cheap control arms?

[98420a]

So today after a wash and a good detail of my eclipse, I took her for a spin to the gas station. Pulled into a parking spot and heard the dreadful sqreach of a worn ball joint. Not sure of what one yet. Ill get her up in the air at work tomarrow. My ? is who knows of a fast cheap place to get them. I pray its the lateral, so i dont go broke. Local parts stores want 130 for the curved and 44 for the lateral. Im sure i could get it cheaper threw work. Just wanna find a good price.

 

[Propergrammar]

i ordered the ones off ebay. They were like 40 bucks for the set! Just the straight ones, not curved. They are excellent quality. I would personally choose an ebay arm. Your money though. Good luck

 

[96 420a-t]

I purchased mine through o'reilys for 114 a few years ago. that was the lowest price I found. I personally had too many experiences with ebay knock offs so I would stay away from there.

But since I have had no personal experience with these control arms, so take that with a grain of salt

 

[98420a]

I usualy try to stay away from ebay. When it comes to chassis parts i perfer mogg. I guess ill call the stealership tomarrow aswell to see if the recall has been done on mine or not. Even if its not the lateral thats bad. I might as well do both if i can get it for free.. haha

 

[knochgoon24]

Ball joints don't usually "sqreach."

Jack the suspect corner up and check for play before you go buying anything.

Grab the wheel at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and try to wiggle it. Then grab at 9 and 3 and try again.

It it wiggles in both directions, it's usually a wheel bearing. Just 3 an 9 and it's often a tie rod. Movement in the 12 and 6 direction is usually a ball joint. If you pull stuff apart, there shouldn't be any extra play in the ball joints.



"Sqreach-ing" is usually a brake problem.

 

[98420a]

Ball joints don't usually "sqreach."

Jack the suspect corner up and check for play before you go buying anything.

Grab the wheel at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and try to wiggle it. Then grab at 9 and 3 and try again.

It it wiggles in both directions, it's usually a wheel bearing. Just 3 an 9 and it's often a tie rod. Movement in the 12 and 6 direction is usually a ball joint. If you pull stuff apart, there shouldn't be any extra play in the ball joints.



"Sqreach-ing" is usually a brake problem.

Ok maybe i should have used a different word. But I Am A ASE CERT mechanic, work 12 hours a day at a shop. So yes i know its a ball joint. I know how to check them. I just have to wait till tomarrow till i get to work to check them. WHICH IS WHY I ASKED FOR PRICING NOT A HOW TO TELL. So much for moderating if you dont even read....

 

[jtmcinder]

We'll forgive you this time, because color-blindness isn't really the fault of the color-blind, but Wes isn't a moderator. Instead, he's one of the people who can turn your chicklet red ... not that you'd notice (see first sentence).

ps. being ASE certified doesn't mean anything around here; it's usually what some pinhead mentions when he's doubling down on some false information -- not that you've done that, yet

 

[LxiMax]

Check around. Napa normally has the best prices. AdvancedAuto has a coupon right now for $10 off $30, $30 off $75, and $50 off $150. Needless to say I've spent my fair share recently but saved at least a couple hundred dollars. The code is VISA.

 

[slayer450]

I got mine from rock auto for about 40 for the pair.

 

[code2k5]

Stay away from ebay when it comes to wearable parts such as tie rods, ball joints, and bearings. You will replace them im about 10 months or so. I used cheap ebay ball joints on my old car and in less then a year I had to replace them. Since you are probably going to do the labor yourself I would recommend looking into Moog suspension parts, I believe they have a lifetime warranty and the prices aren't too crazy.

 

[knochgoon24]

So much for moderating if you dont even read....

You'll get better help if you don't jump down throats of those that help you, just because you didn't get the answer you wanted. I don't get paid to do this. Getting pissy over something as simple as that is a quick way to keep from getting the best help on this site.

Why would I tell you to go buy a ball joint when I'm not sure you even have a bad ball joint. My ball joints have always made more of a popping noise when they're bad. When you describe a screech, I don't think "bad ball joint."

You even said it yourself...

Ok maybe i should have used a different word...

So take a breather before getting so offended next time. It's the internet. Why so serious?


Also, you're posting in the newbie forum, maybe not by choice, but the advice given out here is a little more dumbed down than in the forums on dedicated topics. I'm not going to assume that everyone here is a mechanic by day.

And just a heads up, but being ASE certified means diddly-shit to me. I've seen techs with a laundry list of ASE certs, but I wouldn't trust many of them to rotate my tires. And there are many guys who wrench on their cars that will say the same thing. It's why many of us started wrenching on cars in the first place. So don't expect it to earn you any respect around here.

It seems that young guys like to toot the ASE cert thing, while older guys tend to mention how long they've been a mechanic. Just my observation.


Anyway, back on topic.

If you work in a shop, doesn't the shop have a deal worked out with a local parts supplier? I know around here, the discount is usually 20% off the normal public prices at places like Advance Auto and NAPA. That takes some of the hurt out of the wallet.

I've ordered a lot of wear parts like control arms from Rockauto.com. They usually have the lowest cost around, even with shipping, because of their 5% discount codes.

