Ebay sells a control arm, sway bar, tie rod kit, is it any good??
07-10-2010, 12:31 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 83
Ebay sells a control arm, sway bar, tie rod kit, is it any good??
ok so theres that kit on ebay. includes control arms and all the bushings, tie rods, inner and outter and sway bar endlinks, has anyone bought this kit? its a real good deal.
07-10-2010, 02:08 PM
#5
stay away from it. a few months ago i put the kit on my maxima ( LCA,TIE RODS), there's been this creaking, popping noise i'm trying to hunt down but i'm almost positive its the lower control arm moving around. go on rockauto, you can get what you need at a similar price.
07-10-2010, 06:05 PM
#7
I'm still buyin them from there, I'm not spending $100 more, worse comes to worse I'll just fix my stock bushings (has worn out control arm bushings).
Last edited by aackshun; 07-10-2010 at 06:07 PM.
07-10-2010, 11:58 PM
#9
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/ better than rock auto anyday
07-11-2010, 12:41 AM
#10
The parts from the worldsuspension store on ebay should be fine. I've never heard anybody say anything bad about them. And, personal experience, their customer service is fantastic!
Make sure you go through ALL their listings though. Sometimes they have the same thing listed more than once but one posting may be cheaper.
Make sure you go through ALL their listings though. Sometimes they have the same thing listed more than once but one posting may be cheaper.
07-11-2010, 12:22 PM
#12
07-11-2010, 12:29 PM
#13
I'm rocking Ebay LCA's, inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, and sway bar links, same package deal sounds like,
my review, everything fit well, very cheap, but I have only a year on my parts,
the joints are showing a little premature wear, and the ebay bushings wont last, (I replaced all mine with ES)
they work just fine however, and I'm fine with paying the cheap price for a cheaper product, as for the LCA itself, its a piece of stamped metal, the quality will be the same anywhere it comes from, and if you have worries to those who warn about the ball joint falling out or separating due to being cheap... don't worry, that's not a concern, they are build and assembled properly, pressed in and circlipped, the joints won't spontaneously separate, you will have ALOT of warning before something that catastophic
my review, everything fit well, very cheap, but I have only a year on my parts,
the joints are showing a little premature wear, and the ebay bushings wont last, (I replaced all mine with ES)
they work just fine however, and I'm fine with paying the cheap price for a cheaper product, as for the LCA itself, its a piece of stamped metal, the quality will be the same anywhere it comes from, and if you have worries to those who warn about the ball joint falling out or separating due to being cheap... don't worry, that's not a concern, they are build and assembled properly, pressed in and circlipped, the joints won't spontaneously separate, you will have ALOT of warning before something that catastophic
07-11-2010, 06:02 PM
#15
if your thinking about world suspension, forget it. total junk!!! did'nt last a year on my max, get spicers from the link i posted to auto warehouse!!!! better than w/s or egay, and lifetime warranty. trust me, i got em and the pair of them was like 100.00? i think plus shipping.
07-11-2010, 09:12 PM
#16
I think the OP is talking about this kit sold by suspensionpartswarehouse ($106.95 SHIPPED). Sounds too good to be true and is very tempting since i have some ES busings laying around... All I need are the two LCAs and at this price the pair of LCAs alone are worth it...
So, anyone using this kit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT
So, anyone using this kit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT
07-11-2010, 09:23 PM
#17
I think the OP is talking about this kit sold by suspensionpartswarehouse ($106.95 SHIPPED). Sounds too good to be true and is very tempting since i have some ES busings laying around... All I need are the two LCAs and at this price the pair of LCAs alone are worth it...
So, anyone using this kit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT
So, anyone using this kit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT
07-11-2010, 10:12 PM
#19
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Bolton, CT
Posts: 199
I recently purchased one of these "kits" from Ebay and this is what I experienced;
I came pretty close to getting the cheapest kit I could find but after reading feedback from others here on the Org I thought better of it. The kit I bought was $175 with free shipping. I also seized the opportunity to replace the front struts while I was at it (Monroe Quick Struts).
I won't put in all the boring details here but the results are as follows;
After getting all the parts in I noticed a definite clunk when the left suspension would load, then unload. It didn't seem to happen all the time, however I could make it do it at will by swerving back and forth down the road as if I were going through a slalom course.
At first I thought it was the new sway bar links because I noticed when I installed them that the bushings did not have much compression. I even notified the vendor about the bushing thing, he found it unusual but he was willing to send me another.
