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RandallNeighbour · 09-26-2006, 08:16 AM

Both my mechanic and a different shop owner have told me they rountinely replace the lower control arms on the front ends of our cars and 996's (which are the same).

Apparently, Porsche gave the part to a low bidder who did a lousy job of selecting the grease-filled bushings and they dry out or leak quite quickly.

I had a new control arm put in the front driver's side 18 months ago and it has now gone out in less than 10k miles. The part alone is $265, plus a couple hours of labor.

Has anyone else had control arms go bad on them "prematurely" or repeatedly? How many miles should I be getting out of a control arm, anyway?

In all my other cars, I have NEVER replaced a control arm, even when I've put far more miles on the car. (BTW, I have not done any suspension work to the car—it's all factory.)

Which leads me to ask yet another question... could a worn strut cause a control arm to wear rapidly? My mechanic says my front struts are fine and not to replace them yet, but I have 94k on the car and if I'm going to have the control arm replaced, should I go ahead and have the front struts done while I am at it just to be on the safe side?

Any input, even theory or conjecture would be appreciated.

09-26-2006, 08:16 AM	#1
RandallNeighbour Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 7,243	Control Arm Blues Both my mechanic and a different shop owner have told me they rountinely replace the lower control arms on the front ends of our cars and 996's (which are the same). Apparently, Porsche gave the part to a low bidder who did a lousy job of selecting the grease-filled bushings and they dry out or leak quite quickly. I had a new control arm put in the front driver's side 18 months ago and it has now gone out in less than 10k miles. The part alone is $265, plus a couple hours of labor. Has anyone else had control arms go bad on them "prematurely" or repeatedly? How many miles should I be getting out of a control arm, anyway? In all my other cars, I have NEVER replaced a control arm, even when I've put far more miles on the car. (BTW, I have not done any suspension work to the car—it's all factory.) Which leads me to ask yet another question... could a worn strut cause a control arm to wear rapidly? My mechanic says my front struts are fine and not to replace them yet, but I have 94k on the car and if I'm going to have the control arm replaced, should I go ahead and have the front struts done while I am at it just to be on the safe side? Any input, even theory or conjecture would be appreciated.