Stuff wears out. My buddy's old BMW 740 was on its second full front end rebuild when he sold it. My last 540i that I owned I changed out the upper and lower front arms at around 100k miles.

 

What brand did you end up using for the arms? I know you were considering maybe OE, did you with them?

 

And that's the part I really can't understand when people talk about the LS460, why is it a big surprise that suspension components are going to fail in the front? Because of dealer prices? Is that why? It's already been well documented that no one has to pay those ludicrous prices. Most people from other brands wouldn't consider going to the dealer for suspension work, because to do so would cause them to pay thousands.

My brother in law just took his 12 year old Volvo to the dealer for front struts and a headlight ballast, his bill was $2,200. They had the car for a week because they couldn't figure out why the traction control light came on after they installed the struts. I have a Honda Accord as a backup car...I'm probably on my 4th set of control arms form that thing.

 

After looking at a couple of options out there and prices I decided to just go with some bushings made in Taiwan from 1aauto. I spent right around $100 for all of the front upper/lower/forward and rearward bushings and decided to just go with these after seeing how relatively easy this job is to do. I figure this only took us 5 hours and cost $100 in parts so if they go out in a couple of years it's no biggie.

To those that have not done it yet, I will say that the ride has really softened up and it was a job worth doing.

 

Sounds great! A $100 bucks and your problems are solved, can't beat that.

 

You forgot the 5-10 hours of labor . But your point is well taken.

For folks like me in smaller cities that don't have very many LSs, does one trust a local shop that hasn't done such a job before or do I drop off at my friendly Lexus dealership, get a comp loaner and have peace of mind?

 

Hahaha, I always use alcohol to lower the labor, hahaha.

If you are doing the whole control arm you are really just taking off the old ones and installing the new ones, for bushings only you add the step of removing the old bushings and installing the new ones, then re-installing the control arms. Nothing about the job is LS or Lexus specific so I would think that any quality shop that had people you trusted could handle the job pretty easily. That being said, these cars are expensive and if I didn't have a shop I trusted and couldn't do it myself I would probably end up biting the bullet and going to Lexus.

 

I would really be surprised - shocked actually - if an independent shop couldn't do these control arms. I consider this job rather simple for any experienced tech with a lift and air tools. I did my own on my back in my garage during Christmas vacation week...took me maybe four and a half hours, but that was because I didn't have a lift or air tools. It is important that they index the arms, but they should know that.

I bet there's some Lexus techs that can do this job in two hours. And I bet many can do it in three...blind folded.

 

I've got to replace mine on my '07 and will likely get it done next week. FYI, my indie, who I've been going to for years, gave me a quote of $3,500.

 

Did he quote you for OEM parts? Will your mechanic replace the CAs if you buy aftermarket parts yourself? Even if it took him 5 hours @ $100 per hour, the eight CAs would cost less than $1000, and you will have saved $2k.

 

sounds a bit high..

 

$3,500 sounds high for an independent, at least in my opinion. I would think if they're using aftermarket parts it will cost them around $600 - that means they'll be charging you the remaining $3000 for labor, which is absurd. This is a four hour job for any experienced tech with air tools, a lift and experience. Easy.

 

Thanks All, for the feedback. I'll look into the questions you brought up. I know in the past, he's been pretty good at being honest with me. I've been going to him for years, including a '98 LS before this '07. But, I appreciate the comments. Thanks.

 

Not sure if this company had been mentioned in this thread but I found them while doing a quick search for control arm solutions. The price is reasonable if you don't want to go the route of buying all new suspension parts and would rather just change out the bushings. I would rather pay more and change the whole part just because it's less labor on my part to do so. I haven't noticed any issues with my control arms but I've only had my car for 3 weeks. When the time comes I'll go the aftermarket route. I've had good results with Moog, Dorman, etc. from Rockauto at reasonable prices.

https://shopasd.com/collections/ls460

 

That's a good idea. You can also keep them and have an extra set for when the new ones go bad, if you keep the car that long.