I figured there was nothing wrong with the links per se so I went about seeing if I could just up the compression so I could be sure that the sway bar link was not hitting the sway bar. I'll fast forward a bit here and tell you what I ended up installing was a set of ES bushings I found at Advance Auto. These bushings were not intended for my sway bar so I had to modify them a bit but when I was done I was very secure in the knowledge that the links could not possibly touch the sway bar.
So then came my next test drive and what do ya know, CLUNK!
As a diagnostic tool earlier I had been disconnecting both ends of the sway bar and listening for out of place noises. I had noticed that they would almost completely disappear with the sway bar disconnected. Once and awhile I would hear something which I attributed to the sway bar turning and running into the control arms.
Anyway, I was about to run that same test when I decided to check out one other thing which my prior experiences have told me could happen. Sure enough my suspiscion was correct, it was the balljoint!
The balljoint itself was fine, very tight in fact, however there was about 3mm of play where it presses into the control arm. In fact with a bit of prying I could make it go up and down at will.
I have pressed in balljoints myself in a Mazda 626 which I owned before the Max and I ran into this exact problem. If the balljoints aren't pressed in just right, they tend to stretch out the hole in the control arm and in no time it starts shucking back and forth. I tried several times and it never got better, I ended up welding the joints in. It's interesting to note here that the original Mazda joints did not use a circlip on the topside, it was all press. The replacement joints did come with a circlip but I thought it was just for safety.
Anyway, back to the Max. Now I'm not sure if OEM control arms come with circlips or not but my old CAs had them which is one of the reasons I didn't trust them in the first place. So I took the circlip off of one of my old balljoints and used it as a spacer between the balljoint flange and the control arm. I squeezed a few drops of Loctite 609 into the interface for good measure and, low and behold, NO MORE CLUNK!!!!!
Sorry for the lengthy post but I have been reading about other peoples mysterious clunking noises and I was hoping this might be the answer they were looking for. If anyones' interested, I took a video of the magical moving balljoint and could post it for all to see.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
I came pretty close to getting the cheapest kit I could find but after reading feedback from others here on the Org I thought better of it. The kit I bought was $175 with free shipping. I also seized the opportunity to replace the front struts while I was at it (Monroe Quick Struts).
I won't put in all the boring details here but the results are as follows;
After getting all the parts in I noticed a definite clunk when the left suspension would load, then unload. It didn't seem to happen all the time, however I could make it do it at will by swerving back and forth down the road as if I were going through a slalom course.
At first I thought it was the new sway bar links because I noticed when I installed them that the bushings did not have much compression. I even notified the vendor about the bushing thing, he found it unusual but he was willing to send me another.
I figured there was nothing wrong with the links per se so I went about seeing if I could just up the compression so I could be sure that the sway bar link was not hitting the sway bar. I'll fast forward a bit here and tell you what I ended up installing was a set of ES bushings I found at Advance Auto. These bushings were not intended for my sway bar so I had to modify them a bit but when I was done I was very secure in the knowledge that the links could not possibly touch the sway bar.
So then came my next test drive and what do ya know, CLUNK!
As a diagnostic tool earlier I had been disconnecting both ends of the sway bar and listening for out of place noises. I had noticed that they would almost completely disappear with the sway bar disconnected. Once and awhile I would hear something which I attributed to the sway bar turning and running into the control arms.
Anyway, I was about to run that same test when I decided to check out one other thing which my prior experiences have told me could happen. Sure enough my suspiscion was correct, it was the balljoint!
The balljoint itself was fine, very tight in fact, however there was about 3mm of play where it presses into the control arm. In fact with a bit of prying I could make it go up and down at will.
I have pressed in balljoints myself in a Mazda 626 which I owned before the Max and I ran into this exact problem. If the balljoints aren't pressed in just right, they tend to stretch out the hole in the control arm and in no time it starts shucking back and forth. I tried several times and it never got better, I ended up welding the joints in. It's interesting to note here that the original Mazda joints did not use a circlip on the topside, it was all press. The replacement joints did come with a circlip but I thought it was just for safety.
Anyway, back to the Max. Now I'm not sure if OEM control arms come with circlips or not but my old CAs had them which is one of the reasons I didn't trust them in the first place. So I took the circlip off of one of my old balljoints and used it as a spacer between the balljoint flange and the control arm. I squeezed a few drops of Loctite 609 into the interface for good measure and, low and behold, NO MORE CLUNK!!!!!
