aftermarket control arms?

[b18accord]

tryed searching for aftermarket front control arms because my ball joints are shot but found nothing besides MOOGE or how ever its spelled.. woundering if any1 knows of any aftermarket control arms? maybe for a prelude or i can use the 1s off a civic some1 help plz

[DBMaster]

Moog are about the best you can get. For the Accords they are actually manufactured by the OEM. I have tried two sets of aftermarket (spell that Chinese) "equivalents" and found that they lasted only a couple of years. It's all in the metallurgy.

Do the Moog parts cost more? YES. They cost more than twice as much. Are they worth it? I guess, if you plan to keep the car more than two years. I found one of my aftermarket sets on eBay. Rockauto.com also carries a range of options.

Take my advice, though, if you can afford the better ones, buy them.

[b18accord]

Moog are about the best you can get. For the Accords they are actually manufactured by the OEM. I have tried two sets of aftermarket (spell that Chinese) "equivalents" and found that they lasted only a couple of years. It's all in the metallurgy.

Do the Moog parts cost more? YES. They cost more than twice as much. Are they worth it? I guess, if you plan to keep the car more than two years. I found one of my aftermarket sets on eBay. Rockauto.com also carries a range of options.

Take my advice, though, if you can afford the better ones, buy them.

yea i hear you.. thats all i been seeing lately i was just tryin to see wat other options i have. i couldnt use any other control arms from any other car could i tho?

[DBMaster]

I'm afraid that I am not quite as creative as some of the other folks on this forum. The front UCA's I currently have on my car are Moog that I purchased on a Rock Auto clearance sale for $38 each. What a deal! The one on the passenger side ended up with a ripped ball joint boot so I replaced it with a red urethane part that seems to leak a little water. The ball joint itself is so simple it's ridiculous. It is totally about how the manufacturer alloys their metals. My rear UCA's are TRW, but both are made by Three-Five (the manufacturer may spell it differently). This is the company that made the parts for Honda. When I replaced my front lower ball joints in 1995 they were also TRW.

Do not be fooled by lifetime warrantied parts at the major auto parts chains. They are pretty much the same cheap junk you get on eBay for cheap. By the time most people are replacing crap like this they are probably not going to keep their cars long enough to redeem the warranty. The people on this forum can recommend the right brands.

Also, why are you looking to use another car's control arms? A good number of forum members have used 2nd generation Prelude control arms due to the adjustability of the ball joint mount. This is useful if you are lowering your car, but otherwise, I would just stick with the arms made for your car. To mount the Prelude arms you have to use some large washers to fill the gap left by the fact that the Prelude arms are a bit narrower at the mounting end than the Accord arms. You would basically buy used Prelude arms at a salvage yard, replace the ball joints, and mount them with the washers. Some shops charge extra to do alignments once you have altered the factory configuration. Accord arms generally include pre-installed ball joints.

[lostforawhile]

I'm afraid that I am not quite as creative as some of the other folks on this forum. The front UCA's I currently have on my car are Moog that I purchased on a Rock Auto clearance sale for $38 each. What a deal! The one on the passenger side ended up with a ripped ball joint boot so I replaced it with a red urethane part that seems to leak a little water. The ball joint itself is so simple it's ridiculous. It is totally about how the manufacturer alloys their metals. My rear UCA's are TRW, but both are made by Three-Five (the manufacturer may spell it differently). This is the company that made the parts for Honda. When I replaced my front lower ball joints in 1995 they were also TRW.

Do not be fooled by lifetime warrantied parts at the major auto parts chains. They are pretty much the same cheap junk you get on eBay for cheap. By the time most people are replacing crap like this they are probably not going to keep their cars long enough to redeem the warranty. The people on this forum can recommend the right brands.

Also, why are you looking to use another car's control arms? A good number of forum members have used 2nd generation Prelude control arms due to the adjustability of the ball joint mount. This is useful if you are lowering your car, but otherwise, I would just stick with the arms made for your car. To mount the Prelude arms you have to use some large washers to fill the gap left by the fact that the Prelude arms are a bit narrower at the mounting end than the Accord arms. You would basically buy used Prelude arms at a salvage yard, replace the ball joints, and mount them with the washers. Some shops charge extra to do alignments once you have altered the factory configuration. Accord arms generally include pre-installed ball joints.
the lude arms are also good because if a bal joint fails it's an easy fix instead of chunking the entire arm

[b18accord]

any1 can get me a pic of how to install this lude arm? b.c my ball joints are SHOT and im plan on lowering the car so mise well just get the arms done now

[redneck]

agreed with mr dbmaster there. the prelude arms are great if your car is lowerd and its not really that hard to swap them out.

[Vanilla Sky]

http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57131

That should help out.

[import racer]

You can also use 3rd gen prelude arm,and don't need to add washers so they bolt right on.Just not as much adjustment as 2nd gen one.