Lower Control Arms

[jwest]

jwest, to me the swaybar bushings make a different "knock" sound than the LCA bushings and the sound is invoked differently. Let's see if you agree.

Saybar bushings: usually invoked over an uneven travail over a bump where there is body roll induced and it's like a deep sound....like someone hitting a *** with a mallet. There is some bass there.

LCA bushings: more of a "clunk" that occurs going slowly over a speedbump or like I mention above, snapping the brakes sharply at slow speeds.

I've had both....I know what each sounds like. What do ya think? Any further description?

Well, that all makes sense but I don’t recsll how mine sounded now except that they were all so bad I was probably used to the sounds. Many clunks, squeaks and things went away. All the bushings had about 133,000 miles.

 

[C2clawson]

I had the exact same symptoms...knock over speed bumps or the slight bump going up and down the driveway. Same thing if I hit the brakes quickly, knock. Replaced both front LCAs, good to go. You can tell when the bushings are bad/worn. It was not the best way, but I layed on the ground next to the truck in the garage, aimed at flashlight at the bushing, had my wife roll forward and hit the brakes, you could see the play in the bushings/LCA and hear the knock, very evident. Ordered new LCAs with bushings preinstalled, replaced them both myself, was time consuming for someone who hasn't done it before. Then had to take to NTB and have them do the alignment. Good luck.

 

[SoCal66]

The amount of work you guys can do on your own is impressive. I paid to get these issues fixed for me, and I'm glad I did. But I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of the skills on display here, hahaha.

 

[jpjp]

The other symptom of worn bushings is steering wheel vibration you get when the brakes are applied, usually at HWY speeds. Now this could also signal warped brake rotors which are caused by lazy techs who airgun the hell out of your lugs.

Also, oil could be present on the floor when they completely fail. Mine had no more oil left when they were removed and they were quite squishy as well.

I changed the entire arms on my 4. My indy gave me the option of only changing the bushings and changing the whole arm and I went with the latter. I also asked him about the harder poly solid ones (that may or may not last longer) and he said that when you alter one part of the suspension to a rougher setting that it will affect other parts of the suspension that are not designed for the extra abuse they will get because the oil-filled oem bushings won't be dampening the extra force.

Also, I didn't want a harsher ride, which is what you will get with the orange polys You also need to do an alignment after the LCAs are changed out.