Upper Control Arms (holy Jesus!)

[PLF]

Are you guys aware of this !!! I just ordered a set this morning, very good service, life time warranty (if properly installed)

90-92: http://www.arnottindustries.com/part_LEXUS...d46_gid421.html

93-94: http://www.arnottindustries.com/part_LEXUS...d65_gid422.html

I paid almost 300CAD because of shipping (I live in Quebec, Canada) its still very cheap !!!

[glenmore]

Finally an alternative to the dealer!

Looks like you can also get them from ebay, free shipping too!

glenmore

1990 LS400

2000 C280

1991 300CE

[OmarG]

i saw that too! YESS my 93 is clunkin up front. I wasn't gonna fix it.. but for $200 i might as well! wohoo!

[PLF]

REVIEW

I just Installed them this afternoon. There are a few odd things about them, the cast iron part seems do have been sandblasted and painted (rebuilt), I thaught so until I put the old one on the new ones and they have different shape in the casting roundness and bushing holes are narrower on the new ones. Left me a bit puzzled. I think they still work pretty well.

Pros

-Value, what can I say, they are darn cheap !!! $199US for both (I paid almost 300CAD because of shipping, I took UPS next day $60).

-Brand new bushings and ball-joint.

-OEM style bushings, keeps comfort, no skweeking after a while like Daizen ones.

-Lifetime warranty (not sure about this one) maybe...

Cons

-Says NEW on the site, the arms don't look so new to me but for the price what can I say.

-Had to hammer then in, pins are a bit too long.

-Ball-joints don't look greased enaugh.

-Missing 1 dust boot, I took an old one from my arms, this would be my only real complaints against them.

Since the ball-joints on my old ones where good, I have a pair of spaire arms to try other bushings, Nice ! I do recomend them, I think they should last a while, anyways you could buy almost 4 sets before getting to the price OEM ones. I still have a bit of clunking in the front, maybe lower ball-joints or lower bushing, I will be in better way of evaluating the Arnott upper arms when all the front end will be repaired.

Thank you

PL

[mastertech]

I ordered a set yesturday for my 91... I even work at a lexus dealer, and my cost is $286 each.... ouch

I figured lifetime warranty,, can't beat it.. they are a great company.. I've heard of them in the lincoln world for airbags...

[SKperformance]

Too bad nothing for the 95 and up .

[PLF]

Too bad nothing for the 95 and up .

Ask them about it, i'm sure they are in the way of producing some.

@mastertech: Please report back when you get them, I want to know if they are the same as mine, thanks.

[DanW]

I have their struts on my 92 and have been overly disappointed with them. I've ranted on this board several times about that....so I'll spare everyone from hearing it again.

Are then stamped "made in somehwere" or anything like that?

I would like to know how these uca replacements hold up over time. Please keep us informed.

[landar]

Lifetime warranty? Dont want to throw a wet blanket on the deal but.....when they break, thats the end of their life alright.

Warranties are often not worth the paper they are written on....or bytes on the web server, in this case. Caveat emptor!

[new2mud]

I have their struts on my 92 and have been overly disappointed with them. I've ranted on this board several times about that....so I'll spare everyone from hearing it again.

Are then stamped "made in somehwere" or anything like that?

I would like to know how these uca replacements hold up over time. Please keep us informed.

I would also be very hesitant to buy the Arnott UCAs due to the negative feedback I've seen on the quality of their "OEM" strut replacements. Unfortunately, since they are new, we won't have any truly positive feedback for several years. Negative feedback could be sooner, however.

Time will tell.

[new2mud]

i saw that too! YESS my 93 is clunkin up front. I wasn't gonna fix it.. but for $200 i might as well! wohoo!

If you're clunking when hitting potholes, bumps, etc I would investigate lower ball joints first. Much cheaper, easier to install, and fixes the infamous 1LS clunk most of the time.

Just replaced my right front, and it took less than an hour from wheel off to wheel on.

[pishta]

i saw that too! YESS my 93 is clunkin up front. I wasn't gonna fix it.. but for $200 i might as well! wohoo!

If you're clunking when hitting potholes, bumps, etc I would investigate lower ball joints first. Much cheaper, easier to install, and fixes the infamous 1LS clunk most of the time.

Just replaced my right front, and it took less than an hour from wheel off to wheel on.

And they are 55 bucks a pair on Ebay!

[PLF]

I got a flat on the cheap tires the guy before put on, yesterday I baught 2 used Michelin MXV4 Plus and put them in the front and I went for a ride, the alignement is terrible, it pulls to the right like crazy, I called to get it done today at 3h30, I can't wait to see the tech will be able to find some looses, I checked myself (I have a mechanics degree) and found nothing, I'm pretty sure the allignment is off because off the UCA....

I'll keep you guys informed...

[PLF]

Too bad nothing for the 95 and up .

Take a look

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-2000-Lex...sspagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-2000-Lex...sspagenameZWD1V

[new2mud]

I'll keep you guys informed...

Please do--your 'pioneering' in this area will be of great benefit to the LS400 community!

[PLF]

Update

All I can say, is I am stunned, I went to get it aligned this afternoon, the front was pretty good; Caster= OK, Camber= a bit off (left+0.3 right+0.6) but easily within specs, Toe was OK too but we still put it at perfect angle. We havent found a way to ajust Camber, even the LCA cam does nothing, it just plays whit the toe. The guy told me that with the readings we had there was no way this would make the car steer to the right. We checked all ball-joints and bushings and no loose at all !!!

