Dorman aftermarket Lower control arms

[troyboy162]

Ive had these for about a year and a half after some deceitful product descriptions labeled them OEM on ebay. They come with bushings and can be had for less then half the price of the real toyota parts. Right off I thought they scared easier on rocks then my old OEM arms. While there is no way for me to say the metal is inferior, they are made in china and the below picture is the result of a particuarly violent hit in the desert whoops. Maybe that bottoming out would have killed anything, but both arms are coming off my truck and I will put poly bushings in my old OEM arms to re-use
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/IMG_20130728_092402_zpsd57b9140.jpg (http://s723.photobucket.com/user/troyboy162/media/IMG_20130728_092402_zpsd57b9140.jpg.html)

[Seanz0rz]

That's a pretty bad failure! That steel looks a tiny bit thinner than OEM, can you confirm?

[troyboy162]

I'll take a look when I have them side by side. It does look a little thin to me as well.

[4x4mike]

Question. Were these purchased because your OEM lower a-arm bushings needed replacing? I know Sean has done that repair but is it that expensive that lower arms are cheaper? I know he did a couple things at once, bought a press, etc but I guess I didn't realize.

Troy it seems like you got some use out of these arms. How did the bushings hold up? It's a good thing you still have the factory parts and that the current ones aren't broken. This gives you time to get the factory ones up and going again.

[troyboy162]

yes the arms were bought as a fast way to replace bushings. I havnt seen the bushings on these dorman yet, but I suspect they are good. The bushings themselves can be bought and pressed into OEM arms, but for my troubles I wanted to switch out to poly. The poly bushings wear roughly twice as fast, but considering I have only put 40k miles on it in 5 years I think a set of poly will outlast my truck.

For anyone looking to burn out bushings for poly..Yes it sucks, but you can speed the proccess up considerably by using anything to scrap off the burning rubber while it burns. otherwise it takes forever for the rubber to be consumed by the fire.

[Seanz0rz]

I replaced upper and lower BJs and control arm bushings.

The lower ball joint is EASY! I highly encourage you replace it to avoid catastrophic failure. Replace the 4 bolts as well, I have seen them fail several times in the past.

upper ball joint is a giant PITA!

the bushings are easy to press in. getting the old ones out requires cutting the lip off, and hammering it out.

I will be going to Poly when my bushings wear out on mine, probably another 4 or 5 years.

[troyboy162]

stock on bottom. Slightly thinner in this area. All other areas look the same.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/26e7780c-efe5-4295-a2a0-123c7f84019b_zpsea402f28.jpg (http://s723.photobucket.com/user/troyboy162/media/26e7780c-efe5-4295-a2a0-123c7f84019b_zpsea402f28.jpg.html)

more carnage on the bottom
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/IMG_20130730_175627_zpsd91b663b.jpg (http://s723.photobucket.com/user/troyboy162/media/IMG_20130730_175627_zpsd91b663b.jpg.html)

[troyboy162]

just an update but I took my other dorman arm off the truck tonight and it is cracked as well. These arms are junk!

[Bob98SR5]

Troy,

I purchased a poly bushing kit from (if i recall correctly) energy suspensions---or was it daystar or wheeler's or ??? its been so long. but anyways, i had a change of heart and installed factory bushings. so i have the polys. if you want them, they're yours so long as you pay the shipping. let me know and i can mail them out to you by friday. not sure where you live, but you can pick them up too if you're close to rancho cucamonga (my work)

[troyboy162]

Thanks Bob, but i already have some and am about half way through the install. The install sucks haha

[Bob98SR5]

Thanks Bob, but i already have some and am about half way through the install. The install sucks haha

Anyone else want them? Criteria: you have to be a good, long standing member

[Good Times]

Since Troy is saying the install sucks I'm out! :P jk. Nothing bfh can't solve. btw I don't have a press at home so I hope you've got something to press them in. Otherwise we can drive by my friends shop to press them in. I'll have to ask though.

[troyboy162]

I've just been using a vise. You would need one that can open up pretty far though. Other people have used large c clamps

[Good Times]

Bob, make sure to bring your vice! I've got a bunch of large c clamps but if you've got some bring em too!

[Bob98SR5]

lance, my bushings (stock) were just fine. the idiots at the alignment shop were cranking away at the other eccentric cam things in order to compensate for the frozen one. I am sure that contributed to my suck ass tire wear over the years. so i'm not going to put those poly bushings in. thanks though!