08lexluger

Hey there,

First off I want to thank whoever helps me or can help me in advance. So here is the situation. I have an 08 SC430. I live in the midwest now and the roads are complete **** where I live. I've honestly considered selling the car. (moved from Florida with nice roads) But I can't bring myself to doing that just yet, as I do have another vehicle. Anyways, I've had some minor squeaking from the front end and I suspected it was the ball joints/control arms. I took it to an indy shop here and they confirmed what I suspected. Basically they said the Front upper/lower need to be replaced. They said front would not pass inspection. The rear had a "little bit of play/movement" but they said it should be ok. They quoted me $571 per upper and $113 per lower. plus labor, plus an alignment for right under $2K. I really don't want to spend that much right now. (Thus is life) I've been doing a lot of reading in this forum before posting and it sounds like replacing the inner/outer tie rods would be a good idea while doing these repairs. I've found the OEM uppers on eBay from a dealership for $850 for the pair. That would save me $300. I've also found quite a few aftermarket options but I really don't know what is what. I'm not a "car guy" as in I know how to do all this myself. I understand how it works, but I would have no clue how to do the repairs. I'm just trying to make the best decision here without having to possibly take stuff apart twice down the road. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The car has 75K miles on it if that helps. Thanks in advance for anyone willing to share their experiences or input!!

digitatc

"They quoted me $571 per upper and $113 per lower."
Is that for the upper control arm and the lower control arm? if so, which lower control arm ? #1 or #2?
At 75Kmiles, i dont think you need to replace upper control arms.
LCA#2 is not cheap if you go dealer route = $200+, ebay, you can get for less than $150 (OEM), check tire wear, and shaking when driving around 60mph before you replace this.
IMHO, at this point you should NOT replace the inner/outer tie rods at that mileage, just replace the lower ball joints.
I bought MOOG K500101 & MOOG K500102 (with the 555 stamp, made by Sankei in Japan). You can get both parts right now from Amazon for $75. A little advise, paint it using VHT epoxy paint, before you install to prevent rust.
Ball joint is very easy to install but if you don't have the right tools, or enjoy fixing car, then get the indy shop to handle it for you.
You should also get rid of the run flat tires as soon as you can and use 45 profile to deal with the bad road condition.

08lexluger

Hey thank you for the reply! The mechanic showed me the play in both upper control arms. The roads are literally 3rd world where I live and in the past 10,000 miles the front suspension has gotten abused bad. The quote is for 48610-39085 (Right Upper Control Arm) 4830-39055 (Left Upper Control Arm). Those were $571 each. Then Right lower ball joint is 43330-39535 is $113. Left Lower ball joint is 43340-39415 is also $113. Labor was $370 total to install all 4. The lowers he said were not as bad as the uppers but he also showed me the "play" or "movement" in the lowers. Whatever help you can assist with would be great. I'm just trying to figure out what is the cheapest but also "best" way to to this. These were OEM part numbers he gave me, but not OEM parts. Does that make sense?

digitatc

If you must replace the upper control arms then why not go with the better and cheaper one from MEVOTECH (CMS861207) There is no way I would pay $1142 for the pair but diff people have diff opinion. FYI, mine is at 150k miles still working fine, and I replaced the rest of the front suspension system.

2 x MEVOTECHCMS861207 = $285 (rockauto)
MOOG K500101 & MOOG K500102 = $75 (Sankei made, probably they make the OEM parts for Toyota as well)
Labor $370
You are looking at $730 total.

Tight on budget, then get yourself a set of sockets and wrench, replace the lower ball joints to see if that fix the problem, 2 bolts on each side, If it does, great, save your self some $$$. If it doesnt, then get the UCAs.

08lexluger

Thank you so much. This is the kind of input I wanted. Could you send me a link the MEVOTECHS?

08lexluger

Also, What are UCA's? Again, Thanks for all the help.

digitatc

https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/me...trol+arm,10401.

UCA = Upper Control Arm.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/clu...l#post10802178

hlthlnk

Digitatc is on point with his suggestion.
I like to work on my 2002 sc430 and 1992 sc400 for that reason I went ahead and replaced all the suspension components with aftermarket parts on both cars. Rockauto gives you the ability to choose from multiple manufactures and price points for each part. My sc430 is a daily driver with over 60,000 miles and about 3 years on the least expensive parts I could buy, so far so good.
Good luck with your choices.

08lexluger

Did you notice any difference in ride from the stock parts? What other parts would you recommend I replace to save time and money? I've been doing a lot of research and a couple people said replace inner and outer tierods when you do ball joints/control arms? Would you agree with that? Also read that some said replace steering bushings I believe...

hlthlnk

08lexluger- remember that I was going from parts that were damaged and worn to brand new parts all at once so the way the car felt and drove was very different (in a good way).
Inner and outer tierods are very inexpensive and easy to replace once you have everything dismantled, I would do it.
I have not replaced the steering rack bushings on the sc430 or the sc400 everything feels solid so far.

emg2919

I am in a somewhat similar situation. I have an 02 SC430 and have recently purchased the Daizen poly bushings from TM Engineering. I have also purchased new lower ball joints and I am looking for an indy shop to install the new bushings and lower ball joint parts.

I'm hopeful that once this is complete, the car will ride and drive like new. I also purchased the Daizen poly steering rack bushing.

RRocket

I got the steering rack bushing kit.

Took away some slop with better on center feel. Worthwhile addition IMO.

joemg

I have those MEVOTECH upper control arms because I needed more adjustability to bring my suspension into alignment spec. I confirmed (as a few others have) that they are repackaged (not even rebadged) $600 SPC control arms. They even still have SPC engraved into them.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...ent-specs.html

I've had them on for a couple of months now with no issues. Great value.