100 Series Control Arm - Feedback (1 Viewer)

[RAOcruiser98]

Hi. I have a 98 LC. For 5 years no mechanic has said anything about my control arms and now one is saying that mine are not ok (maybe unsafe) and look unusual and aftermarket. Recently I'm hearing noise in my steering when turning tighter in a parking lot etc.

Do these look ok to you?
Pics of uppers and lowers attached.

 

[GTV]

Uppers are aftermarket.

 

[zgfiredude]

As stated, the uppers are aftermarket. I do not recognize them, so can't help with a manufacturer. The noise could be from several things: ball joints, inner control arm bushings, tie rod ends on steering, steering rack and bushings and even perhaps sway bar bushings/end links.

I was just told that I had a bad upper ball joint. After some careful analysis and checking things out, I found that I had loose upper control arm mounting bolts ( the inner bolts to the frame )......after torquing those back down on both sides ( being careful ) the clunking/knocking is gone......I think that the last person to do an alignment didn't torque them down properly and they worked loose. Perhaps this is something you could check too.

 

[hoser]

Upper control arm looks like early version of Nitro with Uniballs.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Think that's exactly what the uppers are, recall they had tons of problems with those joints and noise. Lowers are Sankei 555 replacements, quality joint.

 

[RAOcruiser98]

As stated, the uppers are aftermarket. I do not recognize them, so can't help with a manufacturer. The noise could be from several things: ball joints, inner control arm bushings, tie rod ends on steering, steering rack and bushings and even perhaps sway bar bushings/end links.

I was just told that I had a bad upper ball joint. After some careful analysis and checking things out, I found that I had loose upper control arm mounting bolts ( the inner bolts to the frame )......after torquing those back down on both sides ( being careful ) the clunking/knocking is gone......I think that the last person to do an alignment didn't torque them down properly and they worked loose. Perhaps this is something you could check too.

I'm really hoping for a similar situation and taking to another shop for them to look a it

 

[zgfiredude]

It really isn't all that complicated....but there are 20ish year old bushings and ball joints as wear items. You just need someone to methodically go through it and identify the issue. Good Luck!

 

[DuckLN]

Those 555 ball joints are the lowest quality replacement on the market.

Control arms and ball joints are very expensive to work on so follow grandaddy’s rule and do it right the first time. Otherwise budget to do it again in a year.

Get oem parts!