Sorry for the lengthy post but I have been reading about other peoples mysterious clunking noises and I was hoping this might be the answer they were looking for. If anyones' interested, I took a video of the magical moving balljoint and could post it for all to see.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
Last edited by jdooley; 07-11-2010 at 10:17 PM.
07-11-2010, 10:44 PM
#20
I recently purchased one of these "kits" from Ebay and this is what I experienced;
I came pretty close to getting the cheapest kit I could find but after reading feedback from others here on the Org I thought better of it. The kit I bought was $175 with free shipping. I also seized the opportunity to replace the front struts while I was at it (Monroe Quick Struts).
I won't put in all the boring details here but the results are as follows;
After getting all the parts in I noticed a definite clunk when the left suspension would load, then unload. It didn't seem to happen all the time, however I could make it do it at will by swerving back and forth down the road as if I were going through a slalom course.
At first I thought it was the new sway bar links because I noticed when I installed them that the bushings did not have much compression. I even notified the vendor about the bushing thing, he found it unusual but he was willing to send me another.
I figured there was nothing wrong with the links per se so I went about seeing if I could just up the compression so I could be sure that the sway bar link was not hitting the sway bar. I'll fast forward a bit here and tell you what I ended up installing was a set of ES bushings I found at Advance Auto. These bushings were not intended for my sway bar so I had to modify them a bit but when I was done I was very secure in the knowledge that the links could not possibly touch the sway bar.
So then came my next test drive and what do ya know, CLUNK!
As a diagnostic tool earlier I had been disconnecting both ends of the sway bar and listening for out of place noises. I had noticed that they would almost completely disappear with the sway bar disconnected. Once and awhile I would hear something which I attributed to the sway bar turning and running into the control arms.
Anyway, I was about to run that same test when I decided to check out one other thing which my prior experiences have told me could happen. Sure enough my suspiscion was correct, it was the balljoint!
The balljoint itself was fine, very tight in fact, however there was about 3mm of play where it presses into the control arm. In fact with a bit of prying I could make it go up and down at will.
I have pressed in balljoints myself in a Mazda 626 which I owned before the Max and I ran into this exact problem. If the balljoints aren't pressed in just right, they tend to stretch out the hole in the control arm and in no time it starts shucking back and forth. I tried several times and it never got better, I ended up welding the joints in. It's interesting to note here that the original Mazda joints did not use a circlip on the topside, it was all press. The replacement joints did come with a circlip but I thought it was just for safety.
Anyway, back to the Max. Now I'm not sure if OEM control arms come with circlips or not but my old CAs had them which is one of the reasons I didn't trust them in the first place. So I took the circlip off of one of my old balljoints and used it as a spacer between the balljoint flange and the control arm. I squeezed a few drops of Loctite 609 into the interface for good measure and, low and behold, NO MORE CLUNK!!!!!
Sorry for the lengthy post but I have been reading about other peoples mysterious clunking noises and I was hoping this might be the answer they were looking for. If anyones' interested, I took a video of the magical moving balljoint and could post it for all to see.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
I came pretty close to getting the cheapest kit I could find but after reading feedback from others here on the Org I thought better of it. The kit I bought was $175 with free shipping. I also seized the opportunity to replace the front struts while I was at it (Monroe Quick Struts).
I won't put in all the boring details here but the results are as follows;
After getting all the parts in I noticed a definite clunk when the left suspension would load, then unload. It didn't seem to happen all the time, however I could make it do it at will by swerving back and forth down the road as if I were going through a slalom course.
At first I thought it was the new sway bar links because I noticed when I installed them that the bushings did not have much compression. I even notified the vendor about the bushing thing, he found it unusual but he was willing to send me another.
I figured there was nothing wrong with the links per se so I went about seeing if I could just up the compression so I could be sure that the sway bar link was not hitting the sway bar. I'll fast forward a bit here and tell you what I ended up installing was a set of ES bushings I found at Advance Auto. These bushings were not intended for my sway bar so I had to modify them a bit but when I was done I was very secure in the knowledge that the links could not possibly touch the sway bar.
So then came my next test drive and what do ya know, CLUNK!
As a diagnostic tool earlier I had been disconnecting both ends of the sway bar and listening for out of place noises. I had noticed that they would almost completely disappear with the sway bar disconnected. Once and awhile I would hear something which I attributed to the sway bar turning and running into the control arms.
