[dhula]

I've found a bit of wear in one of the lower control arm ball joints on Overdrive and have decided to replace all and sundry at the front end (tie rod ends, top strut mounts, etc).
As the ball joint is a part of the lower control arm (stupid Suzuki) I really only have a couple of options that I can think of.

1. Replace with OEM from a dealer = $488 each side, 1 in Syd, 1 in Melb when I checked. Pro's - They will fit as intended and are available. Con's - Holy crap batman, how much??

2. Replace with Calmini arms = around the $1700 mark for the kit. Pro's - well used and proven kit, replaceable ball joints (earlier Vit generation I believe) and bushes plus you get all the other cool bits and pieces as well. Con's - I don't really need or want the extra bits and pieces as I've already got Dobinsons springs and shocks installed that I'm happy to leave alone as the GV does everything we ask of it so the extra Calmini stuff is costing me money to sit in the shed as I'll most likely not fit it.

3. Replace the LCA with aftermarket replacements from eBay sellers in the US = Best I've found so far is about $300 to my door for the pair. Haven't found a Aus reseller yet but still looking. Pro's - Price, I can get all the gear I need for the front end for about the same price as one genuine arm (best price I've come up with is ~$500 for everything if I shop around on ebay). Con's - I don't know what the quality of the arms is like or if they will fit the GV properly as they list them to suit GV and XL7

I'm favoring option 3 at the moment so wondered if anyone has gone down this path to buy some replacement LCA's from the states and if so does everything fit up properly -- Does the arm fit into the chassis properly, does the lower spring mount fit properly (GV springs a slightly different to XL7 according to what I've read), do the arms give any alignment issues.

Any info you can give is appreciated.

Thanks

[shandy92]

have you thought about giving the Alter Ego Front A-Arms a go;
http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html
about half way down the page, $800.

[Chop]

Yep I went the ones from emerica, The postage was more than the 2 arms combined but total price was cheaper than one here oz.
There are no aftermarket available in oz, its genuine or nothing
XL7 and GV are the same and fit fine.

[Built4thrashing]

Chop wrote:

Yep I went the ones from emerica, The postage was more than the 2 arms combined but total price was cheaper than one here oz.
There are no aftermarket available in oz, its genuine or nothing
XL7 and GV are the same and fit fine.

Did exactly the same....... 2 delivered from the states for less than the cost of one from Aus.

On a side note Pedders were in development of a replacement arm when I did mine... but they were still $300+ each.

Quality on the US ones is ok but nowhere as good as genuine Suzuki ones. Ive already started to chew out the drivers side.....

[klutched]

shandy92 wrote:

have you thought about giving the Alter Ego Front A-Arms a go;
http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html
about half way down the page, $800.

Isn't that for a vit?

[shandy92]

yeah they are, sorry didnt realise they were different.

[got_bar_work]

Can u use old vit ones then just replace ball joint

[Built4thrashing]

got_bar_work wrote:

Can u use old vit ones then just replace ball joint

No.

[dhula]

Thanks for all the replies.
I've decided to go with aftermarket due to cost and the fact that now it seams that Suzuki only have a left hand LCA in Aus so the other one has to come from Japan with a month wait, maybe more.
I've found a Aus reseller for the non genuine stuff on eBay with a pretty fair price going by others I've seen. He gets the arms from the US so really no difference in the end apart from no currency conversion BS to stuff me around with a "I wasn't expecting that" kind of thing once the deal is done.
Now I just gota get all the other stuff as well.

[Built4thrashing]

Found some cheap ones on Ebay....... Post from the us is a bit exy but still cheaper than locally.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4WD-SUZUKI-G ... 439fa95e19

[Sco-tie]

You could part out most of the calmini kit no worries i would think, plus a space set of hubs, bushes and brackets wouldnt go a stray. Plenty of people run the GV springs in Svs

[dhula]

Just laid down the coin on some new lower control arms, new strut top bushes, new sway bar bushes and new inner and outer tie rod ends.
All up cost me about $600 or so.
Not sure what I'm guna do about steering rack mounts yet as noone lists anything and Suzuki want a ken load of cash as I get a free steering rack with the mounting bushes. I think I'll have to wait until I get it all apart to see what I can make fit or if one of the aftermarket bush suppliers like superpro or nolathane have something that will fit.

[Built4thrashing]

Steering rack mounts?

Whats wrong with yours that you need to replace the saddle mounts?

[dhula]

Nothing's wrong with them that I can tell. They seam tight and don't look shagged.
As I'm replacing everything else thought it silly not to replace the rack mounts (if I can find something) while I'm at it, then it's all like new (well kinda).

Plan is to look into the rear end bushes in a little while, the the whole car will be like new

[Built4thrashing]

No need to replace rack mounts.

As for rear end stick with rubber bushes. Nylothane will be a bit stiff to get decent flex out of.

[dhula]

Well it's more than 12 months later and I finally got to replacing all the bits and pieces in the front.
Everything fitted spot on without resorting to bashing it with a hammer which is always a good thing.
The difference in handling is like chalk and cheese, no wandering, no tram-lining, etc, it's a really nice car to drive now.

One thing I did come across while doing the job - well after actually - is that the local Bob Jane place I booked into for a wheel alignment was initially a bit concerned with the adjustable strut bolts (for camber adjustment) and mentioned if they weren't proper ones they would not touch it. All was good in the end as they were happy with the ones I'd used (like the one in the pic below) but might be something to think about when fitting adjustable bolts

[atari4x4]

they're the common camber bolts that we all use in vits etc, haven't seen any other style for a McPherson strut front end apart from the adjustable strut tops which are very different.

[dhula]

They were saying that they'd seen ones with plastic cams on the bolt, smaller diameter bolts with elliptical type washers, just smaller diameter bolts and huge washers and other kinds of junk that really scared them so they are being really careful now.
I took the fitting instructions in with me as well as a spare one to show them before they started the job and there were no probs at all.

[vet 180]

Didn't read the whole thread, but shoot me the part number of the control arms I can get new Suzuki parts pretty cheap

[Chop]

But can you get both front control arms for less than the price of one from suzuki?

[henno]

Not really the topic of this thread, but I wonder how much those 4x4art control arms klutched has on his site cost. (With the replaceable ball joint.)

You just have to remember to factor in the cost of a can of black paint, because that yellow is hideous.

[vet 180]

Chop wrote:

But can you get both front control arms for less than the price of one from suzuki?

No idea send me the part number and I will check. There is a decent chance, many part numbers are less than half Suzuki Aus.