Moog Lower Control Arms

Anybody have any experience with Moog LCAs? I got a feeling I'm going to need them soon.

 

I have them on my rig, just installed about 3K miles ago, no issues at all Ended up using them to replace a set of Dorman LCAs that had 100K miles on them. I was going to upgrade into something like a ICON or something else much more expensive but I'm not jumping dirt hills or crawling over boulders or even tough trails (at least not on purpose). Figured if the OEM got me 100K miles each time around and are a 1/3 of the price, I'd be dumb to waste the $.

 

My thinking too. Some upgraded tubular ones or something like that would be sweet, but way overkill for what my truck is doing. Just need a reliable truck that can handle some off road.

My other thought is to go the poly bushings and rebuild my current arms. Just hate messing with bushings. It's a PITA to get them out and clean them up.

 

I have them. Couple thousand miles. They are fine so far I guess time will tell.

 

I was going to change the bushings and do the whole poly thing too, but then I looked at the cost of the bushings and the time to swap them out or pay a shop to press them in and out.. By the time I was done, I figured I was within 20 bucks of just buying a Dorman or Moog. May not have the performance of the poly bushings but again, I got 100K miles out of the Dormans, so it's kind of a wash...

 

I rebuilt my OEM LCA's. Used Moog bushings and they were garbage, they twisted in the control arm barrel. Swapped them out for OEM bushings and those seem to be doing okay. If I could do it all over again though I would have just bought the Moog LCA's and called it good. PITA to get everything pressed out, cleaned and painted, and then pressed back in.

 

This is exactly why I went this route

 

That's all good info guys thanks. Those Moog's look pretty solid.

@azgunrunner, I'd be doing all the work myself. So will be saving more money than paying to have it done. You can rent the tools for it from most parts stores for next to nothing. But, like you said, time, that's my biggest issue. I've already installed three of my 5100s and dealing with all the rusty bolts and stuff, probably have spent 4 days after work working on them. Finally got the passenger side front shock in. Really discouraged me, when I found my alignment bolts and cams have issues. I'm less than thrilled about having to cut out my LCA. I guess the good thing is that it's only the front. I'm hoping the drivers side doesn't have the same problem. I so wish the original owner of my truck would have put a little more time and thought into the truck. They did at least undercoat everything, so most everything is in great shape. Doesn't look like the toe adjuster seizing could have ever been stopped, unless they took it out as soon as they got the truck and greased it up. But, $100 for a full poly kit from Energy Suspension should improve things I think. I'm also going to change the sway bar bushings to poly while I'm at it and have the skid plate off. That should be a pretty simple job. Remove four bolts, replace bushing, and torque back on. Then enjoy frosty delicious beverage.

 

I have them with about 5k miles. So far so good.

 

Hmm $100 or so -- Not bad

 

Where is the best(cheapest) place to pick a set of these up?

 

I'll 2nd that. Found my lower arm bushings are cracked so I've been trying to decide my path. Figure replacing the whole arm will be faster and easier.

 

I just got some off rockauto for $100 each.

 

my alignment cams are toast from rust. thinking this might be the easy way out just to buy whole new lcas

 

One thing to remember if you're getting the Moog LCA's is they only come with the castle nut and pin for the ball joint. They do not come with the bolts and nuts for mounting (cam/caster). You are suppose to reuse stock, or get new ones.

 

Have a good source for cam/castor bolts?

 

I got mine from the dealer but they are expensive!

 

Oem only

The others I have seen look ghetto

 

I wish I did. I searched the forums, and all the third party vendors have poor long term reviews. Dealer has them, but it's expensive. Just one bolt was $11 to give you an idea. I got lucky and snagged a pair of LCAs and hardware from a junk yard for $100. Just going to use the hardware, and save the LCAs as back up.

 

Just installed Dorman LCA's from RockAuto. Best price I could find including Amazon, and I'm a Prime member.

Got them as I couldn't afford downtime with my truck. Passenger side front cam was rusted frozen and had to cut it out with my reciprocating saw. Used the recommended Freud Diablo blade and it cut like butter, relatively speaking. Replaced both front cams with Febest 0132-005; all other bolts/sleeves were re-used.

Have started rebuilding the OEM LCA's myself with Moog BJ's and Mevotech bushings. If you have cups from a BJ and/or wheel bearing kit, you can replace the bushings yourself. If you don't have a press; you'll need a BJ C-clamp. The Mevotech bushings press in nice and tight whereas the Moogs went in too easy. I had read the front Moogs slide out; so, I got Moogs for the rear and Mevotechs for the front. Well, the Moogs pressed in too easy for comfort. Gonna remove them and go Mevotech all around. I contacted the manufacturer who said their bushings are a proprietary rubber/poly compound. They are made in Taiwan but look very well made. The Moogs are made in China.

The Moog BJs are made in the USA and have zerks for greasing. The issue with the Moog BJs is they have a 2.5" diameter 'ring'. This means you need a hard to find 2.5" ID tube if you ever want to press out the Moog BJ's. No one seems to make that size cup; so I had to get pieces cut at a metal supply shop.