I was told I needed to get new control arms to do my alignment correctly since everything on my car seems to be wearing out at the same time. Poor me. Anyways does anyone know of any good places to get them for a reasonable price? TIA.

Mel

Unless your control arms are bent, I don't know why you would have to replace them. I could be that the ball joint is worn out. Nissan doesn't sell them independent of the control arm, but you can order them from any parts place. Mine were made by Moog, but I believe there are others to choose from.

If your control arm bushings are worn, then now would be an excellent time to replace them with Energy Suspension's Polyurathane units. I purchased the entire Hyper-Flex Kit (which replaces just about every stock rubber suspension bushing with a urathane piece) and installed the entire kit in one afternoon. The entire cost of the Hyper-Flex Kit and two new ball joints would be less than one control arm from Nissan.

Suspension Restoration (http://www.suspension.com/nissancars.htm) has the Hyper-Flex kit for $124

i doubt the control arm is bent, unless you hit a big curb. If its from normal wear and tear, check your buchins, and wheel bearings. My bushings were so bad that yuo could shake the whole assembly back and forth, similar to a worn out wheel bearing. I replaced it with ES buchings.

I bent a control arm at a rally in June. If it's bent, you should notice that your wheel looks "offset" within the wheel well.

If you're punishing your suspension at all, the Group N build manual for the Pulsar GTiR (same components in front as a B13) recommends seam welding along one of the sides where the top & bottom pieces meet (one side is already welded).

Most Japanese parts have pressed-in ball joints - when you take your car to the dealer - they always want to replace the entire arm, because, as Aztec said, that's all they stock.

Dealerships make pretty good markup on parts and typically prefer to replace parts rather than expend labor. You might be better off going to a chassis or alignment shop where they'll press a new ball joint into your arm (and replace the bushings if need be).

For what it's worth, removing the control arm is pretty easy - the ball joint and the bushings are a little more complicated. You might save some money by removing the arm yourself - then taking it to a machine shop to have the bushings removed. The ES bushing install is a no brainer - then take it to a chassis shop to have the ball joint pressed in. Then reinstall the arm yourself. Remember to do the final torque when the car is laden (on the ground)

Robin

Thanks for all the input guys. Control arms aren't bent but I do need to replace the ball joints and the bushings. This should all be done witihin the next few weeks I hope. Just gotta scrounge up some cash.

Mel