Hi all, cars done about 50k miles and I've got a judder throughout the car at certain speeds (bit random), confirmed this is due to the nearside front lower rear control arm (now that's a mouthful! In other words "the bendy one") being a bit worn so it needs replacing.
Question - previous driver drove it somewhat hard, not abused but he wasn't light on the throttle. Would people suggest I go the whole hog and upgrade the entire front control arm set?
The reason I ask is that I've seen sets such as the
034 one which claim to be better than original parts and to be honest I find my steering feel so all the upgrades I have planned are handling mods (ARB, springs, strut brace etc).
Or, just replace the one I know is wobbly and be done with it?
I had one of my Lower curved arms and 2 straight ams replaced recently at an indie , Was about £600
Did ask abou just changing the bushings, they are bonded to the arms of that was a no.
I don’t think it’s so much about being driven hard , it’s more about potholes and speed bumps that crush them and split . Mine were split pretty badly and latterly could hear them clicking and being deseated , but mainly when driving slow over potholes speed bumps .
Also didn’t seem to affect steering much.
Now I’ve them replaced, with genuine ones I have a different steering feeling response. Still trying to work out if it’s better or worse!
Basically it now feels so much lighter steering which isn’t quite as nice to me , but maybe this the way they are meant to be when new ..? Mechanic said it dives exactl as one should.
Also I find myself having to correct steering a lot more now over limps and bumps on road , and seems like I get a bit of understeer - it seemed heavier but more direct and less twitchy before. I am going to get them to look at tracking again though in case it’s that.
However I also had my tyres swapped from back to front as front ones were cheapo Landsails dealer put on front , and now have Avon zz5 or 6s on the front. Which could be the difference.
One thing though the landsails would just break away and looose all traction, now the Avon’s progressively loose grip and the Q esp kicks in , so you can push it round roundabouts knowing where you are with grip , it will slide a bit but still grips which is good, you can power it though instead of just being a passenger aiming for the kerb!
Anyway that’s beside the point , but if anyone noticed a difference in steering feel after new control arms that would be interesting to know.
As for doing it yourself , I definitely wouldn’t bother , some of these well worn in bolts may need heating and brute force to get out , plus imagine you need to make sure everything is aligned right and tracking is spot on.