Hello. I replaced my upper and lower arms with Delco from RockAuto. I also replaced ball joints, tie rods, axles, end links, etc. Everything was Honda except for the upper and lower arms as they cost almost $800! After less than a year, the boots on the upper arms is gone and the bushings on the lowers are ripped. I am in shock. When installing, I used a jack to simulate the car being on the ground. I torqued to specs. Can anyone think of anything that I did wrong other than purchasing after market? Is there any viable option to Honda parts for this? I don't have $800 to spend on this, but it looks like I might have to. Thank you.
Options for long lasting upper and lower control arms other than Honda OEM?
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tswisla
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Hello. I replaced my upper and lower arms with Delco from RockAuto. I also replaced ball joints, tie rods, axles, end links, etc. Everything was Honda except for the upper and lower arms as they cost almost $800! After less than a year, the boots on the upper arms is gone and the bushings on the lowers are ripped. I am in shock. When installing, I used a jack to simulate the car being on the ground. I torqued to specs. Can anyone think of anything that I did wrong other than purchasing after market? Is there any viable option to Honda parts for this? I don't have $800 to spend on this, but it looks like I might have to. Thank you.
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How bad is it? Some cracking is normal. I replaced mine two years ago with mostly Moog stuff. I'll take a peak and see what it looks like now.
The other thing you can do is press out the AC Delco bushings with OEM bushings which will cost you little money but is a ton work.
The other thing you can do is press out the AC Delco bushings with OEM bushings which will cost you little money but is a ton work.
The Delco has lifetime warranty, but I don't want to do this again in 1 year! Have any of you had luck pressing out those bushings with Schley 68100 while on the car? I may try that, but then what if the other bushings in the arm go bad! The one bushing the lower arm is separated. The boots on the upper arms are disintegrated and the joint is rusted now. What a pain!
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I get it.. have been there before with Duralast parts once upon a time. The larger diameter compliance bushings are really the only ones out of the two to fail.
They have to be removed out of position to press old out with new.
I have removed old ones with hack saw/grinder in past. Press the new in with a large vice/ ball-joint press.
They have to be removed out of position to press old out with new.
I have removed old ones with hack saw/grinder in past. Press the new in with a large vice/ ball-joint press.
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I don't think it's total hatred of Moog for all vehicles. I used to sell parts PT and have always felt Moog is a good and trusted brand.
From what I've read on here, there's a problem with Moog parts fitting Accords specifically. I had our shop do the ball joints this last time. They use Moog and within about 20k miles, it was all crap and they had to replace under warranty.
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About three years ago I put a Moog UCA on my 6th gen and got maybe 10k out of it before it started to creak. It still works alright but it definitely creaks LOUDLY. Cant say whether it will last much longer and it's just embarrassing cause everyone in/around can hear it. I did pay 1/3 the cost of an OEM one! Regretting it.
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The OEM parts lasted how long?
Think that aftermarket stuff will last as long or longer?
Think that aftermarket stuff will last as long or longer?
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If you're asking me, I think the UCA's were original and I replaced the passenger side (with OEM) at 204k and a year later had to do the driver's side (with Moog) at 220k.
So what jimijam is saying is spend a big chunk of money once instead of smaller chunks waaaaaaaaaaaay more often.
I replaced every single front suspension piece on our 100 Series Land Cruiser with non-OEM Mevotech or other. Total fail. Ball joints leaking, bushings shot, cv shaft boots torn; only took 10k miles for failure. Never again!
I have Moog front anti-sway bar end links, 1 set of rear lower Moog control arms, and Moog outer tie rods. They are all good.
But stay away from Moog ball joints. They are known to start creaking very fast on the 7th gen Accords.
But stay away from Moog ball joints. They are known to start creaking very fast on the 7th gen Accords.
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My moog parts look fine 2 years later. I do hear some squeaking over bumps when very cold. Wonder if its the crappy AC Delco sway bar links. Might have to lube those next winter if possible.
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Ya me too. I rebuilt the LCAs with Moog bushings and the UCAs were Moog on my 2004 about 4 years ago and the front end is still solid. I did same on my 2005 a couple months ago. The Moog UCAs I put on had grease zerks.
OP did you grease those bad boys?
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OEM rubber is the best!
I had similar experience with aftermarket LCAs (Dorman): the fork bushings and compliance bushings started to crack almost immediately after installation.
My solution was: replace the compliance bushings and fork bushings on the old OEM LCA with OEM, and put the old LCAs back. Schley 68100 and rented ball joint press set are enough to get it done.
As for UCAs, I'd get new ones from AC Delco, then replace the boots with OEM (about $5 each) and at the same time, pack in some grease.
Since your old LCAs and new Delcos are off the car, you can prepare the parts and get all done in one shot. The total cost shouldn't be much more than $100. Problem solved.
I dont know what it is with aftermarket parts but it seems to affect Japanese cars a lot more these days. But if you are replacing anything critical (meaning very hard to replace in your driveway 
) that has a ball joint, bearing or bushing and you're not selling the car anytime soon, go OEM. Save yourself the grief.
Having said that, I do have a soft spot for genuine Sankei 555, made in Japan, aftermarket parts
) that has a ball joint, bearing or bushing and you're not selling the car anytime soon, go OEM. Save yourself the grief.Having said that, I do have a soft spot for genuine Sankei 555, made in Japan, aftermarket parts
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Firing down a coupla tuna patties and a bottle of red wine. The bottle is nearly empty and the patties are just coming off the griddle.
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Obvi this isn't your first patty griddle
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