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My car is 2011 LS460 L, and the current milege is 98,000.
I went to the dealer a couple of days ago, and the dealer recommended replacement of all the front control arms and the tie rod ends. Of course, the quote was outrageous.
After thought, I decided to check them myself.
(1). I did not see any obvious crack, but there was grease around a few ball joints and one tie rod end (the three pictures below). Do you think they need replacement now?
(2). One bushing appears to have some cracks (the picture below), I am not sure if they are indeed cracks. Do you think this bushing needs replacement now?
(3). I bought this car in used condition. The maintenance record says the following:
BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS NO.2 ALUMINUM BUSHINGS ARE BADLY TORN CAUSING UNEVEN TIRE WEAR. ~|~ ~|~85555 600 REPLACED BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS (at that time, mileage was 85,000)
Is there anybody that knows the above replaced lower control arms were front or rear?
Hi guys and girls,
My car is 2011 LS460 L, and the current milege is 98,000.
I went to the dealer a couple of days ago, and the dealer recommended replacement of all the front control arms and the tie rod ends. Of course, the quote was outrageous.
After thought, I decided to check them myself.
(1). I did not see any obvious crack, but there was grease around a few ball joints and one tie rod end (the three pictures below). Do you think they need replacement now?
(2). One bushing appears to have some cracks (the picture below), I am not sure if they are indeed cracks. Do you think this bushing needs replacement now?
(3). I bought this car in used condition. The maintenance record says the following:
BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS NO.2 ALUMINUM BUSHINGS ARE BADLY TORN CAUSING UNEVEN TIRE WEAR. ~|~ ~|~85555 600 REPLACED BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS (at that time, mileage was 85,000)
Is there anybody that knows the above replaced lower control arms were front or rear?
Thanks.
The repair manual for my '07 refers to the lower rear arm as No.2 and the forward as No.1, with the rearward one being the main control arm that directly and indirectly (both uppers via the knuckle) connects to all of the other control arms. It also is the one that rests on the knuckle ball joint. These are the ones that I decided to go with OEM because they were revised (48620-50131 & 48640-50131)
I can't tell from photos. My previous LS had a clunking sound when hitting the brakes hard. The replacement record is enough to make me question the dealer too. A trusted independent repair shop can give you a second opinion. No need for a Lexus shop. This is a heavy car and even the new version of control arms do wear out quicker than a lighter car.
The repair manual for my '07 refers to the lower rear arm as No.2 and the forward as No.1, with the rearward one being the main control arm that directly and indirectly (both uppers via the knuckle) connects to all of the other control arms. It also is the one that rests on the knuckle ball joint. These are the ones that I decided to go with OEM because they were revised (48620-50131 & 48640-50131)
Thank you very much for your useful information, appreciate it. I will also use the updated control arms next time.
I can't tell from photos. My previous LS had a clunking sound when hitting the brakes hard. The replacement record is enough to make me question the dealer too. A trusted independent repair shop can give you a second opinion. No need for a Lexus shop. This is a heavy car and even the new version of control arms do wear out quicker than a lighter car.
Exactly. Now it is just 13,000 miles after the main control arms were replaced, they do not look very good already. The previous dealer did not do a very good job.
Will find a trusted independent repair shop and double check. Thanks.
09-24-21, 11:45 PM
Grease around ball joints (grease leaking?)
