When you’re behind the wheel of your car, truck, or SUV, you no doubt encounter all kinds of bumps in the road. But you probably don’t feel many of these bumps due in large part to your vehicle’s suspension system. It absorbs a lot of the punishment that your car takes from the road and makes you feel like you’re driving over a smooth surface. And it’s your vehicle’s control arm bushings, in particular, that play a huge part in the effectiveness of your suspension system. With this in mind, you need to know what control arm bushings do and how much it’ll cost you to replace them when they go bad one day. Learn all about your vehicle’s control arm bushings below.
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What Are Control Arm Bushings?
In a little while, we’re going to dive headfirst into finding all about how to replace bad control arm bushings and what the control arm bushings replacement cost will be. But before we get into that, we want to spend a few minutes talking about what exactly control arm bushings are and how they work.
Your vehicle’s control arm bushings are, as we mentioned at the top, a part of your suspension system. More specifically, they’re one of the components located in the control arm of your suspension system. Your control arm bushings make it possible for the wheels on your car to move up and down as you drive over bumps in the road. They let your car’s control arm pivot so that it’s able to respond accordingly anytime your car comes into contact with a bump.
The control arm bushings are, in the grand scheme, some of the smaller parts in your car. But they play such a vital role in the well-being of your suspension system, and without them, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy a comfortable ride when driving around in your car. It’s why you need to make sure they’re in great condition at all times.
How Do Your Control Arm Bushings Work?
Now that you’ve got a better idea of what control arm bushings are, let’s touch briefly on how they work. Your car’s control arm bushings are almost always putting in work while you’re behind the wheel of your car, even if you don’t necessarily realize it. They’re some of the hardest-working parts in your car’s suspension system.
Your car’s control arm bushings sit right in between your control arm and the body or subframe of your suspension. While you’re driving down the road, they actively work to take on any impact force caused by bumps and distribute it evenly throughout your suspension. They also work to absorb any vibrations caused by these bumps. By doing these things, they’re able to allow your wheels to move up and down freely without doing any damage to your suspension system or other aspects of your car.
How Long Should Your Control Arm Bushings Last?
Although the control arm bushings in your suspension system are always putting in work, you’re not going to have to be too concerned about replacing them that often. That’s because they’re known to hold up for a very long time. In fact, you may be able to get well over 100,000 miles out of your car’s control arm bushings prior to replacing them. You could even get away with never having to replace your control arm bushings in some cases.
There are, however, some instances in which you may need to replace your control arm bushings prior to hitting the 100,000-mile mark. If you drive very aggressively all the time, there’s a decent chance that you’ll need to replace your control arm bushings more often than other drivers. There’s also a decent chance that you’ll need to replace your control arm bushings more often than usual if you routinely drive over roads that are very rough. You should be mindful of how you drive your car to protect the integrity of your control arm bushings and to make sure that they last for as long as they possibly can.
What Are Some Signs of Bad Control Arm Bushings?
In a perfect world, you won’t have to worry about seeing any of the signs of bad control arm bushings in your car. As we alluded to a second ago, you might be able to spend years driving your car around without having to be concerned about replacing your control arm bushings. But there are some surefire signs that’ll let you know that you’ll have no choice but to consider replacing your control arm bushings.
One of the first things you’re going to notice when you have bad control arm bushings in your car is that your car will make a squeaking sound almost every time you drive over a bump. That squeaking sound might then transform into a knocking sound before long as your problem goes from bad to worse. That will indicate that your control arm is coming into direct contact with your control arm bushings and resulting in metal rubbing up against metal.
When you have bad control arm bushings, you might also notice that your tires will wear unevenly over time. Additionally, you may feel your car pulling to one side or the other when you’re driving it around. Whatever the case, you shouldn’t ignore any of their signs of bad control arm bushings for too long. You could find yourself with a serious suspension problem on your hands if you don’t take action.
Is It Safe to Drive a Car With Bad Control Arm Bushings?
When you first start to experience issues with your car’s control arm bushings, you should be able to drive it around without any problems. The squeaking sounds that your car makes when you drive over bumps will drive you crazy. But over time, you should start to get more and more used to it. After a while, you won’t even hear it anymore.
