Question about control arms.

LunaEros

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If you take a pry bar and put it in between the front lower control arm bushing and where it mounts on the frame, how much movement would you get if the bushing is still good?
I'm guessing pretty much none, right? Seems mine move like maybe a ¼ inch or so. I replaced the struts and the rattle I was getting is lessened but it's still there and it sounds very similar to a video another guy on here posted where he had a control arm out and there was basically no bushing left in it so it rattled.
 
If you take a pry bar and put it in between the front lower control arm bushing and where it mounts on the frame, how much movement would you get if the bushing is still good?
I'm guessing pretty much none, right? Seems mine move like maybe a ¼ inch or so. I replaced the struts and the rattle I was getting is lessened but it's still there and it sounds very similar to a video another guy on here posted where he had a control arm out and there was basically no bushing left in it so it rattled.
If you take the knuckle out and you're able to move the ball joint easily with your hand ...meaning it moves around really sloppy ...it's a good sign you ned a new Knuckle/spindle...best to change out the part as a whole ...the aluminum can get bent very easy when trying to press in a different ball joint...if you have a 14mm Knuckle Rockauto has MotorCraft on Wholesale closeout parts for $58 dollars
 
If you take the knuckle out and you're able to move the ball joint easily with your hand ...meaning it moves around really sloppy ...it's a good sign you ned a new Knuckle/spindle...best to change out the part as a whole ...the aluminum can get bent very easy when trying to press in a different ball joint...if you have a 14mm Knuckle Rockauto has MotorCraft on Wholesale closeout parts for $58 dollars

I'm not talking about the ball joints. I mean the bushings of the lower control arm where they mount to the frame not the spindle side where the wheel is.
 
Is there any bushing left or I think they are famous for cracking right there too?? At least mine has both of these issues at the moment... Spendy fixes, but has to,needs to be done!! Death trap on wheels at the moment, but I am completely in love and devoted to my ls
 
If you take the knuckle out and you're able to move the ball joint easily with your hand ...meaning it moves around really sloppy ...it's a good sign you ned a new Knuckle/spindle...best to change out the part as a whole ...the aluminum can get bent very easy when trying to press in a different ball joint...if you have a 14mm Knuckle Rockauto has MotorCraft on Wholesale closeout parts for $58 dollars

Dayum!

Too bad both sides are not available at that price! Just the left.
 
Is there any bushing left or I think they are famous for cracking right there too?? At least mine has both of these issues at the moment... Spendy fixes, but has to,needs to be done!! Death trap on wheels at the moment, but I am completely in love and devoted to my ls
I think the bushings are still in there just deteriorating. I can't really see since there's hardly any space between the control arm and where it mounts.
And I don't even know what size the ball joints are 14mm or ???
 
14mm ball joints go to mid 2002. 16mm ball joints after that.

If you have a mid year 2002... you may need your VIN number for the proper part. Or... you can measure the ball joint stud with a tape measure.

14mm would be slightly over 1/2". 16mm would be 5/8".

1/4" of movement can be considered excessive for a bushing... but that depends on the length of the pry bar you are using... and how hard you are prying on it.

It is... just rubber... not urethane.
 
14mm ball joints go to mid 2002. 16mm ball joints after that.
If you have a mid year 2002... you may need your VIN number for the proper part. Or... you can measure the ball joint stud with a tape measure.
14mm would be slightly over 1/2". 16mm would be 5/8".
1/4" of movement can be considered excessive for a bushing... but that depends on the length of the pry bar you are using... and how hard you are prying on it.
It is... just rubber... not urethane.

Thanks, Sport. That helps. Mine has a build date of Jan 2002. I think I'll measure it to be sure.
And I guesstimate the pry bar was roughly 18".
 
How hard were you pulling on the bar?

Was it like trying to get a lug nut off with a tire iron... or like tightening the bolt on a battery post?
 
So was he turning red in the face and grunting while prying... or was he just casually pulling on it?

I've seen so called "mechanics" hang from a 6 foot pry bar when trying to show a bad ball joint... when they didn't have the suspension unloaded.
 
14mm ball joints go to mid 2002. 16mm ball joints after that.

