Lower Control Arm Suggestions (1 Viewer)

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Mute916

Mute916

Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Threads
11
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40
Location
Kentucky
Hi All,

I got my lift on last week and got an alignment done. Love how it looks but almost scary to drive. It pulls pretty hard to the left when braking or under acceleration. Tracks straight at cruise. Several people at an event said lower control arm bushings are bad causing the tire to move slightly.

I would like new LCA's to keep originals as backups and rebuild.

Factory or aftermarket? Dealer part or 3rd party? Reasons why one is better than the other?

Long travel? It has a 3" Dobinsons Adjustable IMS. I did install SPC UCA's last week also.

Took it out to the Cheap State Meets Peach State ride and camp in Alabama. It was amazing for a first timer ever offroading and I was extremely impressed how well the GX handled. It took whatever was thrown at it.

We drove from Kentucky to Alabama. The mechanic and alignment shop said it may work itself out but I am skeptical. The guys at the event explained it to be the LCA's and it made complete sense.
 
With my experience on a Tundra, I would replace both LCAs (or all bushings) at the same time. When I combined a new LCA with an old one, I had a slight pull due to the bushings being of different ages and durometers. YMMV.
 
I bought superpro lcas from suspension.com, I asked a rep for a discount and total was $500. They arrived fast. NOw to install them...
 
I replaced my LCAs with Moog factory replacements from Amazon. Has done great so far with my OME lift.
 
i went OEM...but on one side i only did the bushings on the other (long and expensive store) i did the whole arm with the ball joint pressed in...i could def do BOTH arms completely. i have a 2" for comparison. even at 80K km's the ride improved a little and the alignment is no problem.
 
I ended up going with the Mevotech Supreme from Rock Auto which included the ball joint. 3" lift and it went in well. Took about 3 hours total to replace both sides.
 
curious if anyone has any feedback on some of these aftermarket LCA's? Specifically the Mevotech Supreme, Freedom Offroad, Superpro, or some other product worthy of consideration. I see quite a few threads asking this same question, and a few posts of people who said they have installed them... but not much report afterwards. I have been searching for "failures," but can't seem to find any... could be that I'm just doing it wrong. Or maybe they all just work?

I'm about to swap out the other main suspension components on the GX470, and was thinking if it wasn't too much more to do the lower control arms also, as an alternative to replacing bushings.
 
nakman said:
curious if anyone has any feedback on some of these aftermarket LCA's? Specifically the Mevotech Supreme, Freedom Offroad, Superpro, or some other product worthy of consideration. I see quite a few threads asking this same question, and a few posts of people who said they have installed them... but not much report afterwards. I have been searching for "failures," but can't seem to find any... could be that I'm just doing it wrong. Or maybe they all just work?

I'm about to swap out the other main suspension components on the GX470, and was thinking if it wasn't too much more to do the lower control arms also, as an alternative to replacing bushings.
Click to expand...
I have had the superpro lca’s installed for about 2 years, no issues to report. They were about the same cost as oem and install was straightforward. I installed these along with a Eibach lift, spc uca, hubs, etc. Basically replaced the entire suspension. Only complaint I have is with the spc uca, I cannot wait to get rid of them.
 
Sixto Lezcano said:
Only complaint I have is with the spc uca, I cannot wait to get rid of them.
Click to expand...
This seems to be a common opinion of SPC UCAs. I've been looking at JBAs and Dirt King's new "maintenance-free" ones. Let's see who has the better deal this weekend.

nakman said:
curious if anyone has any feedback on some of these aftermarket LCA's? Specifically the Mevotech Supreme, Freedom Offroad, Superpro, or some other product worthy of consideration. I see quite a few threads asking this same question, and a few posts of people who said they have installed them... but not much report afterwards. I have been searching for "failures," but can't seem to find any... could be that I'm just doing it wrong. Or maybe they all just work?

I'm about to swap out the other main suspension components on the GX470, and was thinking if it wasn't too much more to do the lower control arms also, as an alternative to replacing bushings.
Click to expand...
I'm on the same boat. If the aftermarket OE style arms can last 3+ years, I think they're worth it. (However, I might go crazy and get Dirt King's LCAs merely for the flex lol.)

The only ones I've heard bad about are Dorman LCAs. Apparently the bushings are too soft, ruining the ride and tearing early.

iirc, @Rednexus is/was on Moogs, uses them like they were meant to be used (plenty of off-road use), and they're holding up.
 
Moogs are still doing fine at 3 years and 40k. They are heading to CO next week.

If your budget is > Moog, just get OEM Toyota LCAs.
 
I rebuild my OEM KDSS LCA with SuperPro offset bushing and 555 ball joint. It's been 4 years and about 40K miles. No problem at all. The quad offset bushing is great with 35x10.50R17. I almost can run with no BMC.

I also run SPC and got pretty good luck with it. Replace one of the ball joint. Needed the adjustment to be able to dial my alignment. If it fails I would have to step up to Dobinsons billet adjustable UCA. Hopefully not as they are very expensive.
 
I've had horrible luck and some major failure with the Superpro Offset LCA's.

I purchased a set that wore out the lower bushings at ~30k miles. Superpro warrantied them, only to have a catastrophic failure of an alignment adjustment bolt ~20k later.

Original bushing failure:
Arms installed ~6/2020
Failure 6/2022



Broken bolt failure:
Arms installed ~12/2022 (6-months for warranty replacements to arrive)
Failure 5/2024 - Reported to Superpro, they never responded

1724762976830.png


1724762997291.png


I highly recommend avoiding Superpro.

-Rob
 
Are those bolts Superpro bolts or OEM Toyota bolts? Never heard of a OEM Toyota bolt snapping. I used some new OEM Toyota and re-used a few of my original bolts when I installed the Moogs.

IMO - despite being a Moog customer - my default recommendation are OEM Toyota bolts. May not be worth rolling the dice with a safety-critical part like a LCA to save a few hundred bucks.
 
Rednexus said:
Are those bolts Superpro bolts or OEM Toyota bolts? Never heard of a OEM Toyota bolt snapping. I used some new OEM Toyota and re-used a few of my original bolts when I installed the Moogs.
Click to expand...

They are Superpro hardware.

-Rob
 
RivMan said:
They are Superpro hardware.

-Rob
Click to expand...
Gotcha. They look like very cheap cast bolts as opposed to something stronger. From having cut thru the OEM Toyota bolts to remove LCAs in two separate vehicles, they are extremely hard steel and don't have a "grain" like those Superpro bolts do.

Yesterday I sawzalled thru a W8x24 house beam (1/4" steel I-beam, 6.5" wide flange and 8" tall) in about half as long as it took to cut thru a single Toyota LCA bolt. My blade was still good at the end - those Toyota LCA bolts would sometimes kill a blade or two per bolt.
 
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