I'm pretty hard on suspension parts (autox) so I really can't comment on how well they'd wear on a typical DD. I seem to be replacing most of the front suspension stuff (upper ball joints, lower control arms, tie rod ends, wheel bearings) about once every 2 years. I just did 2 wheel bearings and 2 control arms last month while checking the car over for this upcoming season.

 

[mattasi]

I know you are looking for the cheapest that work good. Just my $.02, but I only use the OEM ones. You can get a "knuckle kit" that has both lower arms, and the knuckle for $108. That is a deal if you ask me.

EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts

http://www.extremepsi.com/store/product.php?productid=22826&cat=756&page=1

Oh and please do yourself a big favor and don't buy from Ebay especially on this part. It's to important.

 

[98420a]

You'll get better help if you don't jump down throats of those that help you, just because you didn't get the answer you wanted. I don't get paid to do this. Getting pissy over something as simple as that is a quick way to keep from getting the best help on this site.

Why would I tell you to go buy a ball joint when I'm not sure you even have a bad ball joint. My ball joints have always made more of a popping noise when they're bad. When you describe a screech, I don't think "bad ball joint."

You even said it yourself...


So take a breather before getting so offended next time. It's the internet. Why so serious?


Also, you're posting in the newbie forum, maybe not by choice, but the advice given out here is a little more dumbed down than in the forums on dedicated topics. I'm not going to assume that everyone here is a mechanic by day.

And just a heads up, but being ASE certified means diddly-shit to me. I've seen techs with a laundry list of ASE certs, but I wouldn't trust many of them to rotate my tires. And there are many guys who wrench on their cars that will say the same thing. It's why many of us started wrenching on cars in the first place. So don't expect it to earn you any respect around here.

It seems that young guys like to toot the ASE cert thing, while older guys tend to mention how long they've been a mechanic. Just my observation.


Anyway, back on topic.

If you work in a shop, doesn't the shop have a deal worked out with a local parts supplier? I know around here, the discount is usually 20% off the normal public prices at places like Advance Auto and NAPA. That takes some of the hurt out of the wallet.

I've ordered a lot of wear parts like control arms from Rockauto.com. They usually have the lowest cost around, even with shipping, because of their 5% discount codes.

I'm pretty hard on suspension parts (autox) so I really can't comment on how well they'd wear on a typical DD. I seem to be replacing most of the front suspension stuff (upper ball joints, lower control arms, tie rod ends, wheel bearings) about once every 2 years. I just did 2 wheel bearings and 2 control arms last month while checking the car over for this upcoming season.

srry didnt mean to jump on you like that. Anyways. I knew it was a ball joint and after getting it up in the air today I found the left lateral boot torn. YAY.. the cheap one. No play yet, just dry. So i just greased it with a needle. Bad news is I called the stealership and ran my vin. Recall already done. So much for free.

And yes, I do get a discount but alot of times it aint worth my time. The "new managment" at autozone dont know sh#t. I literaly asked them to send me some blinker fluid up, and a hour later they call me back saying they cant find any...

 

[knochgoon24]

Wow. That's bad. I've made friends with the local places. The ASM at a local Advance always rings my stuff up under a local business account for the 20% discount they get. It's definitely worth being nice to the guys who know what they're talking about at those stores.

 

[98420a]

Wow. That's bad. I've made friends with the local places. The ASM at a local Advance always rings my stuff up under a local business account for the 20% discount they get. It's definitely worth being nice to the guys who know what they're talking about at those stores.

Ive tried to make friends with them, but after getting the wrong parts over and over again. Or not getting a dilivery for like 8 hours when we are one of 3 shops in the area, its kinda hard not to. I do have 1 hook up there but its hard to get ahold of him because of the new managment that took over.

 

[007jimmy]

I know its been said but i have had personal experiances with ebay suspension parts.. I installed an idler arm on my 2000 jimmy/blazer only to have to do it again 3 days later. It broke when I was going about 25mph. Luckily I was able to come to a stop safely because my front tires where pointed at each other had i been going any faster the truck probably would have flipped. The company said it was because I had 33 inch mud tires on it but I never had a problem with the moog one I put on it but reguardless I never got my money back. As for the autozone guys. its like the mcdonalds of the autopart stores. Lots of kids but nobody that knows what parts go where. I have a comercial account at advanced and everyone there seems to know what there doing.

 

[knochgoon24]

Ive tried to make friends with them, but after getting the wrong parts over and over again. Or not getting a dilivery for like 8 hours when we are one of 3 shops in the area, its kinda hard not to. I do have 1 hook up there but its hard to get ahold of him because of the new managment that took over.

Sounds like they need another wave of new management.

 

[98420a]

Sounds like they need another wave of new management.

HAHA aint that the truth, well ill see what i can do tomarrow sence its my day off. Might just put off buying a bov for my kit im building to do the front end. Might aswell have a safe good suspension befor i turbo. thanks for all your help everyone...

 

[nickk90]

Honestly I wouldn't go cheap on the 2g lateral arm. I did it after the ball joint separated the first time. The cheap parts store arm failed in less than a year. I wish I knew about the knuckle kit when I replaced everything the first time, would have saved alot of money and time. OEM knuckle kits are $108 a side. You cant beat it