Naushaud

Just got my car back from a tune up and the mechanic said that my both front control arms, lower and upper need to be replaced. He quoted me about 1700 in parts and 1100 in labor! Please, any help greatly appreciated, is there a cheaper place to buy parts? I am in the Dallas, TX area and would be very appreciative if anyone knew of a cheaper alternative for mechanic as well. I did a search and sorry if my questions were already answered here but someone said the Supra TT control arms would work? Are those cheaper? I also do not mind going aftermarket if it is as good.

My car is a 98 sc400 with 111k miles.

Thanks!

KAME

It sounds like he's ripping you off.

Do some research. Read about the bushing issue. Consider doing it yourself (it's easy). I would recommend pulling all of your control arms, buy the two control arm bushing kits, and have them installed. If your ball joints are bad, you may consider replacing the arms entirely with supra ones.

http://www.tmengineering.net/suspens...n/make/sc.html

The question is, is the SC your only car? Does it handle poorly. Do you actually want to put down $2800 to replace the control arms. How important is handling?

Lexiss_sc430

iTrader: (2)

holy ..... hes making you bend over alright.....

I paid 100 bucks for the daizen bushings from Todd at TM and did the rest of the work myself... including pressing in/out the bushings..... I wouldnt recommend trying to press out the old and new bushings your self....

But how good are your mechanical skills.... from a 1-10 would u say u have a 5 in ability.... what I'm trying to say is that is you have to basic tools and a days time you could soo do this by yourself or with a buddy... find a machine shop with a press.... removing the lca’s is a matter of 6 or 7 bolts.... then u take a hammer and beat the s...t outta the lower ball joint to get it loose and ur done... take it to the shop have them press the old ones out new ones in… and then reverse the whole process and ur done…. Oh and afterwards get an alignment..... honestly its as easy as it sounds.. you just have to have the right sized tools and 2 jack stands to get the front of the sc in the air...

I will be more than happy to help you out with anything else you need.... pm me and ill give u my # if u want I could walk you through the whole process... cake walk.....
I spent a whopping 100 bucks and it took me a full day to do them...

1700 + 1100 = 2800 for what.. you could spend that on wheels and a new interior

good luck

Tommy

Naushaud

Thanks for the replies guys. Here's my exact quote:

Labor - Control arm - remove & replace - upper, both - 6.8 hours @ $74.00/hr
Labor - Control arm - remove & replace - lower, both - 5.8 hours @ $74.00/hr
Part Control ARM - Left, lower $557.95
Part Control ARM - Left, upper $275.31
Part Control ARM - Right, lower $557.95
Part Control ARM - Left, upper $275.31

Unfortunately I would say my mechanical skills don't go much further than like changing an air filter or a flat tire. I appreciate the offer on the help, maybe if I can just get the parts cheap and find a good tech.

You know I really haven't noticed any handling issues, actually got new wheels last year and the handling improved some with those. The mechanic said the arms are pretty bad and need replacing. The SC is my only car and I love it, at this point there's really nothing out there I want so I'd like to keep it another couple of years at least. If it is the arms and not a bushing issue, is there a good site to buy the supras ones?

TMaxxTim

I don't know how your upper control arms would be shot. Most people's aren't. Its just the lowers that go bad. Mine were bad on my 92, and yours is 6 years newer. If you really feel like you need to replace them I'd just start with the lowers.

Having worn control arm bushings will not leave you stranded, or cause any other mechanical problems. Its just the comfort of driving, handling, etc.

What made you take your car in to have these looked at? Or was it just a general inspection when he found these problems?

Lexiss_sc430

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn’t wait until u have handling problems.... be safe about it..
“Don’t wait until the tire blows until you have to replace it.....”

They way I knew I need to replace the lca's was that I was eating thought my front passenger side tire at an alarming rate.. So I knew the lca's were sagging on that side and virtually gone....

I would buy the daizen ones and then go around and see who gives you a better price on the job.... or if you know any tech schools or high school shop teachers you could have their students do it and they usually do it for free..... and its not like they don’t know what there doing... they are in the process of learning and being trained and there will be a instructor or teacher watching their every step so they really cant do much wrong... that’s always an easy way to save money..

TMaxxTim

Right, you should replace things before they completely go out. However dropping $2800 for this repair is definately not needed.

Its not a problem that needs to be taken care of right now, it will need to be done, but if you wait a month or two or three, its not going to cause anything else to happen.

You need to figure out if the top ones are realy gone (a simple inspection by yourself to see if the bushings are gone is very simple to do and will reveal the problems). Then you need to decide whether you want to get new bushings or new LCA's all together. I'd just go for new bushings.

I repalced all the bushings in my car, front and lower, but only because they all came in the package from Daizen and while I was in there I did it. It took me a good 8 hours of work to replace the bushings. THats with torching them and basically melting the rubber out (no hydraulic press). Your mechanic quoted more time than that to simply replace them. Replacing them would take maybe an hour for each side. However if you got quotes for 2hrs of labor, that would probably not be far off. Just shop around for prices, and find the deal, as I said, waiting and driving yoru car for awhile longer is not going to cause any problems. This isn't something to park your car and have it towed over.

KAME

Wow, that was just for the front? You should be able to get all 4 replaced, including labor for about $800. Buy the parts (Supra UCA and LCA's) from Carson Toyota, and find a mechanic that works on these cars on a regular basis. I would say $200 max for installation.

You need to find a new mechanic, YESTERDAY!

Naushaud

Are you serious??? For the front control arms or are you talking about the bushings? Thanks for the input! That's definitely a huge difference in what I was quoted.