Lower Control Arm

[BernardTamHK]

hey folks ....

my lower control arm on the driver side seems to have bent, causing the wheel to move backwards a bit (as if the castor angle was adjusted ... which i think cannot be done on our cars rite?...)

my car now has a toe-out on the front right wheel, making it not drivable really (unless i wanna kill my tire).

I suspect its the lower control arm ...... has anyone had problems with this bending?

is there any way to upgrade/reinforce this?

I was doing some spirited driving on a mountain (agressive bends) and this happened. The weirdest thing is I did not impact anything on the ground that seems to be major. i only experienced a minor bump (probably from a small crevice on the road), but definitely not big. So it really worried me .. when my tire came out like that after wat seems to be just some regular spirited driving.

Any ideas?

Bernard

[BernardTamHK]

sorry .. should be in the "suspension section". Can one of u admin gods pls move it? thanx!

[derekyau]

I was doing some spirited driving on a mountain (agressive bends)

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LOL.

Stop trying to copy Tok-hoi!

I'm sure Dr Bones (Tony - Wheels-on-motion.co.uk) will be able to advise.

He told me something about correcting the castor angle supposedly not being adjustable, but there is a way to correct it on the IS.

D.

[Tony-Bones]

I suspect its the lower control arm ...... has anyone had problems with this bending?

is there any way to upgrade/reinforce this?

The arm is designed to bend during a aggressive impact to protect the surrounding frame... you cannot or need to reinforce it.

If as you say there is 'toe out' on the drivers side then i suggest this..

Replace the 'bent/worn' component

Have the geometry re-set..

And yes' the Castor IS adjustable on all Lexus's........ indirectly.

[MrADeveci]

sorry .. should be in the "suspension section".  Can one of u admin gods pls move it?  thanx!

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........... ;)

[BernardTamHK]

The arm is designed to bend during a aggressive impact to protect the surrounding frame... you cannot or need to reinforce it.

If as you say there is 'toe out' on the drivers side then i suggest this..

Replace the 'bent/worn' component

Have the geometry re-set..

Thanks Doc ....

Interesting point you made about "aggressive impact"... the thing is .... i only did some spirited driving. There was "no" aggressive impact at all. Would there be a "metal fatigue" factor in there? I am very surprised that i would bend after doing some high speed bends ..... i would have thought the car would be much more robust than that.

If its a matter of fatigue, then I will just have to accept that cos my car's age is gettin a bit higher and that its normal. I just hope that its not something i need to change on a "Regular" basis .......

i mean ... i see some of u guys do a lot more damage on ur cars than me! :P

[Monster-Mat]

are you sure its bent.........

could it not be the rubber bush has collapsed

[BernardTamHK]

are you sure its bent.........

could it not be the rubber bush has collapsed

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well... possibly. I wasnt able to get a very good look .. cos i was in a dark parking lot in the cold ....at 12am in the morning.

But i would think that the rubber bushing would not cause my driver side wheel to toe-out by 5 degrees or more.

literally ... i could "see" the wheel point outwards. If i adjust the wheel to face straight forward, my steering wheel will be in the 9 o clock position!

[BernardTamHK]

I was doing some spirited driving on a mountain (agressive bends)

←

LOL.

Stop trying to copy Tok-hoi!

I'm sure Dr Bones (Tony - Wheels-on-motion.co.uk) will be able to advise.

He told me something about correcting the castor angle supposedly not being adjustable, but there is a way to correct it on the IS.

D.

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:D dude ... i wasn't any where near "tok hoi" driving style ..... wasn't even close to doin any drifting! It really made me nervous ... cos now, i have lost alot of my confidence in the car's robustness ........ its probably a pyschological thing ..

[crazylex]

Dozing impact - but left me aggressive.

Infact did an uncanny impression of Liar Liar - kicking my own a**e when I did this.

[Tony-Bones]

Dozing impact - but left me aggressive.

Infact did an uncanny impression of Liar Liar - kicking my own a**e when I did this.

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Tiss a well built design to absorb......told ya!

[Tony-Bones]

are you sure its bent.........

could it not be the rubber bush has collapsed

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Wise words..... BTH..... go 'check'

[BernardTamHK]

well ... its confirmed ...... BOTH the lower and upper control arms are bent. So i'll have to dish out a big piece of dough and buy an expensive xmas present for my IS .....

it still baffles me .. why it bent without any serious impact. Maybe some fire ants have been biting away at my suspension??? heh