[hikingnut62]

Just got back from my mechanic. I showed him the pics and he immediately said that's the source of the clunking. He said the control arm should not be practically resting on the metal plate. It should be between the two pieces of metal you see in the pic. I'm going to have them do both of the control arms and the lower ball joints on Monday. They use Duralast control arms ($150 each) and OEM ball joints ($75 each) and warranty them for 2 years 24,000 miles. He didn't want to press in new bushings. He recommended I drive home and park it until I drop it off Monday.

I'd rather keep the old control arms and find someone to press in new bushings. Anyone have opinions about keeping the original arms and just replace the bushing? Labor will be $420 (both sides) and OEM bushings will be $152 (both sides - 3 bushings each side).

** UPDATE **

I ran by Autozone this morning to see the country of origin for the lower control arm. The box was stamped Turkey. I'm not sure what the quality is like in Turkey (especially given how we've all seen how their building codes held up from the earthquake). I called a couple of Honda dealers and talked with people in their parts dept. I asked them where their parts came from and one asked a co-worker and was told they come from all over (e.g. Taiwan, Switzerland, etc.). They said their system doesn't even show where the parts come from (at least parts like the lower control arms).

It's interesting that Honda only provides a 12 month / 12,000 mile warranty, whereas Duralast carries a limited lifetime warranty, meaning it's warranted for life unless you sell the car. If you sell it, the warranty does not transfer.

NOTE: If your mechanic is buying the part for you, make sure they have Autozone put your phone number in their system, not the mechanic's phone number. If they use your mechanic's ph#, you have to work through the mechanic for any warranty claims, as the warranty follows the phone number on record. They also told me once a number is in the system, they can't change it, so make if your mechanic is buying the parts that they have Autozone enter your phone#.

This is on a 2004 Honda Accord LX.

 

[hikingnut62]

Below are the part numbers if anyone needs them. This is for a 2004 Honda Accord LX:

Part Number: 51350-SDA-A03 (right)

Part Number: 51360-SDA-A03 (left)

ball joints: 51220-SDA305 (think they're the same both sides)

 

[hikingnut62]

Well, I decided to quit stressing over whether to buy OEM or aftermarket control arms and went with the Duralast from Autozone. Total cost for the mechanic to do it was $819 with tax ($313 labor and $450 pars). That includes the two lower control arms and two OEM ball joints. You won't always need to replace the ball joints, but in my case, they needed replacing.

At 40, I would have probably done the job myself, but now at 60, it's quite a bit more than I want to tackle. I still do basic automotive repair (tire rotations, spark plugs, small electrical component replacement, oil changes, etc.), but not big jobs like this.

There is a definite difference in how that compliance bushing (the biggest bushing of the three) sits between the plates now. You can see how the old one is practically sitting on the lower plate and how the new one is resting between the two plates:

Here's a look at the old ones with no pressure on the bushings. You can still see how wore out they are:

Here are the boxes the ball joints came in:

I didn't really feel any steering issues before, so I can't say I really notice a difference in steering. It's tight for sure (i.e. there's no play at all when I turn). When I got back to our neighborhood, I drove around our circle twice, hitting every (approx. 10-12) manhole cover and didn't hear the clunking noise any more. I'll post back here in a couple of weeks and report if I heard any more clunking. I don't think I will.

Again, this was on a 2004 Honda Accord LX

 

[hikingnut62]

I also came across the following symptoms of signs that your control arm may be in need of replacement:

Vehicle pulling to the side.
Tire sitting at and unusual angle.
Accelerated wear on either edge of the tire.
Loose steering.
Clunking noise in the steering area (or in my case, a noise I initially thought was in the rear passenger side but was actually coming from the front passenger side).

Also, compliance bushing (the main bushing in the control arm and the one closest to the front of the car) showed obvious signs of cracking in the rubber.

 

[visionguru]

Could that be the cause of the clunking noise?

No, that not it. That compliance bushing looks "perfect", Mine was totally torn off, yet did not produce any noise.

For front end noise, the culprit is often the sway bar links, and BALL JOINTS! Check the lower and upper ball joints, which are critical to safety. Also, the tie-rod end ball joints.

For rear end noise, sway bar links. I had a subtle noise from the rear, after sway bar links/bushings, the noise remained. After I replaced the struts, the noise was gone. Also, with my 3rd gen, a single clicking noise was because of rear upper ball joint. Check that too.

 

[Nemesis74]

No, that not it. That compliance bushing looks "perfect", Mine was totally torn off, yet did not produce any noise.

For front end noise, the culprit is often the sway bar links, and BALL JOINTS! Check the lower and upper ball joints, which are critical to safety. Also, the tie-rod end ball joints.

For rear end noise, sway bar links. I had a subtle noise from the rear, after sway bar links/bushings, the noise remained. After I replaced the struts, the noise was gone. Also, with my 3rd gen, a single clicking noise was because of rear upper ball joint. Check that too.

Man, that is one big expense if the control arms bushings weren't the cause of the clunking noise. However, it sounds like (no pun intended) OP needed it replaced any ways.

 

[losiracer1987]

Is an alignment needed after replacing the LCAs? I picked up some new OEM ones for $20 a guy had on OfferUp so I might as well do those and the Beck Arnley UCAs since my car has 186k. Did my lower balljoints and wheel bearings when i first got the car since the RF bearing was bad and noisy.

 

[hikingnut62]

@visionguru

Are you looking at the pics of the old or new control arms? The old ones obviously needed replacing. The boots were severely cracked. I'm confident this will fix the issue given that the arms on both sides were (or nearly were) resting on the lower metal plate. If I had seen these cracked bushing during a routine tire rotation, I still would have had the job done. I'm a big believer in preventative maintenace.

@Nemesis74

Agreed, it is expensive, but given the serious problems it can cause with the steering if those bushing fail completely, I feel a lot better having gotten this done.

 

[visionguru]

@visionguru

Are you looking at the pics of the old or new control arms? The old ones obviously needed replacing. The boots were severely cracked. I'm confident this will fix the issue given that the arms on both sides were (or nearly were) resting on the lower metal plate. If I had seen these cracked bushing during a routine tire rotation, I still would have had the job done. I'm a big believer in preventative maintenace.

Somehow when I replied, I only saw the 1st page of the thread. Thought you were looking for the cause of the noise. Turned out it's already done. Glad that you've got the problem fixed.

My intention was to alert you to check the ball joints (about safety), instead of focusing on the lower control arm.

It's not important now, but I still think the noise was more likely to be produced by ball joints. The compliance bushing is designed in such way that it allows a bit lateral wiggle room. When the car is on the lift or jack stands, the strut spring and the weight of the knuckle will push the whole arm downward, twisting the compliance bushing exaggerating the stress/aging cracks. Based on the geometry, unless the bushing is totally torn, like mine, it's not likely for the LCA to touch the mounting pocket (to produce a noise).

I didn't notice any noise on 2 7th gen Accords with worse shape compliance bushings than yours. The front end did feel tighter after I replaced them though.

 

[hikingnut62]

@visionguru

Understood. I guess I'll never know for sure what was causing it. It's been 11 days since the work was done and haven't heard the clunking one time since then. Those earlier pics of the old LCAs were with the car on the ground (i.e. not on a jack). They looked to me like they were practically resting on the metal. I would think there was a good chance it was hitting metal when going over the manhole covers, but you could be right about the ball joints. I'm just glad the noise is gone

Thanks to everyone for the adivce/tips.