I finally fixed that wobble with a junkyard control arm

My 2002 Camry had this shaky front end for like 8 months. I took it to a shop in Fresno and they quoted $600 for a full control arm replacement, no way on a $1500 car. So I hit up Pick-n-Pull last Saturday, found a control arm off a 2004 with only 90k miles for $35. Swapped it in my driveway in 2 hours with just a breaker bar and a torque wrench, and now it drives straight as an arrow. Has anyone else had luck mixing parts between different model years on cheap Toyotas?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamiegreen4d ago

You torqued those to spec with loctite, right? I did the same thing on my 03 Corolla using an arm off an 01 and it's been dead solid for 18 months now. Biggest thing is checking the ball joint boot for cracks before you even pay for it, one tiny tear and you're doing this swap again in a year. Also, spring for new bolts from the dealer if yours have any rust, they're like $8 and way easier than fighting a seized one later. My alignment was actually fine with the used arm, just took it to a spot that charges $40 for a quick check and they only had to tweak the toe a hair. You're good as long as the frame mounting points aren't bent, but honestly these old Toyotas are pretty forgiving on that front.

miab165d ago

Good luck getting those alignment specs right without new bolts.

faithf774d ago

Grabbed a set of slightly used ones off a local partout and they worked fine. Torqued them to spec with some loctite and it held up for two track days so far. Honestly the old ones had some play in the threads, that was the real issue. If the bushings are still tight you're probably good to reuse, just check the threads for wear first.