I see some Dorman Complete control arms for my 96 and I gotta say they are appealing. I can get both for about $90.00 Shipped and they are complete with the bushings. Has anyone here had any good or bad experiance with these ? and do they look like they will hold up for atleast a year ?




Im looking at these control arms one is Dorman and another is Mevotech

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1027252


http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1283822

What do you guys think is best for the money Dorman for about 90 Shipped or upgrade to Mevotech for about 115 Shipped.

 

Both of mine were replaced with mevotech, was definitely not disappointed after installation.

 

I also used the Mevotech arms. I always try to go with a middle price point with stuff like this. I have no complaints.

 

Thanks for the input so far,can anybody else also chime in ?

 

I got a pair of the dorman arms, and after 6k miles I havent had any problems. Im happy with my purchase

 

I also have a pair of dorman arms and they are serving me well also.

 

I replaced mine with the dorman arm and it bolted up and fit well rides smooth I'm happy

 

I installed those mevotech control arms from rockauto 20 months ago and they're holding well.

 

how do you know when your control arms need to be replaced?

 

The easiest way is to check the bushings, mine were flattened out/eaten away pretty badly after 15 years & 140k miles (second owner @ 130k, parent was first & wouldn't put the money necessary toward fixing what was wrong with it).

I did mine because of this and was also tired of seeing the rust rot on the control arms... stupid rock salt.

Obviously you can choose to do bushings and ball joints on your existing control arms (if you can do the work yourself), but if you have bad rust or can't change the bushings/ball joints yourself you may as well replace them as a whole assembly... just make sure you have access to a second car or get a backup pair of pivot shafts just in case your pivot shafts won't come out of the bushing sleeve... can be a royal pain if they don't want to come out, ask me how I know.

 

My lower ball joint took a dump and was making all sorts of creaking clunking noises the whole control arm was cheap and didn't involve pressing in and out a ball joint and it has new bushings

 

Exactly why im replacing mine,to many clunking and creaking noises as of late. I took a look at the underside of the car while the wheel was turned and the control arm itself is fine. Its all 3 bushings that are inside it that have now gone to *&^%

Dont know if this is control arm related but the steering isn't feeling as tight as it used to,so im hoping to get that precision back in my steering as well.

 

Thanks so much guys! Been looking for a thread just like this. I'm pretty sure it's my control arm now. I'm also hoping my steering will tighten up just a bit.

EDIT: What exactly is a pivot shaft? Does it go by another name?

 

my steering got tighter and i only replaced one the right side still has 224k


the pivot shaft is the "serviceable pin" installed in the control arm

 

Driver side Arm always seems takes more damage over the years because of leaking fluids on it. Brake fluid sometimes leak down to the bushings of the control arm and dry out the rubber. Meanwhile my passenger side arm is just old and has dried up bushings but no chunks of rubber coming off as soon as i touch it ^^

 

In my experience (sample of one i30) the passenger side control arm has all the oil leak potential hanging over it, and thus the accelerated bushing decay. Driver's side seems to be clear of oil, only a busted CV boot makes that one greasy.

I have tried removing that pivot shaft from a control arm, and failed.

 

i sell dorman products (along with many others) on a daily basis and we rarely have problems with their control arms, they are really the best price for the quality.if you wanted to go with something of oe or bettery quality then go with moog...

 

OK so i got the Mevotech control arms for a few more bucks and i thought installation was going to be kinda easy until I discovered the Mevos are missing a piece the old stockers had, take a look at these pics!

 

I am also going to change my control arms soon. I ordered some Dorman control arms. Let us know how it goes with the Mevotech. As far as I am concerned, Moog doesn't make control arms for our chassis....or I just didn't look hard enough
If I found some moog control arms for our chassis I would definitely gone with those. I did get some outer tie rod from moog, and soon I am installing the sway bar end link from moog and ES sway bar bushings. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

moog doesn't make a control arm for anyone. AFAIK

they make parts for you to install ON to the arms. ball joints, tie rods, other bushings. Thats what they make, not arms itself. A ball joint for a maxima can be the same for a altima and sentra, but a arm for a maxima is just a maxima. You can see why they do things the way they do.

also, the mevo unit is not missing anything, your suppose to remove the old bracket and install on new. that is an OEM peice only.

 

when i did my control arms (dorman) i went a step further and got Polyurethane bushings, def. haven't had any complaints since

 

The maxima is getting tighter guys! I got the control arms replaced swaybar links replaced but now I just spotted some rotting bushings in the sway bar Bracket itself. Gotta replace em because I can now hear the sway bar clunking around. Does anyone know the stock swaybay diameter of a 96 SE ?

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sp?prod=7.5118

 

Ordered the exact same ones for my max 2 days ago.

 

So these ES bushings will be an exact fit for All 95 to 99 maximas ?

 

yes

 

Anyone have experience with the Deeza LCAs?
I just rebuilt an I30 set with Deeza ball joints and EZ polyurethane bushings. That's a lot of work to remove the the two bushings when you consider the price difference of a new arm vs. the bits to rebuild the old. My LCAs were in great shape since the car has lived in Tx all it's life. (now a Daughter car)
Deeza seems like good stuff - I redid the suspension and tie-rods with Deeza stuff. Time will tell.

 

Took a look underneath the car, sway bar bracket bushing driver side is completely GONE.
Dirt and oil leakage has taken it out of commission over the years,only the bracket is left.
Passenger side is still intact but very soft and squishy im talking like a sponge! Ceppy is right time for some ES bushings I hope these things fit like a glove !

 

Do you know the part #?

Edit: Nvm I found it:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/54428m-...-p-133679.html

 

I just checked the endlink bushings and sway bar bracket bushing. Other than normal wear and tear it all looks good. Bushings were still still and retaining shape.

 

They aren't missing anything. That silver piece with the 3 holes is the pivot shaft and is a separate part. Some people have had trouble getting the pivot shaft out of the control arm bushing in which case you could get new ones.