upper control arm..

[Dutchboy]

Well i finally found the mysterious knocking and wiggle in my wheels...

since i owned the car i was able to wiggle the wheel vertically and thought that it was the wheel bearings shot or something..the thing is it doesnt howl on the road at all so i ruled out bearings and took another look...

i wiggled the wheel and was holding on the upper control arm balljoint for leverage.....and it was fricken moving:fight:

so low and behold both sides need new control arms...

has anybody replaced them ??

what would a good pair be at the junk?
or new?

and would this creat wheel wobble while driving below 100km since thats were it seems most apparnt??

Thanks for any info....i want this done before the snow flies...otherwise it is a pain to change when everything is frozen and rusty at the same time.

BEn

[jlaccord89lxi]

i had to replace both upper control arms on mine when i bought it back in may. You could risk getting them from a junk yard, but they might be just as bad as yours. You'd be better off buying new ones, unless you find some good ones that have no play in them at the junk yard. I paid around $100 CDN a piece new, one was from UAP/Napa and the other was a genuine honda part. They are fairly easy to replace, you just have to get at the 2 bolts from the top (under the hood) to allow the arm to come down (this is of course after you've jacked the car up and removed the wheel and disconnected the brace from the old control arm). I think there is a thread about this replacement somewhere around here. Anyway, these definitly cause the car to wobble at all speeds. I did not feel safe driving my car when these were bad....didn't feel sturdy at all and cornering was very unstable, even at low speeds. ......................hope i've helped.

[My 89 Accord Lxi]

i had to do that on mine cuz it use to shake real bad when i started brakeing or when i was idleing it cost 70-80$ to replace mine i bought them at advanced auto

[89AccordNate]

If your planning on lowering your car soon, then swap in a set of prelude upper control arms. This will give you camber adjustment and the bushings on them are replaceable. The bushings on our accord arms arent replaceable, you have to buy the whole arm. So go to the wreckers, but some lude arms, go to the auto parts store and buy some new bushings and call it a day.

Nate.

[Dutchboy]

ok thanks for the responses...

I dont know if i will lower it or not yet so i think that i will get some new ones then ...after i check at the junk yard....you never knoe there might be some on one there that are new...

so when you want to lower it then all you got to do is get the upper control arm off the ludes...not the bottom also???

And i sure hope it will cure the wheel wobble....and the clunking..i always thought it was the steering rack but i gues not...

Thanks
BEn

[Dutchboy]

I just relized this is in the wrong section....OOPpss.....
move it if you want...
this isnt right.

Ben

[anchovies]

Just the front upper control arms from the preludes.
Get new ball joints, it might be more expensive but worth it imo.
Check the rear also.

[jlaccord89lxi]

Originally posted by 89AccordNate
If your planning on lowering your car soon, then swap in a set of prelude upper control arms. This will give you camber adjustment and the bushings on them are replaceable. The bushings on our accord arms arent replaceable, you have to buy the whole arm. So go to the wreckers, but some lude arms, go to the auto parts store and buy some new bushings and call it a day.

Nate.

you can still lower your accord with the accord control arms right??? You don't NEED the prelude arms, do you?

[Mantis88LX]

no u dont have to have them, i dont have them and im lowered about 2inchs

[jlaccord89lxi]

ok, but does it make an accord ride and handle better? Which generation prelude? Will they bolt right to the accord mounts?

[anchovies]

If you lower 1.5 or lower then a camber correction kit will safe your tires. You can get those ingalls or some other but the cheapest is still the prelude arms.
They bolt right on with the accord long bolt and some washers (hmmm..tht's not exactly bolt on but it works!!)
2nd gen prelude 84-87

[jlaccord89lxi]

so you can lower a prelude without a camber correction kit?

[anchovies]

Depending on how low you go, the prelude arms only can do that much.
But there are other aftermarket ones which can correct more degrees.

[Dutchboy]

my rears were new when i bought it...the guy said the rest of it was checked and was all good....thats bs...since its made this sound since i had it..

i dont know if theres anyludes around here...ill have to check it out...ill keep that in mind when i go look for new ones.



Ben

[markmdz89hatch]

for the rear, you have no choice but to get an aftermarket camber correction, but some argue that you don't ever need it in the rear. I happen to disagree, as mine is lowered a little over 2.5, and the rear is WAY off with no other way to correct it. For the front, the 'lude arms are the best way to go by far in my opinion. From what I've seen, the Ingalls and others offered for the front suck. They are a pain in the stones to adjust. The lude one's are cheaper, they're OEM honda Equip, so you know ur getting good arms, and they're easy to install and adjust. I've actually got a set in the mail on their way over here right now.

[anchovies]

Can't you or the alignment guy just shim the back?

[merlindavis]

Originally posted by anchovies
If you lower 1.5 or lower then a camber correction kit will safe your tires. You can get those ingalls or some other but the cheapest is still the prelude arms.
They bolt right on with the accord long bolt and some washers (hmmm..tht's not exactly bolt on but it works!!)
2nd gen prelude 84-87

2nd gen preludes were 83-87... just so ya know... and the stock adjustment on the lude arms isn't all that much... with the ludes, we can correct a little bit, but it's only effective for a 1.5" drop at most... you'll still have neg. camber at 1.5" adjusted all the way out... can also adjust toe from the factory on most ludes... again, not much, usually only enough to be effective at stock height...