DrMikeinPD

I've been wondering if the deterioration of the control arm bushings is partly due to exposure to the air and pollutants. Since replacement is such an expensive job for those of us without our own workshop, it might make sense to spritz them with a preservative now and then, like we do with weatherstripping and other polymer parts.

Today I happened to see the infamous Scotty Kilmer talk about spraying control arm bushings and other polymer suspension parts with something called AT 205. Here's the Amazon link to it:


Here's the link to the video:

I'd love to know if anyone does this with AT 205 or some other product.

Mike in Portland

pumagaju

Another guy on here was talking about using something called Aerospace 303 to spray on. Cant remember who that was. So you may be onto something.

jdanielca

probably me, just use 303 its does the same thing and at least we know it works for all your interior as well,

PwrdbyM

303 Aerospace is good stuff and I use it on rubber and trim. However, I'm not quite convinced it would keep bushings from going bad. Certainly keeping something clean and protected is a good thing and I can see it making a difference on suspension parts that have a rubber boot protector. These suspension parts normally fail after the boot tears letting debris in and lubrication out. I'm not sure that protecting a bushing with product would have the same effect given it's a thick piece of rubber and the product wouldn't come close to soaking in. Usually heat cycles and time are what turn a bushing hard leading eventually to cracks. But if you want to clean your bushings and spray some protectant on them it won't hurt a damn thing!

DrMikeinPD

I just got a big bottle of 303 to protect outside gaskets and weather stripping from UV. Do some of you use it on your interior vinyl like you would Armor-All?

I'm thinking that 303 is not the same kind of product as AT 205, which restores flexibility to engine gaskets when added to motor oil. It seems like restoring flexibility would be more helpful for control arm bushings than blocking UV.

DedBirdDog

While I think the idea has merit in principle, watching this guy who looks like he should be on A&E in a "Hoarders" episode working on old junky cars doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Clean up your garage dude.

jdanielca

you can use 303 on leather wood plastic everything but it’s a protector and conditioner not a cleaner so if you want it to work well you have to use something else to clean the surfaces first. I like to use a woolite equivalent

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

yea hes a character , but the few videos ive seen from him are usually not bad , his video on why to never buy Mercedes is funny and true.

UDel

If I owned a LS I would do it just to make me feel better about doing everything I can to get the most life out of them but I don't think spraying it with 303 or applying a grease/lubricant to them is going to make any difference. If it was that simple then they would have issued a TSB by now to cover those control arm bushings. There is a flaw in the design, there is too much weight/pressure on the control arms which causes them to fail prematurely, even the new design in 2010 still fails so it just seems like a bad design they can't do much about.

Lubricants can and do make a suspension quieter but they don't solve the problem or prevent it in just about every case. One LS I looked at did not make any noises on a long test drive and on the way to have it inspected but once it was put on and taken off the lift it was making all kinds of noise and the Lexus tech was talking about replacing thousands of dollars worth of parts after he previously gave it a clean bill. I noticed fresh spray stains in the wheel wells and knew what they did, sprayed the suspension/control arms down with lubricant to quiet them down enough to get the car sold but being up on the lift did enough to reveal it again. Shady. Glad I got it inspected and passed on it.

UDel

I have been using 303 for years on interiors, good stuff, my interiors hold up well even ones out in the hot sun. Outside I use it a little less.

303 is not the same as AT 205, AT 205 is a gasket remedy for leaking gaskets you pour in the engine/add to oil, it may help prevent leaks by keeping the gaskets more pliable but they are totally different AT 205 is much thicker from what I remember. 303 is like water. AT 205 is meant to be added to the crank case, work with a hot engine/oil so I don't know how effective it would be on control arms.

Doublebase

^^^This. The geometry of the suspension places a lot of pressure on the bushings of the control arms, it's the stress point. It's why you almost never see ball joint failures on these cars, because the bushings take all the abuse instead. Same thing with the tie Rod ends..almost never see or hear about tie Rod failures, which is downright bizarre when you think about it. These multiple link/bushing suspensions are very finicky in the sense that the manufacturer places an emphasis on performance and comfort, but doesn't consider durability and noise issues down the road. Lexus is not the only one.

Doublebase

Very true but I'll take changing a control arm on a LS460 over changing a control arm on a Camry any day of the week. Changing a lower control arm on a Camry is a royal pain in the A. Changing a control arm on a LS460 isn't.

The Camry - and probably 80% of the cars on the road - use a MacPherson strut design suspension, its cheap, its effective and it also doesn't handle as well as the SLA or multi link suspensions. When you step up into the Lexus 460's or Audi's or Mercedes...that is what you get...you sacrifice durability for performance. Not ideal. Personally I never drove my cars to the point where I could enjoy the benefits of a "higher performance" suspension. I keep them in a straight line and don't have much fun doing it. Lol

Tec80

Part of the issue is that the factory build process in Japan does NOT torque the control arm bolts with the suspension at normal trim height, but in the fully extended position. I found that out when I noticed that mine were tearing, and that they were "wound up" with the car sitting on the ground. So they are essentially twisted all the time, except when the car is on jackstands. They tear along the center of the rubber, at the point of highest torsional shear stress.

Doublebase

That's probably because they're too busy complaining about the $12,000 transmission repairs. Lol. No seriously, I do think the LS460 does have more suspension issues than others, but I've certainly seen the Audi suspension issues, BMW and Infiniti. Funny thing...Hyundai Genesis (not the G90, etc) have a very similar looking suspension design as the 460, yet they managed to make theirs reliable.