Control arms are the central to the front suspension system of a car. The control arms attach the front wheels to the rest of the car. One end is connected to the skeleton of the car while the other end is connected to the front wheel assembly. The uppermost area of the front wheel is connected with the upper control arm and the lower most area of the front wheel is connected with the lower control arm. Then the two control arms are attached to the skeleton of the car.
Control arms need to be present for suspension in cars. If not it can greatly reduce the driving capability of the car, sometimes even deeming it unfit to be driven. Even though there are many advancements in front end suspension parts, even better control arms but they still keep failing to this days. Many race car accidents have taken place due to failure of such control arms.
In most cars, the control arms are A-shaped. They can be either A- or L- shapes. Due to the A-shape of control arms in cars it is sometimes called A-arm. The L-shaped control arms are usually used in SUVs, larger vehicles, performance cars, high-end cars, race cars, etc. The L-shaped control arms are called double wishbone or double A-arms layout. This is because the steering wheel is held in place by two control arms- lower and upper. In this layout usually the upper control arm is smaller than the lower control arm. The lower and upper control arm both have a common ball point joint which moves up and down when going through a bump. The lower control arms usually take most of the load.
Since control arms are safety gears then can sometimes have extended warranties, or recalls or service campaigns. So if one needs control arms replaced after their warranties have ceased recently then check with the local repair shops to know if there are any such offers. Even if one has to pay for it then the receipt should be kept with care. So that in future if one gets warranties extended or a recall then they can avail a refurbishment.
There are different reasons why a control arm may need to be replaced. This is mostly because the ball joint which connects the lower and the upper control arm can wear out. It usually wears out from driving for a long time and once it completely wears off the car loses control instantly. This is very dangerous especially if it is a race car or performance cars. It can also dangerously hamper the performance of race cars. So it is understood easily that once the ball joints wear out or start wearing out it should be replaced. Unfortunately ball joints are not available separately so one needs to replace the entire control arms in order to do that. Also another important thing to mention in this context is It can only be rarely noticed if ball joints start wearing out. So one must always ask their mechanics or repair shops to check thirdly all there control arms and bold joins to avoid any future unnecessary accidents.