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Should I buy ebay upper control arms from Freedom Offroad?

40K views 87 replies 14 participants last post by  raine 
No experience with those, but.... What is the ball joint? Can it be replaced? Would you be out another $199.99 when the ball joints wear out? Are the bushings rubber or polyurethane? Again, are those parts replaceable? I know you are trying to save money comparing to the SPC's or others, but, name brand items have replaceable parts.
 
Price point isn't the only factor, but it is a major factor. If these will do the same job as the $500+ control arms, but at less then half the cost, why not use them?

Is there something you are seeing that leads you to believe that I will have to modify or replace parts yearly?
Some off the "off name" control arms are supplied with bushings and or ball joints that don't seem to have the life they should.

We keep saying "OE style ball joints" but again, what ball joint is this, is it a common ball joint, is it available from an auto parts store or are you stuck going with the supplier?

You can take a $200 set of arms, need $100-$150 worth of bushings and ball joints and now they are $350 arms that might need another $100-$150 worth of bushings / ball joints in a "short time" so... you are not always money ahead.

But.. If both the bushings and ball joints are a common part # that are cheap, yes, then you may be money ahead.

And, the topic of the big name arms keeps coming up. Another thing to consider is effort/labor to replace said parts. I run SPC's and the ball joints are a single bolt deal, not press in. The bushings are poly and are also NOT press in, so I could have parts replaced quickly and effortlessly compared to an OE style arm with press in ball joints and rubber bushings.

"Value isn't in how much you spend, it's what you get for what you spend."
 
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