Upper Ball Joint For 1993 Lexus Ls400-where To Buy?

[Baby Alex]

Hi, my mechanic said I need a driver's side upper ball joint for my 93 ls400.

He said the part alone is $440.

Anyone have any ideas where I may be able to locate on for less money?

Thank you

[nc211]

Got your email... your mechanic is correct, it is one piece. Attached is a photo of what the suspension looks like. The upper ball joint is attached to the upper control arm, which is #3 in the photo. I got this from www.lexuspartsonline.com within the mechanical catelog. They have it listed for $331 bucks. Your mechanic is probably quoting you the price your local dealership is selling it for. One thing you can try, to save some money, is call the dealership yourself and see if they will sell it to for what you would pay for it online plus shipping. I have done this with my local dealership and they have agreed on more than one occasion. It saves you time "not having to wait for it to arrive" and you get it for the same price. If anything, bump up your offer $10 bucks to compensate for the value of not having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Usually, shipping is around $20 bucks or so. But to answer your question; yes you are looking for the upper control arm. As far as I know, you cannot replace just the ball joint for the upper section, like you can for the lower one "#5". One of the few "gotcha" issues with the LS. Some may have altered thier control arm to replace just the ball joint, but do you really want to take that chance of part failure for this area just to save a $100 bucks? Plus, the time required to make that alteration will probably cost you more in labor anyway. This is an easy as pie repair. Just 3 bolts, and you also now have new upper control arm bushings as well!

[Baby Alex]

Got your email... your mechanic is correct, it is one piece. Attached is a photo of what the suspension looks like. The upper ball joint is attached to the upper control arm, which is #3 in the photo. I got this from www.lexuspartsonline.com within the mechanical catelog. They have it listed for $331 bucks. Your mechanic is probably quoting you the price your local dealership is selling it for. One thing you can try, to save some money, is call the dealership yourself and see if they will sell it to for what you would pay for it online plus shipping. I have done this with my local dealership and they have agreed on more than one occasion. It saves you time "not having to wait for it to arrive" and you get it for the same price. If anything, bump up your offer $10 bucks to compensate for the value of not having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Usually, shipping is around $20 bucks or so. But to answer your question; yes you are looking for the upper control arm. As far as I know, you cannot replace just the ball joint for the upper section, like you can for the lower one "#5". One of the few "gotcha" issues with the LS. Some may have altered thier control arm to replace just the ball joint, but do you really want to take that chance of part failure for this area just to save a $100 bucks? Plus, the time required to make that alteration will probably cost you more in labor anyway. This is an easy as pie repair. Just 3 bolts, and you also now have new upper control arm bushings as well!

Thank you for information!

I understand perfectly now :-)