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My daughter drives a 2004 Toyota Highlander and my mechanic says that her control arm bushings have cracks throughout. It steers fine and seems tight but I'm just worried that it's a safety issue and needs instant attention. What do you think? Thanks in advance.
It's not a safety issue. Most cars over 5 years old are going to have cracked bushings. The control arm bushings though, have a solid connection surrounded by rubber. Even if there was no bushing at all, it isn't like it would fall off the car. It would just lead to increased noise and some sloppiness in the steering, and maybe some irregular tire wear.
A test I've always done is to put the car up on jacks, and then jack up the wheel you want to test. Crawl under and see if you can shake the control arm, or make it move around. Chances are, if the rubber is just cracked, it isn't going to move much, and that's exactly what it's supposed to be like.
I've seen cars being driven with no bushings at all, that had long since cracked off and fell out, and the owners had no idea other than some clunking when going over bumps.
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I agree with Mckinney, but then if you plan to keep it many more years it will be worth fixing. Should the rubber fall the clunking noise is metal on metal, and at that point fixing it soon is critical or it will elongate the round opening in the control arm and make the repair more costly. You can probably get 3-4 more years before that happens. Back in the 60s and 70s we had to replace bushings at about 50k miles, today's modern rubber or neoprene lasts a lot longer even with cracks.
i agree with the others. what you are actually seeing is normal checking that occurs as rubber bushings age, and it is on the surface only. as long as the control arms are tight and have little to no movement, you are good to go.
Yea I agree with above. All rubber bushings will get some cracks in them. I would worry if the rubber is all gone or if there was a oil or automotive fluid leak going on the rubber it will eventually swell and soften it to the point where it will disintegrate. Then you will need to rep,ace the bushing. You'll hear clunking and have loose steering or vibration and abnormal tire wear,
If you do replace the bushings see if there is a polyurethane replacement bushing
The only truck I ever replaced bushings on was a 89 GMC but that was because I replaced the whole suspension and it came with new AArms. The old bushings had surface cracks but we're not deformed.
Me being me, before I agree with anyone, I have question.
How in the world does your mechanic SEE a THROUGH crack in bushing? He has Superman vision or something?
Every bushing in several years will have minor spider cracks in OUTSIDE rubber exposed. Does not make bushing bad.
Ask your mech if he actually performed a control arm test? Which is no wiggling it by hand, you have to take a pry bar to it. Even better, ask him to do it in your presence. You can also listen to clunk at take off and when slamming on brakes. As that's when control arm center bolt moves back-for inside bad bushing. Or, clunk during turning the wheel.
But otherwise... Wife's 99 RX300 was sold at 154 000 miles on all original. With above mentioned spider cracks in bushings and NO issues.
I agree with Mckinney, but then if you plan to keep it many more years it will be worth fixing. Should the rubber fall the clunking noise is metal on metal, and at that point fixing it soon is critical or it will elongate the round opening in the control arm and make the repair more costly. You can probably get 3-4 more years before that happens. Back in the 60s and 70s we had to replace bushings at about 50k miles, today's modern rubber or neoprene lasts a lot longer even with cracks.
I visited this thread because it was recommended that we replace the control arms on our vehicle due to cracked bushings. I figured it wasn't an immediate need and it surprised me a bit since it has less than 50k miles on it. The cost estimate was $900 which seemed high.
I visited this thread because it was recommended that we replace the control arms on our vehicle due to cracked bushings. I figured it wasn't an immediate need and it surprised me a bit since it has less than 50k miles on it. The cost estimate was $900 which seemed high.
On some vehicles you can get a tool to press out the old bushing and replace it without buying an entire new control arm.
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