fracas

Ok I can be driving my 00TL down the HEY or smooth roads and everything is great. But if Im rolling there a neighborhood with bad roads, over rail road tracks it sounds like my front end is about to fall apart. Its a loud banging noise. Ive jacked the car up.took the tires off. All bolts are tight. All Ball joints look good with no leaks and all bushings still look solid. Am I missing some thing here? Not sure what to replace and I do not want to take it to a shop when I can do the work. I found a online store that sell the upper control arms with ball joints, lower control arms and both lower ball joints for $174 shipped. Im just not sure if I should replace it all just yet. I bought the car with 224k on the chasis and has a replacement motor & tranny.

All advise is helpful.

Catfisha

Have you checked the sway bar bushings?

fracas

They both looked good. But really couldnt tell if they were bad.

Catfisha

You checked the bushings where the sway bar mounts to the chassis and the end links? Are any of them cracked?

3.2TLc

Yeah, that's a typical source of clunking noise when going over rough roads. They tend to dryout, crack and distort with age and wear. For all the more they cost, replace what Catfisha previously suggested. Check Rockauto for good prices on "Moog" parts. A good place to start with !!!

fracas

Was thinking of ordering this
http://www.1aauto.com/1A/ChassisSusp...42/717346/2000


Any thoughts on this??

3.2TLc

Hey Fracas, what do I think ?
I think that saving 76% or $563.37 is a great thing, but as always....the deal may be too good to be true at the end of the day. Ya usually get what ya pay for.

If ya do your own work, the deal may get ya by for awhile if the present parts are shot.....but if ya gotta pay for installation labor, then down the road the deal may not be so good with these unbranded parts of questionable quality.

So, make sure that your present parts actually are bad and then compare some brand name parts if ya gotta replace things. Your original parts may have more life left in them then "iffy" new ones will, IMO. Buyer beware !!!

fracas

Ive been building Civic's and Integra's for 13 years now. I can turn the wrenches with no problems. My deal is..this is my first TL and really dont know where to look for the good parts or if the parts I have already found are good. Plus Im not sure if the site I posted is known for selling good quality parts. Im more than willing to learn all the in's and out's to fix all my issues with my car. I just see it like this. Im hearing something I do like in the front on both sides. So Why not replace EVERYTHING. Im pretty sure my car hasnt has it done. I did a service check on the vin and came up with NOTHING on the history. Was told the motor & tranny were just replaced. But when buying cars from people you dont know there is no telling what they will tell you.

3.2TLc

Well, ya can look at it two ways....labor's basically a matter of your time and it's value to you, so replacing with those parts may be ok if you're willing to take the chance or it's a quick fix to sell.
On the other hand, if ya wanna keep the car and don't want to risk doing the job over down the road.....compare and buy the best quality warranted parts that ya can afford. "Do it once, and do it right !!!"

Dman00tl

Check rock auto, thats where i get all my parts from. They are pretty good.

3.2TLc

Yeah, as Dman00tl said....Rockauto stocks various name brand products at very good prices. I've compared their prices on many parts and have never been disappointed yet with what I purchased from them. Why buy generic stuff, when ya can get a quality name brand part for a bit more.

fracas

Ill check them out. I have $500 to spend on suspension parts right now.

fracas

Well I took my car to the shop today. Had them check out what was going on with my front end. Needless to say it was not so bad after all. Found out I need Sway bar end links and bushings. Going to order them now.

3.2TLc

Listen to the Catfisha !!!

fracas

When they gave me the quote at the shop I was shocked. They wanted $125. just in parts. I know good as well they are not going to replace my parts with OEM parts. Why in the hell are they charging that high. Now the Labor was another $125 which I understood. I made a appointment to go back to the shop for next week because I dont want to deal with putting the bushing on the sway bar. But I ordered my own bushings and endlinks for $54 shipped.

3.2TLc

There are DIY's for replacing the sway bar bushings and end links.
If you or a friend has some basic hand tools, it's not really a hard job. Save $125.

fracas

I have plenty of tools, jack stands, floor jacks and I have worked and builts on many Honda's. I just dont like the fact of fighting with pulling the bushings off and on is all. More than likely I will do this job and install my Koni's / drop springs.