Unanswered Lower control arms / bushings - I think the dealer is insane, what say you?

[cgilley]

Vehicle Drivetrain

2wd

Vehicle Year

2007

So, a couple of years ago, I had my 2007 in for an air bag recall. The dealer "volunteered' to look things over, since they had never seen it before. They came up with leaking valve cover gaskets and a "leaking" steering rack. $1200 for the rack, 1100 for the valve cover gaskets. The gaskets I knew about, but $1100? Parts were $200 and I changed them in an hour. Weird. Never did anything with the rack.

last month, the 2nd alternator in the car went tits up. So, I decided to let the dealer swap it out, do an alignment and tranny fluid change. The mechanic says nothing about the rack, mentions I have oil all over the back of the engine from leaking valve cover gaskets (duh), and I need lower control arms for $2,400.

Me thinks this is a bit high . How hard is it to replace the bushings, etc down there? The car has 163k on it, and is my wife's daily driver. I know it needs new shocks and those dang air bag inflators for levelling.

 

[zakengr07]

I have the same situation. Both passenger and driver lower bushings are shot. 185k. Just the bushing prices from dealer are about $600.00. Still debating on used ones or after market. Not a daily driver. Open to hear suggestions and past experiences using after market bushings.

 

[cgilley]

yeah, I think I'm going to shop around. With the age of the car, aftermarket is probably more affordable.

 

[AD33]

I have an 06 sequoia with all the same problems, 186k miles. I did all the work myself and followed Josh at 1stgenoffroad. He has great videos on it.

The bushings are tough to press in so most find it easiest to just replace the arms that come with bushings in place. I bought Moog arms off Amazon for $100 each.

 

[SoCalMike]

So, a couple of years ago, I had my 2007 in for an air bag recall. The dealer "volunteered' to look things over, since they had never seen it before. They came up with leaking valve cover gaskets and a "leaking" steering rack. $1200 for the rack, 1100 for the valve cover gaskets. The gaskets I knew about, but $1100? Parts were $200 and I changed them in an hour. Weird. Never did anything with the rack.

last month, the 2nd alternator in the car went tits up. So, I decided to let the dealer swap it out, do an alignment and tranny fluid change. The mechanic says nothing about the rack, mentions I have oil all over the back of the engine from leaking valve cover gaskets (duh), and I need lower control arms for $2,400.

Me thinks this is a bit high . How hard is it to replace the bushings, etc down there? The car has 163k on it, and is my wife's daily driver. I know it needs new shocks and those dang air bag inflators for levelling.

Lower control arms for $2,400 is pricey. I’ve been told replacing the whole assembly is easier than fighting with the bushings.

For reference, a few weeks back I had new lower ball joints, lower control arms, and steering rack bushings installed. Cost for OEM parts was $900 and installation costs were $600.

Good luck.

-Mike

 

[cgilley]

Lower control arms for $2,400 is pricey. I’ve been told replacing the whole assembly is easier than fighting with the bushings.

For reference, a few weeks back I had new lower ball joints, lower control arms, and steering rack bushings installed. Cost for OEM parts was $900 and installation costs were $600.

Good luck.

-Mike

That's what I figured. This dealership is pretty good in not pushing too hard, but some of the magic numbers they come up with can be disturbing at times. They quoted me $1100 to replace my valve cover gaskets.

Did you notice any change in the driving characteristics of the vehicle? This is my wife's ride, and she mostly tootles back and forth to work about 10 miles roundtrip. When I drive it, it's almost always on the highway and I've noticed it's just bit jumpy maintaining lanes.

 

[SoCalMike]

I did. The truck doesn’t wander as much though it’s still a 5,000 plus pound vehicle so I wouldn’t say it’s crisp handling by any means. It definitely tightened up the slop feeling in the steering wheel.

-Mike