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07' Front Lower Control Arm; Spinning Nut

7.8K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  marty.finn  
#1 ·
Hey there,

I'm somewhat of a new owner of an 2007 base trim G5, my family has owned the vehicle for three years now and it has always rattled from the front wheels, also vibrating from braking at highway speeds. I've recently started driving it daily, and noticed that the problem is getting worse. I took it to a shop and they told me that I would have to replace the front control arm bushings (seems like this is a common problem with this vehicle, I have been reading endlessly about this).

So he quoted me some amount around $300 and I gave him the go-ahead. He called me a day later saying that the nut that holds the cage nut is stripped (and spinning). He didn't charge me anything, but as he attempted to remove the bolt he must have also torched my bushing off as it sounds horrible now. To get to this nut he told me that he would have to cut the floor, and that it would be a fix needing more than $1000.

I also went to a nearby GM dealership, paid them $35 for a god damn checkup, and they also quoted me $1000 for changing the control arm bushing as well. They said that they would need to remove the steering rack and stabilizer bar to "hopefully get to the nut".

Has anyone had this experience before and successfully repaired this by themselves? I have seen various threads around
- http://www.yourcobalt.com/forums/su...suspension-wheels-brakes-tires/26441-captive-nut-control-arm-bolt-spinning.html
- http://www.doityourself.com/forum/p...-suv-service-repairs-no-trucks/476005-cobalt-lower-control-arm-replacement.html
- http://www.yourcobalt.com/forums/su.../forums/suspension-wheels-brakes-tires/85354-stripped-control-arm-cage-nut.html
but there doesn't seem to be a happy ending anywhere. Just silence really. The only person who seemed to be successful was here:
http://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/brak...s-|-suspension-|-shocks-|-struts-24/lower-control-arm-frame-bolt-says-no-51562/

and it sounds like this guy really took the axe to this bolt.

I guess to keep it simple, my questions are:
1. Is a $1000 a fair quote from my mechanic/dealership to replace the bushings on the control arm?
2. Should I just replace the entire control arm? I suspect that the number of complaints for the OEM part is not unwarranted.
3. Did anyone successfully fix this? If $1000 is the best that I can find for this job and this job turns out to be terrible to do myself, I might have just have to trash this and find a new car.

Pretty angry at the whole deal, but also bit sad since the car was alright otherwise for the price and age.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
It is a pretty stupid design. My nut broke loose as well and my local mechanic has been dealing with it fairly well. The sub-frame mounting bolt is a different story. Next time it's backed out, it'll probably break. At least I did have the forethought to go ahead and buy a couple. Got them on backorder with a delay!