Lower Control Arm Replacement Frequency

mschneider · Post by **mschneider** » 13 Dec 2011, 18:29

Under normal driving, how many miles should I expect on my lower control arms?

I have a 97 850 T5 Wagon, and a 2000 V70XC.

On the 2000 XC, I have record of replacing both sides at ~115,000 miles with parts from IPD, I can't say if they were OEM or not, this was in September 2008.
In July of 2010 I noticed play and had my local independent repair shop replace both sides at 134,000 miles (was just about to leave for a long road trip); parts origin unknown.
Now I'm getting that old clunk on the right side when turning, and there is plenty of play too. It is December 2011, and I have about 148,000 miles.

19,000 miles between replacement 1 and 2, and it is now 14,000 miles later and symptoms are back. This seems too frequent.
What are your experiences?

Post by **erikv11** » 13 Dec 2011, 18:50

This is too frequent for quality parts. But most of the aftermarket control arms are utter junk. In 2008 I think IPD was selling Scan-tech as their aftermarket control arm, and those were horrible. Surprised you got 19k out of them. And "parts origin unknown" doesn't give a lot of confidence.

Best bet is to buy Blue-boxed Volvo or Lemforder control arms. Lemforder makes the Volvo arms. And, recently a lot of people are having good experiences with Meyle HD, so those might be OK too.

The quality replacements should last beyond 80,000 miles, maybe upwards of 100k like the originals.

Post by **JimBee** » 13 Dec 2011, 21:26

For price quality comparison you might want to look at the LCA's NAPA sells. I don't remember the brand but they're made in Italy and seem heavy duty and well constructed. I only have about 3k miles on one I replaced last summer but it has served me well and survived a massive pothole (sunken man hole) I went through at about 55 mph. BAM I thought I must have broken something on that corner but it all survived in tact, didn't even knock it out of alignment.

mschneider · Post by **mschneider** » 14 Dec 2011, 19:18

Looks like Napa has Lemforder (for $269) and "Ultra-8" ($89) parts. Unfortunately I have the 4-bolt Lower Control Arm, not the more common 2 bolt, and most parts vendors only seem to carry the low end for the 4-bolt LCA.

Post by **erikv11** » 14 Dec 2011, 19:27

That NAPA price is ridiculous!

You can get the Volvo-branded part (so it is 4-bolt style) for $121 from www.tascaparts.com. But be prepared to pay another $15 for "shipping cost" and they will take 4 or 5 days to arrive. Still they are often the best deal for OEM parts. I would keep looking around at online vendors though.

Post by **gmh** » 14 Dec 2011, 23:17

These guys have the Lemfoerder control arms for around $120, free shipping over $65.

http://www.rmeuropean.com/volvo-parts.aspx#Category

I ordered CV boots from them and they came quickly, of course we're both in Colorado.