i know little about the setup, but have a friend who knows alot about american cars.... easy enough to do or does it require professional help?

if can get the kit (for $600), how many hours would it take a shop to install?

thanks again AF

 

I've had the entire setup off my car when I replaced the springs and shocks. It's a pretty straightforward job. There's quite a bit of disassembly but the satisfaction of DIY is well worth it. I'm curios however. Why do you want to replace all of your control arms? I found one worn component after 142,000 miles of flying through turns.

 

A number of reasons to change. OEM bushings are rubber, vs heavy duty replacement urethane. New version flexes less so unwanted alignment changes under load will be reduced. Depending on the age of the car, rubber bushings will age even if the car is not driven. Changing some but not all and mixing rubber and urethane bushings is not a good idea. Last of all, if you lower your car and your bushings are old and hard they will probably go bad real soon requiring you to pull your front end down again.

 

the front ones are making that clunk noise when i hit small bumps slowly, and the rear bushing are squeaky.

eventually i'm thinking about coilovers so i'd like to strenthen it as much as possible.

if i was replacing the tie rod ends, isn't just as easy and cost effective to do the whole setup?

 

To be sure, if your going to replace the tie rods you would be better served to replace the control arm assembly. It's an easy job. Remember however to make sure of the angle which these arms get reinstalled. Unfortunately, my Bentley software isn't with me or I'd send you a pic. If I remember on the weekend...

 

the control arm kit costs about 3 times as much as just the tie rod ends.

labor (time) might be similar.