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See pic below and tell me if you think it needs replacing. I don’t know how a brand new is supposed to be like let alone something that is about 60k miles old. I’d rather not replace them but don’t want to risk damaging other parts of the suspension by not doing anything. Thank you. Front passenger side lower control arm bushing
This is normal. They develop small cracks as they age, unless it's big tears and you hear clunking and feel looseness in the front end when you brake and accelerate, there is no reason to address them.
I've made the mistake of prematurely replacing my controls arms with aftermarket parts when they looked just like yours. The aftermarket controls arms had the bushings installed in the wrong orientation and the metal was inferior in quality. So only after about 4 years I noticed big tears in the bushings and had to get another set. I wish I held onto the original parts as they are very expensive and made to a much higher standard.
So in short, do not replace them just yet. For reference, they can last hundreds of thousands of miles and still look like yours.
I recommend this guy for a more in depth explanation.
Please see the video below from my Honda Odyssey. You can see the movement of control arm bushings here. It was not cracked open, but had cracks in it. Basically on jack stands, put it in D and wheels will start spinning. Then brake. If they are really bad like my Honda, you can see the movement.
In the odyssey, since the ball joint was fine, i replaced only the bushings with poly bushings. Steering feels little bit crisp now. Could be because the old one was worn out. It had 105k miles/10 years on them.
Just like MeoonC00 suggested, buy only OEM. Cheap parts are head ache and wont last long. Also there are lots of fake parts floating around. So get it from reputable places. I got burned once with fake parts.
I think mine need replacement very soon. No issues on steering or braking control yet but as you can see on the driver side, rubber is starting to separate in a couple of places. Front driver side on 2021-11-7; 2011 RX with 260K km/160K mi
Read post 2 again then look at the photo in post 1 as yours looks about the same. That is normal wear.
Then save your money for when you actually notice the vehicle does not drive the same anymore.
Read post 2 again then look at the photo in post 1 as yours looks about the same. That is normal wear.
Then save your money for when you actually notice the vehicle does not drive the same anymore.
Thanks Clutchless. If I decide to keep the RX for at least five more years, then I may replace the units in the spring. Otherwise, trade it in this way.
I think mine need replacement very soon. No issues on steering or braking control yet but as you can see on the driver side, rubber is starting to separate in a couple of places. Front driver side on 2021-11-7; 2011 RX with 260K km/160K mi
Believe it or not that’s still considered normal for Toyota/Lexus control arm bushings. Stay away from cheap aftermarket parts. If you start shopping for top tier aftermarket parts you’ll notice the price is not far from genuine Lexus units at which point it doesn’t make sense to get something that you have no experience with. Original parts last 15+ years and you have experience with them.
Here are examples of a failed bushing on an aftermarket part for an ES300. Even with that much damage I didn’t have any clunking or stability issues while driving, however once I removed the part I was able to tear the bushing out by putting lateral pressure on the bolt sleeve.
@Hayk - thanks for the suggestion. Lexus Parts are relatively cheap but labor is 1.5x parts. I rarely shop around for other garages as it’s hard to find one I can trust.
Though this problem is purely mechanical so no specialized tech/tools or training required. Passenger side.
@Hayk - thanks for the suggestion. Lexus Parts are relatively cheap but labor is 1.5x parts. I rarely shop around for other garages as it’s hard to find one I can trust.
Though this problem is purely mechanical so no specialized tech/tools or training required. Passenger side.
Monitor them at every oil change but I wouldn’t replace them just yet. Check out the car care nut YouTube video I linked in post #2.
Forgot to update this thread to say that I replaced the control arms with the dealer for C$1,300 plus tax plus alignment. Control arms should be good for the rest of the usable life of this 12 year old RX (made in Japan on Sept 2010).
Forgot to update this thread to say that I replaced the control arms with the dealer for C$1,300 plus tax plus alignment. Control arms should be good for the rest of the usable life of this 12 year old RX (made in Japan on Sept 2010).
My RX400k (2008) just had a quote of over £2,000 GBP = c 3,500 CAD for just the control arms from a Lexus dealer. The worst one looks like picture 2/3 above, so hell no I'm not replacing them
09-19-21, 07:00 PM
Front lower control arm bushing at 120k miles
