Torn Control Arm Bushing?

[The Critic]

2011 Prius - 98,000 miles

I was hearing a a rubber crunch-like noise that was only coming from the right-front corner when rolling over dips and speed bumps at a very very low speed.

I went under there with my pry-bar and was able to duplicate the noise by moving the lower-control arm up/down.

Replacing the control arm assembly ($175, ouch) appears to have solved the problem, though I'm starting to hear the noise from the left corner as well.

Old Bushing:

Untitled by thecritic89, on Flickr

Untitled by thecritic89, on Flickr

New one:

Untitled by thecritic89, on Flickr

Here's the weird part - the old bushing does not appear to be destroyed. There are small cracks in the bushing, but if you zoom in, you can "see thru" the old bushing. The new bushing does not appear to have any cracks at all.

I guess I'm not 100% sure that the old bushing was bad, but the noise seems to have mostly gone away (plus the car tracks noticeably straighter) ever since I did the replacement.

 

[Sayjac]

Just had the lower control arm compliance bushings in an 01 Civic replaced, much worse shape than those. They were completely shot over the entire circumference and the front end was making a significant thunking noise, especially over rougher roads.

Looks like yours had some wear, but perhaps still some life left in them.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Yeah, that actually looks pretty good for almost 100k. It's not torn but the rubber has probably started to degrade.

Just curious, did you get OEM replacements or aftermarket?

 

[JHZR2]

The old bushing looked fine! I wonder if a spray of silicone would have solved it - some of then elf lubricity characteristic could have been gone in the free space in the bushing, and you got rubber on rubber squeak.

My sounds were resolved by struts, after changing other parts prior.

Is this an upper or lower control arm?

 

[The_Eric]

What about the rear bushing, maybe it was making the noise? From what you describe, I'd find that more likely- as if the rear was either slipping/torn inside of the arm or the shoulder of the bushing was rubbing the subframe... As a quick and dirty test you can spray the suspected problem area with a rubber suitable spray to see if it quiets down.

 

[CT8]

As a long time toyota owner ,,the quality is dropping.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The old bushing looked fine! I wonder if a spray of silicone would have solved it - some of then elf lubricity characteristic could have been gone in the free space in the bushing, and you got rubber on rubber squeak.

My sounds were resolved by struts, after changing other parts prior.

Is this an upper or lower control arm?


Strut front, so a LCA.

 

[Merkava_4]

The lower control arms move around all over the place when the rubber in the bushings wears out. There's no way to align the front end when they're like that.