Lower Control Arms - Front

[HARDTRAILZ]

Finally decided that the front LCA had taken enough abuse and had too much play. Have seen some of the discussion on poor ball joints in Mevotech and found Dorman and Moog to be available most commonly otherwise. After some looking I went with the 08-09 style Moog with the straight through sway bar design from 08-09. They have 3 year warranty as well. There were about 1/2 price of the other earlier design and I figured since I built my sway bar links, I could rebuild them to work with the new arms. Hopefully all the research that showed they were the same otherwise is good; cause with the abuse we give these things, a cheaper cost option can not be a bad thing. So I will post up some pics and what I do for sway bar links in case it helps anyone in the future. May be a few weeks due to Summit going through Moog to get them to me and my time to get them on.

[Trail X]

Isn't this the Moog part that Moots had a problem with? I could be totally off here, going off recollection.

[HARDTRAILZ]

He had the Mevotech ball joints fail. He told me to go Moog yesterday when I text him.

[Eredin]

I ended up going with the Dorman 521-032 / 521-031, for the earlier years. I wish I'd known these later style ones existed, does look like fabbing end links would be easier.

[v7guy]

Yeah, the bushings and balljoint in the mevotech arms went at about a year in Matt's envoy.
Assuming Moog is using the same balljoint in the arms they sell as they offer for just balljoint replacement they should last decently well. I know the Moog balljoints I had were a couple years old and they still took some effort to move.

[Trail X]

Good, I need to devote some memory to remembering the brand name. I've always had good luck with Moog, so hopefully they will hold up well for you too Kyle. What exactly drove you to replace? Just really beat up looking?

[HARDTRAILZ]

Beat up n bushings worn/loose feeling. I did uppers a year or so ago and never done lowers. Figure with wanting to get the new tie rods put in and the new hubs and new upper ball joints...just get it all dialed in right then get a fresh alignment. I don't see the truck ever leaving me.

[djthumper]

Nice to know. I will be needing to do my lowers as well.

[Shdwdrgn]

My lowers were showing some play last Fall when I replaced the tires, so I was hoping to get them replaced when (if) it stops raining. Called a shop and they wanted $660 to do all four balls plus control arms, so I'm thinking of trying to do it myself. I haven't checked yet if anything else is loose under there... but the reason for my post is to ask what you guys recommend for replacements. I've had good luck with dorman, sounds like moog is also suitable. Do you guys stick with the stock numbers or have you found a beefier direct-replacement part? And is there an easy way to tell if the UCAs need replaced? I assume I would see play around the bushing, but do I need to remove the shock tower or anything to actually see the slack?

Last time I did ball joints was on my '74 Pontiac. Using a hammer. Don't judge, I drove the car for another decade before selling it. But yeah, I should probably find a better method this time.

[HARDTRAILZ]

There are no beefier direct replacements. Some uppers for lowered trucks and James built a set.

Look for play. Mine were pretty obvious.

- Summit sent me one, but said the other was backorderd so I cancelled and ordered through RockAuto
-- As stated in the Rock Auto thread...They F'ed me and I still do not have the part they showed as in stock until today. I have screen shots and emails and ordered the part twice to see how shitty they really were. They still have some of my money right now, but say it should be back in 3 days.
---I ordered from Summit again since they show as in-stock finally. Hopefully at some point I get the other cause i dont want to mix n match.

Will update once they are both in hand and on the rig.

[maricard]

I will be needing to do my lowers too
It's easier to change all lca than just change ball joint.

[Eredin]

Ball joints are pretty easy to change, but the bushings are notoriously bad and prone to failing. There are three major bolts that hold the arms on at the frame and can be easily accessed. If you notice any play at all, I'd highly recommend changing out the whole arm. Most come with the ball joints already installed.

I also picked my set up on Amazon, beat out RockAuto due to shipping costs.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Ball joints are f'ing awful. I will buy arms every time from now on. Twice I did lowers and both times it was shitty.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Got the 2nd one from Summit in under 24 hours. Now to find time to get them on when it is convienent to go for an alignment as well. Sucks Firestone is now 50 miles away.

[Shdwdrgn]

OK wait, just for clarification... it's the lower control arm that is more likely for the bushings to wear out?

I see Dorman has two different parts listed for the lower arm:
521-031 / 521-032
521-389 / 521-390

Anyone know off-hand which one fits the 2004 SWB? They all run about $100/ea with free shipping, and if they're as notorious as you guys are suggesting, it would probably be good preventative maintenance to just go ahead and replace them (I'm a little under 120k miles).

[Eredin]

Dorman 521-032 / 521-031 are the one's that are technically correct for your year. Doorman lists the others as first year (02/03) specific, but I don't know why. They have a later model arm for the 08/09 that has a flat mount for the sway bar end link, as can be seen under 521-971.

[Shdwdrgn]

Nice, thanks. Got a paycheck coming on the 1st, I'll have to get these ordered. I'm almost afraid to see if the ball joints have gotten any worse over the Winter, but definitely need to get this fixed before I head to the mountains this year. And damnit, I WILL make it into the mountains this year!

[HARDTRAILZ]

I am just doing LCA at 170k. Bushings have been good til I found play w last wheel bearing.