I drive a 05 G35 with about 112K miles on it. My front tires (Continentals 2 yr old & 20K miles) got worn out on the inside pretty significantly and I am thinking alignment issues.

Got them checked with a reliable auto mechanic shop and they said I will have to replace the control arms and that the struts are leaking a bit. They recommended to have only the control arms replaced for now and then do the alignment and hopefully that will take care of the tire wearing out issues. The struts damage is not that bad and can go on for a while before replacing it.

The cost of changing the control arms is about $1200. Will this take care of the issue and also does the costing sound about right? Am I missing something?

I really would appreciate if you cld share your thoughts/comments.

 

Did they tell which control arms need to be replaced? There are upper ones, lower ones (transverse), and rear compression rods.

I wouldn't pay 1200 for that though, I replaced both of mine (transverse) for 100 bucks (Dorman) and did the labor myself. Over two years later car is fine.

I swapped out my shocks/struts with Tokico in the front and KYB in the rear. If you're looking for something cheap you can try Sensen shocks/struts. I've used them on my Audi and Volvo I gave my sister and haven't had any problems with them.

You can save at least 1K in labor if you have tools, time, and spot to work on your vehicle.

 

if your suspension is all stock it could also be bad bushing that cause your alignment to go out.

 

Suspensions require knowledgeable mechanics, find an independent brake/alignment shop in your neighborhood! They deal with suspensions no less than 5 days a week from 8 AM until 6 PM and will solve your issues without draining your wallet! Once your G is on a rack they'll be able to tell what is causing your tire wear issues without guessing!
Gary

 

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. I believe the bushings are the problem area.

But I am taking the car to an alignment specialist, recommended by few of the Dallas group members. I will keep you posted with what they find out and the progress.

Thanks again.

 

Damn! $1200!?


So when I read your post about inside wear, I immediately thought of your lower control arm inner bushings failing. When mine went, inner tire wear was the result. The bushing fails and the arm moves backwards slightly causing the tires to toe in slightly, leading to the inside wear.

I bought two new lower arms off Rockauto.com for ~$100 each and installed myself.