Brought my g into the shop recently and was told that my upper control arms need to be replaced because they are bent prety bad. I bought the car privately recently so im not surprised. Shops estimate for control arms from O'Reilys was $500 a piece and i need both front control arms.. I looked them up myself and I can get each for $100 or less. My question however is, would I be able to install them myself? Or when installing control arms do you need alignment done at the same time? because thats what the guys at the shop made it sound like.

 

Not sure how the upper control arms would get bent unless the car was in a collision. You should be able to find some used ones in the marketplace for relatively cheap. Yes, you can install them yourself (assuming you are even slightly mechanically-inclined). Alignment is not necessary as there is no adjustability on the OEM A-arms.

 

yea i figured the same about the whole acident thing becasue the guys rims had some pretty bad curb rash and the back ones were somehow slightly bent as well. so my guess was that he hit a curb going fast. carfax doesnt show any accidents and the frame is fine so other then these control arms im not worried. But thanks, good to know that i wont need an alignment done AGAIN and yes I usually do my own work on cars however this will be my first control arm replacement and it looks like im gona need another jack... Thanks for the quick response!!!