2012 AWD all stock. While doing the oil change yesterday noticed that my passengers front tire is completely worn on the inner edge. I've had a strange clunking noise coming from the front end over small bumps lately. All bushings visually appear ok, however when I put the car on the ground and the suspension is supporting the weight of the car I noticed when my brother turned the wheel back and forth that the lower control arms have movement at the bushings while the steering wheel is being moved back and forth.

I am assuming there is supposed to be no movement in these bushings? and potentially could be causing my tire wear? Has anyone replaced their lower control arms? How much of a pain? Thanks for the advice.

 

Acura does not sell the bushing separately so it's going to be complete replacement. Check your endlinks and make sure they are not causing the noise. Some play in bushings in normal but if it's torn or excessive you'll have to replace the arm. It's about 2 hrs labor to do and isn't that difficult but will take a few curse words to complete!

 

Thanks for the feedback. I have about 110k miles and I know the drivers side strut is trash with the oil leaking out of it. I just ordered all the parts to redo the whole front suspension (struts, upper & lower controls arms, sway bar links, bushings, tie rod ends & ball joints). Luckily I have a garage with a lift. The tire wear is leaning me to believing the control arms are causing the wear, but as I plan on keeping the car for a while for $600 in parts and a weekend of labor I'll bite the bullet and do it all at once.

 

When I did my suspension/drivetrain, the only control arm bushing I was able to order separately and replace was the lower control arm strut bushing. That also happened to be the only one that had visible wear, all of the others looked fine. I wasn't particularly interested in spending the money on all new control arms just to replace a few bushings anyways, so I let it be. I replaced everything else as you listed however. I made a thread awhile ago and highlighted some parts of the job that may help you, take a look here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-p...cement-976566/

In reference to your original questions, I would definitely recommend getting your car aligned, especially after all the suspension work you do. If you're having excessive inside tire wear you could have too much toe out. Clunking noise over bumps could be worn ball joints, there was a TSB somewhere for some TL's having faulty ball joints. Mine happened to be in perfect shape, but I destroyed them trying to remove them from the knuckle (sort of a PITA if you don't have the right tools), so I replaced them anyways. I have 135k on the odometer, and I was getting clunking sounds on acceleration, but not over bumps.

I think some movement of the lower control arm is acceptable. They are rubber bushings after all, and are meant to be forgiving. If it's moving a ton then it could cause concern. I'm actually interested in seeing if my move around now haha.