find some new old stock (NOS) prior to about 2005ish. That truck got a lot of miles on it with the OEM parts, I would replace with the same, otherwise you could be doing it again soon.

 

Just to clarify, it is indeed possible to replace just the ball joints and not the whole control arm. You do need some specialized equipment though. Most folks just replace the entire control arm because new ones come with the ball joints already installed and you also get new bushings.

The NAPA rebuilds might be a good option. NAPA is one of the few brands that has not gone down the rat hole of "low price is more important than anything else."

 

Just not with OEM in this instance. For whatever reason, Toyota doesn't sell the lower ball joint on its own.

 

Correct. I forgot about that.

 

I had a lower OEM ball joint go bad at about 70k miles. I took on the task of new Moog lower ball joints as well as White Line bushings. It was definitely some work to rebuild the LCA's! But, there is a noticeable difference with ride quality, in a good way. One side effect of Polyurethane control arm bushings I have experienced is they have less flex/give, which is great for a solid feel, but under some harsh front tire impacts the wheel alignment can get knocked out. Energy has to go somewhere right? I am now in the process of upgrading my alignment tabs and installing "taco tabs". To be clear my alignment has been knocked out about 3 times in 40k miles. So, it does not happen all of the time.

 

Thanks so much for all the information and advice! I decided to call them and go with Toyota parts since I want to keep the truck a long time for him. I didn't even get into the part where the drive belt tensioner/pulley has to also be replaced. I thought I had heard something chirping under the hood, so it was my lucky day to be right on two things. So I am looking at a total bill of $2500 to replace that as well as both front control arms/ball joints .

I always expect to spend a few grand whenever I buy a used car with miles on it- it always seems people finally decide to sell when faced with repairs like this on the horizon. I'm not really shocked, just making sure it is reasonable to need to replace these at 120k.

 

Are there any other reputable shops around to get quotes from? A new OEM tensioner is $150

https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota_2...Drive-Belt-Tensioner/66800899/1662031013.html

So you're looking at ~$700 in parts and $1800 in labor, which is really high.

 

There are other shops, but they have bad reputations for telling people things are broken when they aren't. My other option is to pull it and take it down to the Toyota dealer 45 minutes away. I might be able to find another car shop that is reputable down in Salt Lake.

EDIT: I called down to the other reputable shop in the valley. They also say that seems super high. Their labor is $100/hr. and they are looking up part costs as we speak. He said off the top of his head he was thinking parts would be around 7 or 800 max.

 

@EatSleepTacos
@Too Stroked

FWIW I have rebuilt quite a few LCAs using the OEM ball joints.
It is Part No. 43330-09510 but you can not buy them from U.S. dealers.
I have imported them from both Japan and the UAE thru such sites as
Amayama.com

 

What's your total cost to get an OEM ball joint to your door?

 

That's good to hear. I would expect this job to cost around $1500 after parts, labor, an alignment and tax so that right there would save you $1000.

 

It varies due to currency exchange rates and whether they have come from Japan or the UAE, with Japan being the lowest, but it has ranged from a low of about $80/2 to the door to around $116/2. I was never able to locate an aftermarket that was any good so I have been more than willing to pay the cost for OEM.

Here is the current availability at Amayama. They are currently all in the UAE. You can compare with other importers as well.
https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/4333009510