I clicked on the link for the find a mechanic list, but it seems that it isn’t working.
Suggestions.
I think you are being played here. What the service writer really wants is to get you into the showroom to buy a new car. He gets a commission for the “upsell”. The control arm bushings is a scare tactic.
It is impossible to determine if the control arm bushings are “torn” by a casual visual check. The are almost completely enclosed in metal, just the edges are exposed, and the edges check which are the cracks that the tech and you see. This is totally normal.
The first link below is a picture of your control arm. It is similar to the old fashioned A-arm type control arm in that it has two bushings, but unlike the old style, the bushing are different between the forward and rear bushings. The rear bushing is primarily to keep the front wheels from walking back and forth as you go down the road. The front one is the one the arm pivots on. At this supply house, the total cost of the two bushings is higher than the cost of a new control arm.
When installed, you can see that only the edges of the bushings are visible. Even if the cracks went all the way into the middle, it still wouldn’t hurt anything as the rubber doesn’t have anywhere to go. If the rubber were to completely deteriorate and fall out the edges, you still have a solid steel rod holding the control arm in place, it wont fall out, but it would make a knocking noise.
The ‘mechanics files’ worked fine for me, click on the ‘advanced’ tab, put in your zip code and brand, see what pops up. But for this type of work it wouldn’t need to specialize in Toyotas.
Thanks for the links. The mechanic showed me a bushing in another Toyota. It didn’t look like this.At the other end of the passenger side control arm was a round donut shaped rubber piece which he identified as a bushing. This was worn. He said my bushings were split. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly.
I just had my bushing changed in feb 2013,I now hear the same sound going over a bump. in the back. I have appt with toyota . They said i will be covered under a 1 yr or 1200 mile warranty.Do bushings fail again that soon?
Kudos to the dealer for recommending waiting until you hear sounds. I’m pleasantly surprised, to be honest. An honest dealer… just when I thought I’d heard everything.
hr, the Toyota struts or strut mounts themselves make a bumping noise when they wear out, even though the strut will pass the bumper test and not cause any other handling issues. Had this issue recently on my daughter Corolla.
She bought a new Camry and gave to Corolla to another family member. The family members mechanic put in 4 new quick struts and cured the noise. Since I wasn’t doing the work, I don’t know if it was the strut or the strut mount causing the noise, and it darn sure didn’t need all 4 but it is what it is.
The safety inspection here puts your car/truck up on a lift and checks the bushings for play. Most of the time, they use a short rod for leverage to check ball joints and bushings. If they are tight, you pass whether or not they shows signs of splits or checking.
I was surprised when my Trailblazer failed. I do all my own work and keep a fairly good eye on things. So I was fairly certain they were looking for a boat payment. I was astounded to see how much play was in ONE of the control arm bushings. It was most definitely worn out and needed to be replaced immediately. Absolutely no signs it was that bad off.
It could be close to a wash if you are at someone other than a dealership. The extra labor to R&R bushings pushes the cost up closer to the new, loaded arm since the R&R labor is much less. It was still cheaper to do a individual bushings but not by a whole lot. And then there’s the potential for problems. Ever pressed these out? Sometimes, it’s no picnic…
Keith, so will the sway bar bushings, including the link bushing. Just about any bushing can thunk when it gets dried up and shrunk. I’ve compared the holes in old sway bar bushings (replaced to cure a thunking noise) with the holes in the new bushings, and it’s truly amazing how much the holes grow with use.