Anyway, I was about to run that same test when I decided to check out one other thing which my prior experiences have told me could happen. Sure enough my suspiscion was correct, it was the balljoint!
The balljoint itself was fine, very tight in fact, however there was about 3mm of play where it presses into the control arm. In fact with a bit of prying I could make it go up and down at will.
I have pressed in balljoints myself in a Mazda 626 which I owned before the Max and I ran into this exact problem. If the balljoints aren't pressed in just right, they tend to stretch out the hole in the control arm and in no time it starts shucking back and forth. I tried several times and it never got better, I ended up welding the joints in. It's interesting to note here that the original Mazda joints did not use a circlip on the topside, it was all press. The replacement joints did come with a circlip but I thought it was just for safety.
Anyway, back to the Max. Now I'm not sure if OEM control arms come with circlips or not but my old CAs had them which is one of the reasons I didn't trust them in the first place. So I took the circlip off of one of my old balljoints and used it as a spacer between the balljoint flange and the control arm. I squeezed a few drops of Loctite 609 into the interface for good measure and, low and behold, NO MORE CLUNK!!!!!
Sorry for the lengthy post but I have been reading about other peoples mysterious clunking noises and I was hoping this might be the answer they were looking for. If anyones' interested, I took a video of the magical moving balljoint and could post it for all to see.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
07-12-2010, 06:55 AM
#22
........ If anyones' interested, I took a video of the magical moving balljoint and could post it for all to see.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
I think, ideally, the extra circlip should have been put above the control arm but that would have required removing it again but at least the flange would have been in its correct position, intimate with the bottom of the control arm.
I'll need to check the ball joint next.
07-12-2010, 08:43 PM
#23
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Bolton, CT
Posts: 199
OK, here's the video I promised. Hope you have a strong stomach. The camera moved a little right at the moment of movement so it might look like a bad edit but I was holding the camera and operating the jack with my foot. The car is on jackstands and I am lifting up on the control arm.
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
07-12-2010, 09:10 PM
#25
OK, here's the video I promised. Hope you have a strong stomach. The camera moved a little right at the moment of movement so it might look like a bad edit but I was holding the camera and operating the jack with my foot. The car is on jackstands and I am lifting up on the control arm.
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
07-13-2010, 11:16 AM
#31
OK, here's the video I promised. Hope you have a strong stomach. The camera moved a little right at the moment of movement so it might look like a bad edit but I was holding the camera and operating the jack with my foot. The car is on jackstands and I am lifting up on the control arm.
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/y...ljointfail.mp4
As for as suspension parts I would only purchase OEM parts on ebay. I just purchased these 2 OEM sway bar end links for only $3.94 on eaby:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...SA:MOTORS:1123
I'll replace the 2 moog end links with these OEMs end links and see if that solves this clicking noise.
07-13-2010, 08:46 PM
#33
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Bolton, CT
Posts: 199
I really think the way to go is to shim out any gap between the circlip and the control arm. By doing that, it cannot move.
07-14-2010, 09:57 AM
#36
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Bolton, CT
Posts: 199
The top is where it belongs, the picture shows the additional one that I was able to squeeze into the gap between the CA and BJ. You should check that the balljoint flange is all the way against the CA and then see how much gap there is between the CA and the snapring that you do have. If the gap looks large enough, you can put the snapring from the old CA UNDER the new one (from the top). The added snapring will be "overstretched" but it's only in there as a filler not a retainer.
07-14-2010, 12:11 PM
#37
Well to the OP's question...
There are some peope who get Ebay parts and do fine--or dont know they have aproblem and think they are fine.
I have refurbed countless and I do mean countless Control Arms. most of the Chinese stuff has quality issues. Th ebiggest is the ball joints. I have almost never seen an Ebay arm hold a new balljoint. i would get parts from rockauto. You can get away with the ebay stuff if you were going to sell your car in a week. If you are goingto drive it get decent stuff.
There are some peope who get Ebay parts and do fine--or dont know they have aproblem and think they are fine.
I have refurbed countless and I do mean countless Control Arms. most of the Chinese stuff has quality issues. Th ebiggest is the ball joints. I have almost never seen an Ebay arm hold a new balljoint. i would get parts from rockauto. You can get away with the ebay stuff if you were going to sell your car in a week. If you are goingto drive it get decent stuff.
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