Thread: What are the signs of a bad control arm?

I have this mysterious clunk sometimes @ first acceleration, 4th gear cruise, touch the throttle, let off or in 5th at low rpms then touching the throttle etc. I have all new front end pieces, Moog balljoints, but old ES bushings. Do ES bushings go that bad? The hole on the big bushing looked a bit enlargened. Should I put new ES bushings in or get new control arms. Whats your opinion

when my ball joints were shot my car would "wander" when i hit the gas.

after replacing the control arms ( bushing were also shot ) and lined it all up it went straight.

Not sure about the clunk though

I'm willing to bet the bushings will fix the problem. I had the same noise during those same driving conditions and the noise went away when I put the es control arm bushings in.

only thing i can think of would be the Ball joint but they are new (according to what you said in first post) so i dunno sorry hope you find the sucker making the annoying noise haha

Yeah, I have CSK's new everything. New Moog balljoints. I think the ES bushings are shot. Where the big bushing goes on looks real thin like it was wearing out or the bushing hole enlargened. Anyone have a pic of a stripped down control arm?

My right side LCA is shot to hell, it make a noise whenever there is a sudden jerk

Thats the symptom. So I need a control arm? Sounds like the swaybar hitting the chassis.

Mine are super bad!!!!!

If you want OEM bushings, I believe you have to buy the whole control arm. Otherwise, just throw another set of es bushings on.

ES bushings can cause the nuts to back out over time. Retorque them and see if that helps.