Rear Control Arm?

[Crashoveride]

Hey All,

 

I just got a call from my local Nissan Dealership and they said my rear ball joint is bad on my 98 Chilkoot and that they cant replace those and need to replace the whole control arm and ball joint.

 

I called a few auto parts stores and they cant get them, does anyone know if this is a deal only part? They are asking $160 CDN for it plus install time.

 

Or maybe a better question would be is this entirely true? Can i replace just the ball joint or do i really need to replace the whole control arm?

 

Anything you guys can do to help answer the questions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Crash

[nissandoms47]

its not a ball joint, its a bushing, and down here they run about $90 a piece. you can just buy the bushing, its about $10-12 and you need 2 per control arm. i guess if you were doing it yourself it would be a lot cheaper. I need to get some new bushings for my uppers, they're creaking like crazy, but i might just buy new control arms because its such a pain to get the old ones out.

[Crashoveride]

nissandoms47, Thanks for the quick reply.

 

I was just doing some looking around online and found some shop diagrams of the rear suspension and I saw that there was both upper and lower control arms and they were all just bushings and no ball joints, so it seems my local dealership also sells crack -thnkboutit-

 

I am going to do this myself as I am a backyard mechanic and I want to learn more about it all, I come from a car background so the 4x4 world is all new to me. I guess I will have to weigh in about replacing just the bushings or the whole control arm. I assume it would be a good idea to get new bolts that hold the arm in as I know on some vehicles these may snap if they are rusted in there.

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Crash

[nissandoms47]

yeah you'll want to get new bolts, and a cut off wheel while your at it, most likely the lower bolts are rust welded to the link.

[Crashoveride]

I have the grinder Just need to order up the bolts to go with it

 

Thanks again for the help.

[Acey]

Doing the entire control arms are much easier, especially if you bought new bolts. If you have a torch and time, I'd put urethane ones in. Your dealership doesn't want to deal with changing the bushings as it is cheaper just to buy the complete arms. It will cost more for them to do bushings rather than replacing whole arm assembly.

[Crashoveride]

Yeah that was going to be my next question ........

 

In everyones opinion what would be the best option to go with, replace the bushings or the whole control arm w/ bushings? I just bought the bolts today and then will see if i can find the control arm elsewhere online cheaper if need be.

 

The dealership told me that they have tried to replace the bushings on those before and they find the new bushings don't fit in there tight and wear out easily and are a PITA to replace. That being said it is the dealership and they can make more money on the parts than the labor so its hard to say. If anyone has done these before please provide some insight.

 

Thanks Again Everyone,

 

Crash

[vengeful]

As an aside, does anyone have the length of the upper control arms?