But if the squeaking sounds turn into knocking sounds, that’s going to be the point at which it’s no longer safe to drive your car with bad control arm bushings. Your bad control arm bushings won’t just be a minor annoyance anymore. Instead, they’ll begin to put your entire car at risk. The metal-on-metal contact that takes place within your suspension system could potentially do extensive damage to it and force you to take on major repairs. You should try to avoid allowing your bad control arm bushings to get to this point.
What Should You Do If You Have Bad Control Arm Bushings?
If you believe that the control arm bushings in your car’s suspension system have gone bad, you shouldn’t drive around with them for too long. You should make an appointment to have your car looked at by an ASE-certified mechanic right away so that they can figure out if your control arm bushings need to be replaced. They can inspect your suspension system and tell you exactly what needs to be done to stop it from squeaking and/or knocking all the time.
In most cases, your mechanic will be able to take out your old control arm bushings and replace them with new ones. But it’s worth noting that some vehicles have control arm bushings that are permanently installed in their control arms. If this is the case with your car, you’re going to need to replace more than just your bad control arm bushings. You’ll actually have to replace the entire control arms to fix the issue at hand.
Whatever you do, you shouldn’t put off control arm bushings replacement for any longer than you absolutely have to. While you could be looking at a relatively minor repair at first, you could end up with a much bigger repair job later if you don’t act fast. You should get your mechanic on the phone at the first sign of trouble and have them look at your suspension system sooner than later.
Can You Try to Replace Bad Control Arm Bushings Yourself?
Do you know your way around a car? Then you might be someone who would rather replace your car’s control arm bushings on your own as opposed to paying someone else to do it. You’re welcome to take this repair on as long as you have access to the right tools and equipment. It’s not usually one of the more complicated suspension repair jobs.
If, however, you’ve never replaced control arm bushings before and don’t have the slightest clue when it comes to working on the suspension systems in cars, you shouldn’t even think about attempting to replace bad control arm bushings. They’re too important of a part for you to be experimenting with them. Even though hiring someone else to replace control arm bushings will cost you some money, it’ll be money well spent to ensure the job is done in the right way from start to finish.
How Much Does Control Arm Bushings Replacement Cost?
So, let’s say that you decide that you’re not going to replace your bad control arm bushings on your own. How much are you going to have to pay someone else to climb underneath your car to do it? Well, the truth is that it really all depends on a variety of factors, including everything from the make and model of your car to the mechanic that you choose to hire. These factors could drive the cost of a control arm bushings replacement up or down.
That being said, you’ll be very happy to know that control arm bushings replacement isn’t the kind of job that’s going to cost you a fortune to do. On average, most people pay somewhere between $290 and $380 for new control arm bushings for their car. That includes parts, which will cost you about $125 to $170, and labor, which is going to run you about $170 to $210. In the end, it’s not going to be very expensive to replace control arm bushings, especially when you consider the costs that could come along with not replacing them.
There is a small chance, though, that a mechanic may uncover other issues with your car while replacing bad control arm bushings. Since your control arm bushings work in conjunction with many other components in your suspension system, a mechanic might find damage that has been done to them, too. In this case, it’s going to cause the control arm bushings replacement cost to go up on you. You should at least mentally prepare yourself for this possibility.
Is the Control Arm Bushings Replacement Cost Worth It?
If you think that you’re going to be keeping your current car for the foreseeable future, paying to have bad control arm bushings fixed is really going to be a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t you want to replace bad control arm bushings that are going to continue to squeak and knock on you? They’re going to prevent you from enjoying a smooth ride when you’re behind the wheel of your car. It makes the control arm bushings replacement cost well worth it.
But if you don’t think you’re going to have your current car for much longer—or if your car has a lot of other issues that need to be addressed—then paying the control arm bushings replacement cost might not make as much sense. You may want to look into selling your car instead of dumping more money into it to fix things like bad control arm bushings.
Is Selling a Car With Bad Control Arm Bushings Impossible?
Getting rid of a car with bad control arm bushings might seem like a tall task. And if you try to sell it to private buyers, you’re going to find that it will be a challenge. Very few people will want to take a car off your hands after finding out that it has bad control arm bushings in its suspension system. But thankfully, there is another option for you: Selling your car to junk car buyers.
Cash Cars Buyer has no problem paying you cash for your car, bad control arm bushings and all. We’ll pay you top dollar for your car even if it’s not in the best condition anymore. It’ll help you steer clear of having to pay for new control arm bushings for your vehicle. Contact us today to find out how simple we make it to sell a car that has seen better days.