Hi All
Unfortunately have to replace lower front lower control arms [ 07 XLS] on both sides for second time in 2 years.. went with moog r series last time as I was NOT aware of how badly their quality had gone down hill. Any advice on what brand or category within brand would be appreciated. Rock auto has 6 different brands and Ill be damned if I can pick a winner!
Thanks again in advance-

 

[QUOTE=07xlsguy;323726]Hi All
Unfortunately have to replace lower front lower control arms [ 07 XLS] on both sides for second time in 2 years.. went with moog r series last time as I was NOT aware of how badly their quality had gone down hill. Any advice on what brand or category within brand would be appreciated. Rock auto has 6 different brands and Ill be damned if I can pick a winner!
Thanks again in advance-[/QUOTE


ccernst??

 

 

thanks serpentor. I was actually hoping somebody might have known any brand quality differences on the control arms like if they were made with better ball joints or what not. I'm not sure warranty means anything these days.

 

thanks serpentor. I was actually hoping somebody might have known any brand quality differences on the control arms like if they were made with better ball joints or what not. I'm not sure warranty means anything these days.

 

like you, I thought Moog was the best. For our vehicle, it isn't. Read up on Moog part numbers, they have their "problem solver" line, and a value line. They only make value line control arms for us. I did mine about 3 years back. one failed after 2 years and replaced with another moog. we'll see how long they last. I bought Moog tie rod ends...SKF ends arrived in a Moog box. RockAuto said that Moog does that. Enjoy.

Couple things you can do though. Buy a grease needle for a grease gun, that way you can still inject grease into the boot (what I've done). You could also buy your own zirk fittings and install...just dont get any metal filings inside the joint.

As far as brands, I'd probably rock ACDelco. Dorman and Mevotech don't inspire me.

 

Thanks again for your help. You have been invaluable in my endeavors to keep Miss Outlander running well. And through the process of elimination, I decided to buy the AC Delco arms. They're sitting in my garage now. Setting up a weekend fun fest at my brother-in-law's this weekend as he has a lift in his garage. If he can't swing it, I'm going to attempt without the lift in my driveway.
btw just for academic purposes, did you use a lift or did you do them with the car on the ground? What was your experience?

 

Dad has a lift, and air tools! Biggest issue was getting one of the bolts to line up....got really good with a screwdriver to line the bushing up.

while you are under there, inspect the crossmember for excessive rust.

 

Probably too late to help 07XLSGUY but I just did this job as well, and I went with the ULTRA-POWER RK620549 and ULTRA-POWER RK620548 from the economy grade.

I noticed a few things that concerned me.

They don't box the arms like the original:



The rear busing isn't oriented correctly according to the manual:




I installed them anyways because I was told I needed them for a wheel alignment. Might not have. But when buying from these from Rockauto I would at least go with a daily driver grade.

 

Thanks for the reply. I ended up going with the AC Delco arms. I probably don't expect to have much better results than with the moogs I purchased three years ago as they all look like they're built to s*** standards. Luckily a mechanic right down the road from my house felt generous and installed both of them for a hundred bucks. It wasn't worth my time and energy to get under the car to replace them myself. Although I haven't checked to be 100% accurate, I believe those part numbers for the ultra power arms you purchased are the exact number for the Moog Control arms as well.