Lower Control Arm and Ball Joint Replacement
01-04-12, 05:23 PM
#1
Lower Control Arm and Ball Joint Replacement
Hi everyone. I am new to the forum so sorry if my question seems stupid.
I have a 2004 ES330 and a while ago I hit a curb at 10-15MPH on a sharp unmarked corner at night. I took it into the mechanic and he said that the lower control arm was bent and the lower ball joint was broken. He quoted $2,000 to fix both of these because it would take 15 hours of labor.
This seems very high to me. I have done some research and found that the new factory parts are about $600 so $1,400 in labor seems outrageous. Any thoughts on what to do or if this price seems fair?
I have a 2004 ES330 and a while ago I hit a curb at 10-15MPH on a sharp unmarked corner at night. I took it into the mechanic and he said that the lower control arm was bent and the lower ball joint was broken. He quoted $2,000 to fix both of these because it would take 15 hours of labor.
This seems very high to me. I have done some research and found that the new factory parts are about $600 so $1,400 in labor seems outrageous. Any thoughts on what to do or if this price seems fair?
01-04-12, 06:07 PM
#2
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Any thoughts about posting this in the ES forum instead of the SC?
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es300-and-es330-179/
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es300-and-es330-179/
01-05-12, 03:27 PM
#4
Seems outrageous to me. You can get a new control arm from rockauto for less that $80. The item picture show the ball joint. It might even be included with the control arm. I replaced both the control arms myself on my 95 Camry V6, similar to an ES300. I don't see $1400 in labor to do replace them unless there is more damage that you have not identified.
01-05-12, 03:40 PM
#5
It's outrageous if that's all that's needed.
A Moog combination control arm with ball joint is under $100 per side for the part, probably 2 hours of labor to replace, plus an alignment. It should be less than $400 out the door.
A Moog combination control arm with ball joint is under $100 per side for the part, probably 2 hours of labor to replace, plus an alignment. It should be less than $400 out the door.
01-05-12, 06:42 PM
#7
what repair manual are you looking at???
I'll look tomorrow at work, but I couldn't imagine labor being more than an hour and a half or two...
I've done some crazy hard control arms, but none have ever required removal of anything more in depth than an axle... even in the weird case a bolt was hard to get to, complete removal of the engine would never be required, perhaps loosening of the mounts and lifting it enough to get it out of the way...
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01-05-12, 06:45 PM
#9
even at an independent shop, I can't imagine this complete repair costing more than $350ish... even if he only has a $100, or even no deductible, it is still worth it to pay for it out of pocket, as insurance will cover that under the collision portion, which can affect monthly rates over a 5 year or more period...
01-06-12, 08:19 AM
#11
The easy way to do it would be to support the engine using a cross brace from above, then remove the cradle...
This is officially the hardest control arm I've ever heard of to replace...
01-06-12, 09:20 AM
#12
^^ Look at Audi procedures if you ever get the chance... When changing the 14 control arms in the front, at 250$/pop on top of labour.
Oh. and OP, get a new Mechanic. It might be a **** to do, but not removing motor hard.
Like above, he'll lift up the motor if anything, a good mech. can make do with experience. If Toyota calls for engine removal for control arms... damn they should be removing the transmission to do the timing belt! hahaha
Oh. and OP, get a new Mechanic. It might be a **** to do, but not removing motor hard.
Like above, he'll lift up the motor if anything, a good mech. can make do with experience. If Toyota calls for engine removal for control arms... damn they should be removing the transmission to do the timing belt! hahaha
01-06-12, 05:20 PM
#14
FYI, I just had a talk right one of the CL memebers I 'm friends with tho has an '03 ES300 and is a Toyota Tech as well, He said while YES, the repair manual calls for pulling the engine, he can change the control arm in around 2 hours. Add just a tad more for the ball joint.
