Lower control arm bushing? (1 Viewer)

[asr1]

Have some sort of bush that needs replacing but can’t seem to identify it on any of the technical drawings available online.

Is it part of the LCA assembly? Looks like it used to cover the ball joint (?) area. Crumbly and bits of grease showing (steering is at full lock and both sides look like this).

Car is just shy of 10 years old, no suspension components replaced to date but a few planned. 85k miles and hot conditions. Maybe 70% urban, 30% light highway driving and <100 miles rocky/sandy off-road per year. Never modded.

Dealer recently recommended front stabiliser links and lower control arms be replaced due to light bushing wear, but not urgently. Didn’t say anything about the below.

Any insights appreciated

 

[Kinnada]

unless someone shoved a ripe banana or cheez wiz in there looks like bad ball joints. some say go the sweat equity route by sourcing the joint parts and press in if you have a competent mechanic or can diy with press, others make a compelling case to just replace the entire arm. my lca cam bolts froze at about 80k as well so i just replaced the entire arm.
******* things must have weighed 60 pounds each. they seem twice as big once you take them out.

 

[doru]

It looks fine to me.
The mess is grease that someone added to the steering stops. The actual ball joint with its black rubber boot looks fine in your pictures.

 

[doru]

The white grease is fresh grease and could not have come out of the joint in that pristine condition.
To put your mind at rest, you may want to ask your mechanic if they applied the grease.

 

[bloc]

It looks fine to me.
The mess is grease that someone added to the steering stops. The actual ball joint with its black rubber boot looks fine in your pictures.

I second this.

If it still aligns and drives well I’d leave it alone. Mine has 210k and the ball joints are still perfectly fine, tho I’ll be putting new LCAs which include lower ball joints on before long due to the LCA bushings finally getting too bad.

But just to be crystal clear for OP, what is in your picture is the lower ball joint, and that does have a rubber boot around it. It is common to get a bit of grease weeping out of that boot, but that doesn’t seem to harm anything. Doru is right though, someone greased your steering stops, which is good practice

 

[asr1]

That all makes sense; the car was just serviced last week. Was curious as the rubber seemed to be crumbling but if its just a steering stop then I assume not a problem.

 

[doru]

The stop is not rubber but steel on all 4 contact points/wheel. It needs grease so you do not hear strange noises when the rusty stop grinds metal on metal at full turn. The "crumbling rubber" is just dirt backed into the old grease. They did not bother cleaning the old before applying the new.

 

[asr1]

The stop is not rubber but steel on all 4 contact points/wheel. It needs grease so you do not hear strange noises when the rusty stop grinds metal on metal at full turn. The "crumbling rubber" is just dirt backed into the old grease. They did not bother cleaning the old before applying the new.

Understood -- worth getting the shop to clean and re-grease ?

I would not want the dirt to work its way into the joints and cause any unnecessary wear and tear

 

[doru]

Not worth the time. If you want to, you can quickly get under and wipe the excess off with a paper towel or a rug.