one of my lower control arms have been makin noise and ive greased it and its gone away but the weather has jsut gotten colder and it started again...where would be the cheapest place to get a new one?? Mitsubishi dealer or chrysler dealer???

Is it the lower lateral or the actual control arm? If it's the LL then that should be covered under recall if it hasn't been done already. Otherwise try Napa.

Originally posted by RickyMeeses
Is it the lower lateral or the actual control arm? If it's the LL then that should be covered under recall if it hasn't been done already. Otherwise try Napa.

I think the recall was done its just that they are gettin old i think...not sure whihc one it is since they are right next to eachother...

The ball joints are not replacable. You need to replace the arm itself.

http://www.2gnt.com/CAPS/main33/main33sub050.html

Dealer only.

if it's the radius arm(L-shaped), mitsu wants about $300 and chrysler wants $175, I went to the junkyard and payed $10, not bad IMO. as for the lateral arm, I dunno how much that is, mine are still good. to check which one it is, disconnect the radius arm from the chassis(two bolts), and pull on it, try and make the ball joint move around, if you can't get it to move around, then it is the lateral arm. That's the easiest way to tell which it is IMO. good luck, Don :beer

Originally posted by wite96gs
if it's the radius arm(L-shaped), mitsu wants about $300 and chrysler wants $175, I went to the junkyard and payed $10, not bad IMO. as for the lateral arm, I dunno how much that is, mine are still good. to check which one it is, disconnect the radius arm from the chassis(two bolts), and pull on it, try and make the ball joint move around, if you can't get it to move around, then it is the lateral arm. That's the easiest way to tell which it is IMO. good luck, Don :beer

The L-shaped one is the Lateral control arm. The straight one is the compression control arm - it is the one that the strut mounts to.

There is no radius arm in the front suspension.

Originally posted by CODE4

Originally posted by wite96gs if it's the radius arm(L-shaped), mitsu wants about $300 and chrysler wants $175, I went to the junkyard and payed $10, not bad IMO. as for the lateral arm, I dunno how much that is, mine are still good. to check which one it is, disconnect the radius arm from the chassis(two bolts), and pull on it, try and make the ball joint move around, if you can't get it to move around, then it is the lateral arm. That's the easiest way to tell which it is IMO. good luck, Don :beer

The L-shaped one is the Lateral control arm. The straight one is the compression control arm - it is the one that the strut mounts to. There is no radius arm in the front suspension.

Originally posted by CODE4

The L-shaped one is the Lateral control arm.

no, pretty sure that's the compression arm. that L-shaped curve in the arm compresses kinda like a spring when you hit things like curbs, speed bumps, dogs, cats.... you get the point. seeing as that they are cast steel, they don't always bounce back though :owned. they also aid in camber and caster control when hauling through the turns.

Originally posted by CODE4
The straight one is the compression control arm

no, this is the famous recall part. I'm sure most everyone here has had some sort of experience with these.

Originally posted by CODE4
it is the one that the strut mounts to.

yes...kinda, the part the damper fork attaches to is straight.

Originally posted by CODE4
There is no radius arm in the front suspension.

"radius arm" is what the dealer calls it, the factory service manual calls it the "compression lower arm assembly".


now, this is what my '96 factory service manual calls these parts, I don't know, maybe the guy that wrote it was smoking a little too much crack before hand, I don't know. :nuts if my manual is wrong somebody please tell me!

Don :cheers

Well I stand corrected, although it does seem backwards to me.

the compression arm (curved) is known to shit on you. both mine went a year apart. you will here clunks when you go over bumps. easiest way to check is to unscrew the 2 bolts from the body and push and pull towards the balljoint. you will feel movement. jus a little bit of movement will make a lot of noise. its really hard to tell without unscrewing it from the body tho. that arm is close to $200.

Originally posted by CODE4

Originally posted by wite96gs if it's the radius arm(L-shaped), mitsu wants about $300 and chrysler wants $175, I went to the junkyard and payed $10, not bad IMO. as for the lateral arm, I dunno how much that is, mine are still good. to check which one it is, disconnect the radius arm from the chassis(two bolts), and pull on it, try and make the ball joint move around, if you can't get it to move around, then it is the lateral arm. That's the easiest way to tell which it is IMO. good luck, Don :beer

The L-shaped one is the Lateral control arm. The straight one is the compression control arm - it is the one that the strut mounts to. There is no radius arm in the front suspension.

I am with you on this.....only problem is another member proved me wrong. the are named backwards man.

Terry

Yes the straight ~$35 arm is the lateral arm, the curved ~$180 arm is the compression arm.