Ruben Espinosa

Looking to purchase new control arms and bushings for my Acura but not sure what brand to buy. Also if i should change any other parts while im at it if it.

thoiboi

www.oemacuraparts.com

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I've only gone OEM for critical parts such as timing belt components. Otherwise, I've opted for the cheaper route of aftermarket, which is usually less than half the price of OEM. However, going OEM is always your best bet. You'll rarely see a situation where someone will say they wish they would have gone aftermarket instead of OEM Having said that, I haven't had any of my aftermarket parts go bad either.

Typically the bushings are already installed on a new control arm. I frequently shop RockAuto which as pretty good brands and much lower prices than OEM.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...trol+arm,10401

Although if you're replacing the lower control arm, you might opt for just the bushings since the entire assembly is more expensive.

In 175K miles, I've only had to replace my upper control arm on the passenger side and the ball joint on the lower control arm. But since parts are relatively cheap, I've also replaced a whole bunch of parts that haven't necessarily gone bad just to breathe some new life into the cars handling. I've replaced the upper control arm and ball joint on the lower control arm on the drivers side as well as new strut assemblies on the front. I purchased the strut assemblies OEM since I was concerned that aftermarket might not meet the exact specifications, which are more important in a component like a shock or spring that has certain tensions dictated by Acura.

I've also replaced the outer tie rods (technical a "steering" component but also affects handling) as well as stabilizer bar links and bushings for both the front and rear sway bars. Sway bar components are where I saw the biggest improvement in handling. Suspension parts tend to slowly wear and become more "lazy" over time, long before they outright fail and start clunking around. So I've opted to replace quite a few things even though the parts aren't exactly dead yet. Aftermarket suspension parts are pretty cheap (ball joints ~$20 each, upper control arm assemblies ~$40 each, stabilizer bar links ~$25 each, outer tie rods ~$30 each, etc.) and aftermarket brands like Beck/Arnley and AC Delco are pretty good. If you can, go MOOG but remember to get the "problem solver" line. The K and RK lines are lower quality. If MOOG problem solvers aren't available for your specific application, I'd go Proforges, Beck/Arnley or ACDelco.

Or you can just go OEM for everything but you'll spend quite a bit more. Even going OEM for the front strut assemblies, which were about $170 each, I've only spent around $600 to replace about 80% of the suspension parts that are involved in handling. The only ones left are lower control arms, inner tie rods and the strut assemblies and two control arms on the rear wheels. Control arms on the rear rarely go bad and the strut assemblies on the back don't have to put up with nearly as much abuse on a front wheel drive car as the front ones do. I'll eventually replace them but it's not high priority.

Anyways, good luck! Post back up here if you have any trouble with uninstall/reinstall. I had to deal with quite a few stubborn bolts which involved some creativeness at times PB Blaster and a bit of heat usually does the trick. And a decent impact gun.

agd177

(well as stabilizer bar links and bushings for both the front and rear sway bars. Sway bar components are where I saw the biggest improvement in handling) @losiglow can you explain more ? what did you change the just the stabilizer end links ?

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I changed the sway bar end links on both the front and rear. That's where I saw the biggest improvement. I also replaced the sway bar bushings but didn't really notice much there. The existing ones were already in pretty good shape. But the old end links were definitely worn out. Lots of play and virtually no stiffness.