Control arm problem

[e30onBBSs]

Hey everyone I just took my e30 to get inspected and they told me that I need to replace the control arm. I took a look and to me it looks like nothing is wrong but I'm not an expert. Here's some pics please let me know why it's messed up or why it's not. The guy made it seem very dangerous, but Idk if it is! Thanks for any answers and as always if more pics are required let me know! Thanks everybody :D

[IronFreak]

Looks fine to me, your boots on the BJs aren't even torn up. Sway bushing looks a little stretched but far from anything I'd call dangerous. I've seen MUCH worse.....Sounds like he was looking for some work.

[jalopi]

shitty pic of the CAB (no offense, just sayin) but it looks like the CABs might need replacement. also, you didn't mention if the BJs have play in them or not.

most places won't even bother pressing new BJs or CABs in since you can buy control arms for a reasonably cheap price with them already pressed in.

IMO unless you have play in the BJs and your CAB isn't falling out, like it looks in the pic, you'll be fine

[e30onBBSs]

Looks fine to me, your boots on the BJs aren't even torn up. Sway bushing looks a little stretched but far from anything I'd call dangerous. I've seen MUCH worse.....Sounds like he was looking for some work.

shitty pic of the CAB (no offense, just sayin) but it looks like the CABs might need replacement. also, you didn't mention if the BJs have play in them or not.

most places won't even bother pressing new BJs or CABs in since you can buy control arms for a reasonably cheap price with them already pressed in.

IMO unless you have play in the BJs and your CAB isn't falling out, like it looks in the pic, you'll be fine

Thanks guys! I think there is a bit of play? He was like "watch this" and then drove it like 3 feet and then when he stopped it would stop for a second then roll forward a tiny bit. He said "This is ready to fly off at anytime" I just researched the procedure to diagnose play so I will report back later today or after vacation. Thanks a bunch

[ST1G]

Meh, looks fine as long as the bushing isn't falling out. If it is about to fall out then I would get the bushings replaced, the whole arm will need to come off.

[reelizmpro]

Can't tell if there's play from pics. How many miles are on them? Everything looks rusted and original.

[xcx4x]

Sorry to hijack but I have a somewhat related question. My boots are torn up. What are the implications? I haven't had any issues yet...


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[xcx4x]

By boots I mean the black accordion looking thing in pic #2


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[estoguy]

Well, dirt and water will be able to get into your ball joints. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH.

I don't believe you can just replace the boots. You'll need new ball joints at some point, which involves removing the arm. You can just replace the ball joints or get a new arm that already have them pressed in.

[ForcedFirebird]

Jack your car up on that corner. Try to wiggle the wheel. If it moves around by hand, you need to replace something. Working on these cars every day, I would say if the control arm and/or ball joints are original, they are toast anyways.

Ball joints aren't worth a shop to press new ones in since the ball joints are $30-ish each plus half hour or so to press them, so a shop will be out the $60 - plus time to press - when they get an off brand control arm complete for near that $60. We press them in at my shop if the control arm isn't bent because we can install high quality ball joints for the same price as a cheap complete arm - but my tends to take care of customer cars for years and don't need warranty calls, so it's a win-win for us to rebuild them.

[EyExR]

I would also get a second opinion if you don't trust this shop 100%... the mechanic should be able to lift the car up and show you where the play is...

A single control arm isn't really a big deal to replace. Did they give you a quote to do the work?

[jeffnhiscars]

I had a set of replacement CA boots (so they can be had) but never used them since as john says, the time & effort to replace is not worth the trouble and unless you torn them yourself recently, chances are the damage to the joints is already done.

[KVF]

Thanks guys! I think there is a bit of play? He was like "watch this" and then drove it like 3 feet and then when he stopped it would stop for a second then roll forward a tiny bit. He said "This is ready to fly off at anytime" I just researched the procedure to diagnose play so I will report back later today or after vacation. Thanks a bunch

I'm not sure what you mean by then roll forward a tiny bit... The only two ways I've heard to check e30 control arm ball joints and bushing is visual inspection (tears/rips); you'll need to picture the bushing from the front or rear, not the side. The other test is to raise the suspected wheel off the ground and forcefully jerk the wheel at 10 & 2 (side 2 side) and 12 & 6 (up down) to see if you get substantial play.

[KIRIEIW]

Sorry to hijack but I have a somewhat related question. My boots are torn up. What are the implications? I haven't had any issues yet...


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Simply put, the boot doesn't cover the ball joint> dust, dirt, water, ect can then make contact with the ball joint (because the boot isn't cover it up). Anything other then nothing will wear them out.

[jalopi]

IMO people significantly dramatize the amount of damage a torn BJ/tierod boot does. we're not talking about something like a CV joint that can spin at thousands of RPMs a minute here, we're talking about something with a static [pretty much anyway] use.

lubrication is essential for things that move constantly/dynamically, alot. do tie rod sockets and BJs do so? no. they might rotate a bit in their respective sockets, but they're a fairly static design, so lubrication isn't the absolute end of the world. believe it or not, if you purposefully slit the boots on your new BJs/tie rods with a razor, ect it will take YEARS for them to go bad. it'll hardly ever be a few weeks or months like people make it out to be.

sure, if you inject saltwater into the torn boot, daily, the joints will go bad pretty quick but that's a very unrealistic situation. replace shit when it goes bad, not when the boot tears, that's my motto anyway

/endrant