Alfa156 front control arms replacement

This is the third time I’ve replaced the Alfa156 upper front control arms in the 4-year ownership so far. It seems to prove what I learnt from the Internet – the durability of Alfa 156’s front upper control arms is a known issue. The problem is that the front upper arm squeaks when the car runs over speed bumps.

The following is the front upper control arm replacement records of my 156:

• First replacement – 15/01/2011.

• Second replacement – 24/11/2012. The previous pair lasted 22 months

• Third replacement (this round) – 05/07/2014. The previous pair lasted 19 months

I decided to replace both the upper and lower control arms all together. This time I had to order all the parts myself as the new mechanic can’t bother to spend his time to buy parts from overseas. As a result, I found that the parts on the car are of after-market products and I can find their brands. Not sure if it is the cause of the durability problem.

I chose the TRW brand, that is recommended by many Alfa parts specialists.

According to the site from that I bought the parts, it said the design of TRW Alfa156 upper front control arms is improved based on the original ones. I”m not sure what issue is the improvement for. Anyway, only time can tell.

I do recommend using branded parts from reputable suppliers. From some Internet discussion, someone mentioned they had experienced bad quality broken lower control arm broken into 2 pieces.

When the new mechanic installed the upper control arms, he mentioned that many mechanics tends to over torque the screws with electric tools. he suspected it would also be a cause of the premature occurrence of squeal.

Next round of control arm problem – here

July 2014

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