Thread: Cheapest place to get front-end suspension parts?

So, we got the swaybar in the Regal; my brother drove it to his place and it wouldn't stop clunking in the front. So, he took it to a shop and found out the lower ball joints, left side control arm bushings, right control arm, and tie-rod ends are all shot. Probably from being driven with a broken front swaybar for a long while.... (life has given me so many lessons about used cars the last five months...)

Anyhow, we're looking at around $700 worth of parts and labor from one shop ($250 parts, app. $350 for labor, and $100 alignment). Wondering if this is reasonable enough, or what the cheapest place to get these parts from would be, then have a shop install the ones that require special tools.

None of those are hard to do even if you have to do it in the cold there not that bad. I just suggest rock auto get greaseable everything I do and they seem to last me longer (I beat my car like a $2 whore) change it all your self then go get alignment and yea there prices sounds about right but why pay
them to do something you could do with a basic set of tools And a little time

Nothing requires anything special.

A broken sway bar or a missing sway bar has nothing to do with the repairs that they say are needed.

Tie rod ends are very common and same with control arm bushings. New control arms are 40 each for dorman parts and new tie rod ends are 10-15 per side or so. New control arms come with all bushing and new ball joints.

Spend $120 in parts, 2 hours of your time and then get an alignment.

Don't you need a press tool to do the bearings?

You never said anything about a wheel bearing.

And no, there aren no press in bearings. They all have their own hub already, only 3 bolts and 1 axle nut hold it to the knuckle.

Oh. My brother said you needed special tools to do the ball joints, and control arm bushings.

Get the entire control arm with new bushings... Easiest way. Bushings would cost 60-70% of the cost of an entire new control arm. To pop the ball joint lose you may need a separator tool, or you can just be inventive, lol.

If a T55 bit and some sockets are special tools, then yeah.

It's cheaper/easier/faster to replace the entire arm than it is to try and replace the ball joint and bushing itself. The regular bushings are like 15-20 each and the new style are 35-40 each for just a bushing. Where as a new control arm is 40 bucks, and it'll last a long time.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-520-156.../dp/B001KQF63O
http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-520-155.../dp/B001KQF67U

So, those would come with the bushings and the lower ball joints?

Yes.

And rockauto is cheaper. They are 39 each and MOOG brand is 44 each.

buying cheap parts dont equal quality parts. yeah sure cheap gets you by but you will be doing that same job sooner than if you bought good quality parts.

Dorman is factory quality, I see no issue getting similar mileage from them.

Bill had close to 60-70k miles on a set with no problems.

i was talking over all lol

Well, I was really looking forward to spending $130 on parts..., but apparently my brother already took it to the shop to do. Nice.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll def keep this info handy for the future!

Now off to find some LeSabre parts....

If you want cheap and decent quality. Try Mevotech brand. They come with ball joints attached with bolts, not those damn rivets like OEM and Dorman.

Okay, thanks for the info!

$100 alignment? You're getting taken to the cleaners, I thought some of the guys locally trying to charge $60 was highway robbery, but sheeeesh.

I wouldn't pay a dime over $50 for an alignment.

$125 with two year warranty my home town but $89 where I live now and won't do any type warranty to many damn dirty roads

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Yeah $100 for an alignment is way too much, even the most expensive place here only charges $80 for an alignment.

Originally Posted by USonuMabeaCh

$100 alignment? You're getting taken to the cleaners, I thought some of the guys locally trying to charge $60 was highway robbery, but sheeeesh.

I wouldn't pay a dime over $50 for an alignment.

Who does $50 alignments around here lol

Usually around $70 gets you one here. If it's a dealership expect around $100 or so


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