Lower Control Arm

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 12:23 pm

So i got my car back and found out my front Lower Control Arm bushings are shot. I really dont feel like doing it myself so is there a Direct replacement in case i cant use the metal sleeve?
Or should i just hope the shop can use it and buy the prothane kit

Do you think most shops will burn the rubber off or should i buy a stock set burn off the rubber and tell them to install with a new kit

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Sun May 10, 2009 3:16 pm

just get the urethane bushings and do them yourself, very easy with a mini torch, and a vice.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 3:33 pm

yeah well im not really paying for it so id rather just get it done at a shop since i work 50 hours a week i dont really have the time nor the resources to work on my lower control arms

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Sun May 10, 2009 3:50 pm

just have a shop do it then. how old are the control arms? you may wanna check the ball joints first.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 3:57 pm

they are the stock control arms.........about 60k on them.......if i change the ball joints will that fix the lower control arm bearings?

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm

no it wont change that. the control arm has soft rubber bushings that get old, crack and get slop in them. new ball joints would be nice but not going to fix your bushing problem.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:06 pm

well for RIGHT now ill most likely be changing the LCA bushing since it needs to be inspected. Anyone have any idea what this might cost me if a shop does it. Also are the prothanes a direct replacement bushing or no?

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:15 pm

no idea on price, but ye the prothanes drop right in where the old ones were.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:39 pm

so how much is this shop going to charge you for replacing ur bushings. well all i can say is shops around here are ripoffs cause i remember once when i had to replace mine they wanted like $800 for the job so i said fuck you and i replaced them my self for $20 total.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:15 pm

i dont know its sunday noones open till tomorrow so imma see what they all say....Ill tell you one thing if they try to charge me 800 dollars then yes ill say fuck them and do it myself

If it takes 3 hours of work with the right tools then there aint no way it should cost that much

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:16 pm

onewickedkid05 wrote:i dont know its sunday noones open till tomorrow so imma see what they all say....Ill tell you one thing if they try to charge me 800 dollars then yes ill say fuck them and do it myself

If it takes 3 hours of work with the right tools then there aint no way it should cost that much

well thats what i was getting too.dont let the shop do it it they are going to charge you that much.but my guess is they probably will say somewhere around there.depends on what kinda shop u go to. but just be smart on how much you pay.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:20 pm

we will see...... if its over 500 in labor ill do it myself aint no way imma pay that much will i know what im doing no, will i end up hurting myself because i dont have the proper tools probably, but ill save a lot of money

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:27 pm

onewickedkid05 wrote:we will see...... if its over 500 in labor ill do it myself aint no way imma pay that much will i know what im doing no, will i end up hurting myself because i dont have the proper tools probably, but ill save a lot of money

man theres quite a few neon owners here from PA try to find someone that will do it for you and just give them $100 plus parts wich would be like $25 max.

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Sun May 10, 2009 6:26 pm

You can replace the bushings for less than $50.00 yourself.

there are how to's on it and its just a little time consuming. I would reccomend the Prothane bushings.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 6:44 pm

hansken_yo wrote:You can replace the bushings for less than $50.00 yourself.

there are how to's on it and its just a little time consuming. I would reccomend the Prothane bushings.

well the reason he hasnt done them himself is because he doesnt have the time as he works like 50 hours a week if i remember he mentioned.

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 7:08 pm

yes that and i dont really have the money plus from what i keep reading some people end up snapping bolts and crap and i cant have that

jT · Post by jT » Sun May 10, 2009 7:57 pm

i work 56 hours a week, 7 days a week, and i still find the time to work on my car when i need to.

the biggest problem you could possibly run into is if you break the welded-in nut on one of the LCA bolts youll have to cut into the frame thing to get at the nut to get the bolt in/out .. apparently this had already been done on my car because i had an access hole cut out already

and i dont think the LCA bushings will pass/fail your car being inspected... at least it wouldnt here in MA.. so unless youve got some other reason for doing it like they are annoyingly loud and squeaky, you dont really need to do it

and to answer your question.. the prothane bushings aren't a DIRECT replacement.. because you need to burn out the old ones and use the metal piece for the prothane.. so not quite a direct replacement.. other than that yes they are direct....... i believe there is a how-to for this

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:08 pm

glad we have no inspection here in CA just smog.