I really wanted to solve the problem so I told them to check the rear too, the rear Toe was a bit off of spec but still not enaugh to alter the driving.... that cost me 70 $CAD and the problem was'nt even solved, we tried the car and still steered to the right !?! He told me to change the front tires left to right vice versa and try it that way, its a common problem with used tires, so I went home and tied it and guess what....

That was it !!!!

Conclusion

-The Arnott UCA do seem to be manufactured whitin OEM specs.

-Never trust Used tires....

[ko90ls]

so to be clear, PLE, your 91 LS is not an Air Suspension model, correct?

[PLF]

so to be clear, PLE, your 91 LS is not an Air Suspension model, correct?

No it is not, correct me if I am wrong, only 93+ had available air suspension. Anyways, here in Canada LS400's never had air suspension.

[OmarG]

so to be clear, PLE, your 91 LS is not an Air Suspension model, correct?

No it is not, correct me if I am wrong, only 93+ had available air suspension. Anyways, here in Canada LS400's never had air suspension.

all lexus ls400's were available with air suspension. 1990-now. I believe that UCA's are the same for all ls400's (air and spring suspensions)

[David Culberson]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-2000-Lex...sspagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-2000-Lex...sspagenameZWD1V

Nice price, but the seller has 485 negative feedbacks! Dang!

Oh, and used tires are a pain.. but a set of new Michelin MX4v+'s costs about $560 .. at least that's what mine cost. But they should last a long time.

-David

[tcpaul]

Update

All I can say, is I am stunned, I went to get it aligned this afternoon, the front was pretty good; Caster= OK, Camber= a bit off (left+0.3 right+0.6) but easily within specs, Toe was OK too but we still put it at perfect angle. We havent found a way to ajust Camber, even the LCA cam does nothing, it just plays whit the toe. The guy told me that with the readings we had there was no way this would make the car steer to the right. We checked all ball-joints and bushings and no loose at all !!!

I really wanted to solve the problem so I told them to check the rear too, the rear Toe was a bit off of spec but still not enaugh to alter the driving.... that cost me 70 $CAD and the problem was'nt even solved, we tried the car and still steered to the right !?! He told me to change the front tires left to right vice versa and try it that way, its a common problem with used tires, so I went home and tied it and guess what....

That was it !!!!

Conclusion

-The Arnott UCA do seem to be manufactured whitin OEM specs.

-Never trust Used tires....

I had new UCA's installed on my 91 LS400 today. One thing we noticed is that the bolt on the new ball joint seemed about 3/8" longer than the bolt on the original. When we re-measured we found that the difference is in the thickness of the arm itself. On the end, the metal around the new ball joint is about 3/8" thinner than the metal on the original. So the cotter pin on the new one does not reach the crown nut when fully installed. We fixed that by putting a washer between the cotter pin and the nut. I called Arnot and they are checking on it. Still, no more clanking on the bottom end.

[new2mud]

I had new UCA's installed on my 91 LS400 today. One thing we noticed is that the bolt on the new ball joint seemed about 3/8" longer than the bolt on the original. When we re-measured we found that the difference is in the thickness of the arm itself. On the end, the metal around the new ball joint is about 3/8" thinner than the metal on the original. So the cotter pin on the new one does not reach the crown nut when fully installed. We fixed that by putting a washer between the cotter pin and the nut. I called Arnot and they are checking on it. Still, no more clanking on the bottom end.

TCPAUL--thanks for the report.

Could you describe the nature of the clanking that you experienced prior to the new UCA install? Was it over general bumps/potholes, or slow speed-bump types, etc?

[fisher972002]

PLF

Was thinking about buying the Arnott UCA's.. How are your's holding up after a few months?

Thanks

[Bali26]

Well I live in Canada, I got my UCAs from arnott today. Its was 199 + 27 shipping + 67 customs. So $300 total. Really like the service so far. They look solid. Will post when I install them.

[pishta]

Update

All I can say, is I am stunned, I went to get it aligned this afternoon, the front was pretty good; Caster= OK, Camber= a bit off (left+0.3 right+0.6) but easily within specs, Toe was OK too but we still put it at perfect angle. We havent found a way to ajust Camber, even the LCA cam does nothing, it just plays whit the toe. The guy told me that with the readings we had there was no way this would make the car steer to the right. We checked all ball-joints and bushings and no loose at all !!!

I really wanted to solve the problem so I told them to check the rear too, the rear Toe was a bit off of spec but still not enaugh to alter the driving.... that cost me 70 $CAD and the problem was'nt even solved, we tried the car and still steered to the right !?! He told me to change the front tires left to right vice versa and try it that way, its a common problem with used tires, so I went home and tied it and guess what....

That was it !!!!

Conclusion

-The Arnott UCA do seem to be manufactured whitin OEM specs.

-Never trust Used tires....

Wow, my car pulls to the right too! I eyeballed the tires and they look laser straight, did a few measurements and all seems dead on with an angle finder, laser level and even a plumb bob and a measureing tape! It still pulls right. I even cheated the tie rod ends a few turns. Im going to rotate the tires tomorrow!