LCA options? (1 Viewer)

[drowzyGX]

I got another quote from another shop at $440 to replace them entirely (including parts and labor). These are reputable SoCal shops that deal heavily in Toyotas. Not sure where the major disconnect is...

Call it 3 hours of labor to replace the bushings. this seems low, but we’ll run with it and assume the truck doesn’t have kdss. shocked if any shop is actually churning this out in 2 hours, especially given the horror stories online of trying to remove the old bushings.

at $100 per hour that’s $300 for labor. That labor rate is way low. Dealer rate right now is ~$190 per hour. Indys are cheaper, but half as much? Skeptical, even more so for a shop in CA. I’d be shocked if reputable shops in CA are charging only $100 per hour for labor when reputable Indy shops in ATL are charging around $150 per hour.

that leaves $140 for the bushings.
From lexus, the oem bushings are $90 x 2 + $76 x 2 = $332 (same price on parts.toyota.com)

Even the whiteline bushing kit which seems popular is $175.

so these shops are likely using really, really cheap parts.

 

[RT Cruiser]

OEM appear to last a lot longer than the OE style arms you can buy from Moog, Mevotech, etc. Even with 2" of lift I think OEM would probably be your best bet. Poly will require more maintenance than the rubber bushings; they'll squeak and require periodic lubrication.

Wanted to say thanks for this thread. Soon I'm going to replace the lca and uca for both front sides, all 4 struts, bushings where needed, and sway bar end-links. I didn't know poly requires more maintenance - ugh. Yes, the Moog and Mevotech are a lot cheaper. But learning from this thread their longevity and quality are nowhere near OEM, then it only makes sense to get OEM or better.

 

[Casezilla]

FWIW, I ended up going with SuperPro arms with their non-offset bushings (one less thing to adjust, and the offset wasn't necessary for a good alignment since I went with aftermarket UCAs to correct caster after lifting). I believe the SuperPro arms/bushings/ball-joint set is slightly cheaper than going OEM. I'm going to rebuild the stock arms at some point, either to use as backups or to sell to recoup some cost. Mainly went for the built arms instead of rebuilding the original arms with new bushings and ball joints because that was one less thing to do (and potentially get stuck on) while doing rear coil conversion, shocks/springs, UCAs and LCAs, and I wanted to make sure I got everything done in one weekend.

Went with poly bushings as I've had good luck with those in the past on other cars in terms of NVH and longevity (much less likely they will tear like OEM rubber bushings, so I'm hoping they'll last longer before needing to be replaced again). Time will tell if this was a wise move, but so far so good.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

I replaced my LCAs with oem LCA and they come with new ball joints.

I saved the old LCA, bought opened poly bushings already lubricated but new (never used), and my plan was to rebuild the LCAs myself.

I never got around to it and had to clean my garage because I’m converting it to an apartment (ADU Garage Conversion). I threw out the old LCAs but kept the poly bushings.

So, I should probably sell them. i Need to look for them.

I went oem LCAs because 3 years ago the difference in price want much between new oem LCAs and full rebuild including labor, bushings, and ball joints.

Make sure replacing ball joints is included in the replace bushings comparisons. Ball joints might not be included in other quoted estimates.