OB · Post by OB » Sun May 10, 2009 8:31 pm

jT wrote:
and to answer your question.. the prothane bushings aren't a DIRECT replacement.. because you need to burn out the old ones and use the metal piece for the prothane.. so not quite a direct replacement.. other than that yes they are direct....... i believe there is a how-to for this

IMO a direct replacement is anything that bolts up without modification. You have to remove the old bushings to install ANY new ones, including OEM replacement ones. So the Prothane units are indeed a direct replacement. They fit like a glove and perform even better.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:35 pm

OB wrote:
jT wrote:
and to answer your question.. the prothane bushings aren't a DIRECT replacement.. because you need to burn out the old ones and use the metal piece for the prothane.. so not quite a direct replacement.. other than that yes they are direct....... i believe there is a how-to for this
IMO a direct replacement is anything that bolts up without modification. You have to remove the old bushings to install ANY new ones, including OEM replacement ones. So the Prothane units are indeed a direct replacement. They fit like a glove and perform even better.

what he probably meant to say was. that they are sometimes a pita to install and sometimes require more work then using oem parts.

OB · Post by OB » Sun May 10, 2009 8:41 pm

Neon4Life wrote:
OB wrote:
jT wrote:
and to answer your question.. the prothane bushings aren't a DIRECT replacement.. because you need to burn out the old ones and use the metal piece for the prothane.. so not quite a direct replacement.. other than that yes they are direct....... i believe there is a how-to for this
IMO a direct replacement is anything that bolts up without modification. You have to remove the old bushings to install ANY new ones, including OEM replacement ones. So the Prothane units are indeed a direct replacement. They fit like a glove and perform even better.
what he probably meant to say was. that they are sometimes a pita to install and sometimes require more work then using oem parts.

I hope he didn't mean that, because the prothane bushings take less than 10 mins to install once the old ones are out. The entire bushing kit is that way really. Removal = hard. Install = cake.

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:58 pm

i need to eventually learn how to do this as well. someone on here should write up a HOW TO with pics unless theres one already on here somewhere.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:08 pm

yes there is a how too here u go

viewtopic.php?t=17192&highlight=change+ ... m+bushings

Boyscoutgonebad · Post by **Boyscoutgonebad** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:08 pm

there is the how to for the removal of the control arm [url]file:///C:/Users/brandon/Desktop/LCA.php.htm[/url]

I'm doing my bushings and ball joints(and tie rods to for that matter) tomorrow. I'll try to snap some pictures along the way if i have time.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:35 pm

For $374.00 list you can replace the LCA assy's and have new ball joints and bushings.

That's why a dealership charges $800. Most just replace the whole assy.

OEM Dodge parts charges about $270 plus shipping for the pair.

Or you can take your chances with ebay ones.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun May 10, 2009 11:25 pm

just pray that weld in bold holds in the frame

onewickedkid05 · Post by **onewickedkid05** » Sun May 10, 2009 11:58 pm

lol well like i said im gonna call a few places see what they say if its outrageous then f it in the a ill be doing it myself and praying to god

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:22 am

occasional demons wrote:For $374.00 list you can replace the LCA assy's and have new ball joints and bushings.

That's why a dealership charges $800. Most just replace the whole assy.

OEM Dodge parts charges about $270 plus shipping for the pair.

I forgot about this.

I did end up replacing my lower control arms from OEM dodge parts (for whatever reasons) and it did come with lower ball joint and new bushings. Total work time was maybe 2 hours tops.

You'd still save money doing this your self and would have the assurance that everything in the LCA is tip top.

jT · Post by jT » Mon May 11, 2009 12:57 am

OB wrote:
Neon4Life wrote:
OB wrote:.
.
.

actually what i meant was more along the lines of clarifying "direct" replacement versus not "direct".. where the prothane bushings youve got to re-use an existing piece, and buying a new OE rubber bushing kit at autozone has the piece already.. at least i think it did when i was looking at them........ just a small technicality on the use of "direct" since i consider a direct replacement not something that youve got to reuse an existing part from...

not sure if the OP was referring to the prothane being a direct fit meaning without having to burn out the rubber and re-use the metal

as for those ebay LCA's .. i got them... when i was going to do my ball joints and bushings it ended up being a little cheaper without all the work involved..

so far theyve been no problem. last week when i was messing around with my knuckles i noticed at least one of the ball joint boots was already torn up really good.. so if anyone were going to get them id suggest to replace the boot in the first place with a better one...

the vertical bushings are worn a little bit too... so i'd probably also suggest to swap them out for the prothane's right up front too... but by the time you get done doing that you might as well put in a good ball joint also so you end up not saving any money, heh.

all in all though it might cost a little more but youd save a lot of time having a ready-to-go new LCA with new ball joints and bushings and just being able to pop them in without having to take yours off and then do everything with them.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:25 pm

I actually got a pair of used SRT LCA's off Ebay (only because they were the cheaper option), and installed the bushings/ball joints, then installed them onto my new crossmember. I put it all in as an assy, as my crossmember was rotted out. either way, it is nicer not being pushed to get the bushings installed. The biggest worry is the vertical bolt. I suggest soaking them for a few weeks with penetrating oil. There is a hole behind the vertical ones that you can spray lube at the bolt.