rear upper control arms....anyone replace them yet?

[Losiracer2]

I've never touched my rear upper control arms but have changed my front uppers twice now since buying my car 8 years ago.

Has anyone replaced them yet? could you list the symptoms you experienced? I'm kinda thinking I should since my car has over 220k on the body. But the boots are intact and I can feel grease in there so I know its lubricated. I don't feel any slop when I have the wheel in the air and shake it.

But occasionally I do hear a clunking when making left and right turns coming from the rear suspension area, but not sure if its the rubber noise isolaters at the top of my Ground Control coilovers that are worn out or not causing it.

You think after this amount of mileage it would be necessary or wise to replace them? Car has been lowered for about 85k miles but I have Progress Camber correction kits front and rear since day 1 of lowering the car with the GC coilovers.

[Losiracer2]

anyone?

[YK86]

It'll kind of be the same as the front uppers. A bit of a shake when driving. Make sure you put a load on the arm (like jack it up from underneath) as having it hang can mask the play in the joint.

If it makes you feel any better, both my 4th gen and my brother's 5th gen Accords have about 400,000kms (250,000miles) and we've both never had to change the rear upper arm. Actually, my brother's car is stock and he's never had to change the struts or the front uppers either. I always do an inspection when he brings his car over to do an oil change but they've remained fine.

[Accrdwgnguy]

Wondering this too, since I have 215k miles on mine.

[Losiracer2]

It'll kind of be the same as the front uppers. A bit of a shake when driving. Make sure you put a load on the arm (like jack it up from underneath) as having it hang can mask the play in the joint.

If it makes you feel any better, both my 4th gen and my brother's 5th gen Accords have about 400,000kms (250,000miles) and we've both never had to change the rear upper arm. Actually, my brother's car is stock and he's never had to change the struts or the front uppers either. I always do an inspection when he brings his car over to do an oil change but they've remained fine.

hmmm, ok. I guess it makes sense if the boot is still intact w/ grease then it should be fine. But I'll perform that test with a load under the LCA and see if it has any slop

[ChIoVnIdCa]

Just check for play in them like any other ball joint.

[bcjammerx]

hmmm, ok. I guess it makes sense if the boot is still intact w/ grease then it should be fine. But I'll perform that test with a load under the LCA and see if it has any slop

it is a 20 year old joint...gotta have wear...replace it no matter


like I have room to talk...I actually have some brand spankin' new ones on the shelf but I have yet to replace mine....

[Madpol]

It'll kind of be the same as the front uppers. A bit of a shake when driving. Make sure you put a load on the arm (like jack it up from underneath) as having it hang can mask the play in the joint.

If it makes you feel any better, both my 4th gen and my brother's 5th gen Accords have about 400,000kms (250,000miles) and we've both never had to change the rear upper arm. Actually, my brother's car is stock and he's never had to change the struts or the front uppers either. I always do an inspection when he brings his car over to do an oil change but they've remained fine.

WOW 400k kms thats really impressive mine is only around 280k kms.
i remember back in the days people used to brag that they have already been around the clock lol and some had been around more than once

[YK86]

WOW 400k kms thats really impressive mine is only around 280k kms.
i remember back in the days people used to brag that they have already been around the clock lol and some had been around more than once

What's impressive about my brothers car is it's original motor (just new seals, belts, etc) and he's using my old auto tranny as his crapped out at 330K. It's his first and only car and I think he's had it for 13 years. Doesn't burn any oil, passes emissions no problem, and gets great gas mileage too. Mine's got high K but I keep changing stuff for the hell of it so it doesn't really count lol.

My friends and relatives in Japan can't believe it when I tell them 400K. They keep saying "You mean 40K right?". They consider the car high K at 100K so it's understandable.

[bcjammerx]

that's because in japan cars MUST be taken off the road because of corrosion due to being close to the ocean...nothing to do with the car really but the atmospheric conditions. That's why they are used to lower mileage. Over here our atmospheric conditions are not as corrosive to frames.


400,000 miles in the U.S. is the higher mileage end of our cars spectrum but we see it often enough to know it's not a fluke...way to go. You'll be happy to know if you rebuilt the engine you wouldn't have to do much in relation to other engines that are rebuilt. And the rebuilt engine will last almost as long. course I would always buy a newer car eventually (safer)

[HondaFan81]

I have replaced rear upper control arms with new OEM on my white project car. They were also as you described, boots intact, no grease seepage. However, the ball-joints were worn and loose when disconnected. That is what seems to occur on these from what I've seen on other cars in my area as well. Boots may crack, but not completely tear. I believe mine had around 180K miles when this restoration occurred. My suspensions is a sports setup and mint, best of both...just frustrates me even more given I NEED to get it on road ASAP due to engine.

[bcjammerx]

right...just because the boot is intact and even if there is grease in it...doesn't matter...after 20 years there is wear.

But usually their isn't a tear but the grease still gets out over time and it looks intact

[YK86]

that's because in japan cars MUST be taken off the road because of corrosion due to being close to the ocean...nothing to do with the car really but the atmospheric conditions.

I never caught this til now. Where did you hear this? There's a lot of myths surrounding Japanese cars/inspection/emissions.

Older cars need inspections every 2 years and with it costing $1000~$1500 each time, plus the cost of making repairs (anything that has failed MUST be fixed), it's just not economical to keep a old car when you can buy a brand new Honda Fit (for example) for $13,000. My relatives live right by the ocean as do other friends in a totally different part of Japan and while they do get mild surface rust on rad clamps and bolts, the body and mechanicals stay relatively rust free even on 10+ year old cars.

This is a good summary of the whole inspection thing:
http://japaneseengines.wordpress.com...e-low-mileage/

[Cb_JoeyG]

Shiiit ive replaced mine twice since ive owned the car! And its time to do it again

This time i bought some SPC rear upper arms.. cost about an arm and a leg but definatly worth it as far as camber adjustment and poly bushings go

[bcjammerx]

just something I've always heard...but it was just one of many reasons why the cars over there aren't as high mileage as ours.

sorry I did not mean to imply it was THE sole reason my badness