LR3 Control Arms

[GORM]

Time for this job for me .. 120k, last 60k on me with nothing but 1 new wheel bearing, sway bar front and rear bushings and tie rods so I’d say I’m lucky. The truck is my daily driver but goes off road, call it moderate northeast east crawling.

I can move the lower arms in the front when wheels are lifted so I know they’re toast.

What’s the opinion on doing front uppers and lowers at same time, also whether fronts and rears must be done at same time too. Sure it might cost me an extra alignment but I do not think it makes sense to fix stuff not broken and save those $ for upgrades with more utility.

Thanks

 

[roverpat]

Upper control arms rarely need replacing. Anti seize the hell out of the bolts when you put them back in

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[A.J.M]

I did the uppers on mine at 117,000. They in all honesty, were fine but I was changing a lot of bits so did them as well. They weren't that expensive.
For the front lowers, RRS arms are a good upgrade, same arm but with better bush design so should last longer.
Rear uppers, RRS again, better bush design. Mine at 117k, did need changed, there was play in them.
I did the rear lowers at the same time as well, they were fine but I had the parts bought.

I would check the sway bar bushes, they may need changed at that mileage.

Make sure you get new bolts and fixings etc when doing it as it will make it easier.
Some of my arms had to be cut off with a 9” grinder.

I got all my bits from my local dealer and haggled on the price of stuff. So I managed 20% minimum on the parts.
It does make a good difference to the car.

 

[Victory_Overland]

Time for this job for me .. 120k, last 60k on me with nothing but 1 new wheel bearing, sway bar front and rear bushings and tie rods so I’d say I’m lucky. The truck is my daily driver but goes off road, call it moderate northeast east crawling.

I can move the lower arms in the front when wheels are lifted so I know they’re toast.

What’s the opinion on doing front uppers and lowers at same time, also whether fronts and rears must be done at same time too. Sure it might cost me an extra alignment but I do not think it makes sense to fix stuff not broken and save those $ for upgrades with more utility.

Thanks

I have a different thought process on that but for me its all about preference. I did the entire front end at once. The truck wears about the same all around so in theory, if you tighten up areas with new components, the worn in areas are soon to follow. If you are doing LCA, then I would do wheel bearings, tie-rods, and CV boots and repack while you are in there as all of that comes off super easy with the LCAs out. Do the same for the sway bar as the worn LCA wear those bushings out and load up the links much faster.

Just my two cents, but I have a full set of everything on the shelf. As soon as my shop press arrives, I'll press new bushings into the control arms and timken bearings into the spare hubs. Not saying you have to go to this length, just saying that why NOT tighten up the whole thing at once. Average alignment is about $125 or more depending on where you go. UCAs are cheap and around the same price; I think I paid $150 for a full set when I just did mine.

Disassemble once, assemble once, align once! All of that "once" stuff saves dollars and time in the end IMO and damn they ride so nice when rebuilt. :smiley_drive:

Good luck, hope this helps in some way shape or form!

 

[rlynch356]

LCA's usually require new bolts too.. Just order them as they normally have to be cut off.. Min were just done but next time i'm going to just do the lucky 8 ones with the polybush inserts, the ball joint usually doesn't go bad.

 

[Victory_Overland]

Good point @rlynch. Yes, replace all hardware! Its cheap and comes in full kits.

 

[zelatore]

LCA's usually require new bolts too.. Just order them as they normally have to be cut off.. Min were just done but next time i'm going to just do the lucky 8 ones with the polybush inserts, the ball joint usually doesn't go bad.

FWIW I've done 3 trucks and never had to do the hardware.

West Coast ******!!