Ford Explorer — Control Arm Replacement Cost

Based on real repair records · last updated October 13, 2026
$651
typical range $419 – $940 (parts + labor)
typical labor time 3 hrs · parts $247 · labor $290 · the rest is shop fees & tax (medians)
Median and middle-half range computed from real Ford Explorer control arm replacement repairs.

What owners actually paid

$419
1 in 4 paid less
$651
half paid less, half paid more
$940
3 in 4 paid less

The shaded middle is where half of all these repairs landed: $419 – $940. A quote inside that band is normal. Cheaper or pricier isn't automatically wrong — but it's worth asking why.

Real repair reports

These reports are a recent sample of real, paid Ford Explorer control arm replacement visits — quoted the way the owner and the technician actually said it.

Car owners said

“Lower control arm bushings”
2011 Ford Explorer · 146,711 mi · $659 · 4.3 hrs labor · Jan 2026
“Check front strut noise”
2016 Ford Explorer · 171,521 mi · $830 · 2.2 hrs labor · Jun 2025
“Rear upper control arms”
2017 Ford Explorer · 176,844 mi · $1,269 · 3.4 hrs labor · Oct 2024

What this repair is

Control arms locate the wheels against the body through rubber bushings and a ball joint. Worn bushings clunk over bumps and let the car wander; a failing ball joint is a safety issue. Replacement ends with an alignment.

Is your quote fair?

If your quote lands between $419 and $940, it's inside the range where half of all real Ford Explorer repairs of this kind land — and the typical job takes about 3 hours of labor. Quotes well below aren't automatically good news (economy parts, or related work skipped) and quotes above aren't automatically gouging (trim variants, premium parts, seized hardware) — but both ends deserve questions.

The symptom behind this repair

This fix most often shows up when owners report Car Pulls to One Side or Car Shaking or Vibrating While Driving — those pages show how often each complaint actually ends here, and what the alternatives cost.

Other repairs on the Ford Explorer

Take this to the shop

The FixDozer Fair Price Report puts this page on one printable sheet — the fair range, parts and labor split out, and what moves the price — so you can compare a written quote line by line.

Download the Fair Price Report (PDF)

View it online · Not sure what's wrong? Start from the symptom

Where these numbers come from. FixDozer computes statistics from a large, continuously updated body of real-world US automotive repair records.