If you have a mid year 2002... you may need your VIN number for the proper part. Or... you can measure the ball joint stud with a tape measure.

14mm would be slightly over 1/2". 16mm would be 5/8".

It is... just rubber... not urethane.

Hey Sport. I used a site where you can look up which one by VIN and it says I use 16mm. But when I get under the car with my calipers and measure the thread coming out of the nut, which is all I can access, it measures a hair under 14mm.
Can a 16mm lower ball joint measure 14mm on the threads?
 
You measure across the largest diameter... which would be the outside.

If you are measuring in the grooves you are doing it wrong.

Best way to measure a threaded bolt/stud is to do it off the end... perpendicular to the threads.
 
You measure across the largest diameter... which would be the outside.

If you are measuring in the grooves you are doing it wrong.

Best way to measure a threaded bolt/stud is to do it off the end... perpendicular to the threads.

No. I measured on the outside of the threads, not the inside. I was getting 13.93mm. But my car was built in January 2002 and when I search for the lower control arms by my VIN it shows it's supposed to have 16mm. I wish someone here had a 16mm lower ball joint that's not in the car so they could measure the threads. I'm hoping maybe the threads happen to be slightly smaller than the shaft that goes through arm.
 
You do realize that the ball joint is in the steering knuckle... not the control arm... correct?

Using the link you provided...

Where the link shows Home> "your VIN # " ... click on your VIN # .

The drop down menu has a link for "knuckle/hub assembly". When you click on that... it shows knuckles for 14mm ball joints.

At this point... I'd say the listing for the 16mm ball joints in the control arm section... is wrong.

THIS... is why I always suggest to call the DEALER... with the VIN #.

Even reputable websites can sometimes have misinformation listed. Probably a data entry error.
 
To make you more unsure... sometimes Ford makes changes... without notifying the dealer or parts department.

Case in point:

I recently did some work on the ex's 2004 Escape V6. Lots of new parts on the intake system, plus VCGs and an 80 % cooling system rebuild.

One of the hoses, (that goes to the water pump), would not fit on the neck on the block. (keep in mind these were all dealer parts). I chased my tail off trying to find the right hose... but everything I found was too small.

So I took a close look at the old hose and found a barely legible part number. The dealer parts department ran the number... and it was for a 2005 Escape V6.

Turns out... that as early as 08/04... Ford was putting 2005 engines in the 2004 Escape... and the water neck on the 2005 block was designed with a larger opening... requiring a different hose.

Nobody at the dealer/parts department even knew that... and if I hadn't been able to read the number on the hose... nobody except the Ford engineers would have known.

To their credit... the dealer and parts department were very apologetic.
 
You do realize that the ball joint is in the steering knuckle... not the control arm... correct?

Using the link you provided...

Where the link shows Home> "your VIN # " ... click on your VIN # .

The drop down menu has a link for "knuckle/hub assembly". When you click on that... it shows knuckles for 14mm ball joints.

At this point... I'd say the listing for the 16mm ball joints in the control arm section... is wrong.

THIS... is why I always suggest to call the DEALER... with the VIN #.

Even reputable websites can sometimes have misinformation listed. Probably a data entry error.

I know the ball joint attaches to the knuckle (I call it a spindle) that the wheels attach to and the ball joint shaft goes through the lower control arm.
The ball joint shaft attached to the bottom of the knuckle is what I'm measuring.
I tired using Ford's lookup itself but it didn't tell me the control arm ball joint opening size. It said discontinued but it did have part numbers.
The site I linked to above has and almost identical number other than Ford's started with a 6 and that sites starts with a 2. The rest of the number is the same.

I do see the knuckle says includes ball joint 14mm.

I just went to the site and changed it to a 2001 and it shows 14mm for the lower arm. It has the same number too except that number starts with an X
But it's not showing me the correct control arm.
The one it shows me looks like this which looks like it's for something else
725fee279d9e09034d00cba80d0772a7.jpg


But mine looks like the one with the front offset bushing mount that says 16mm which looks like this

GK80734_FRO__ra_p.jpg


I went originally to parts.ford.com but they do not show my part for my vin which I guess is because it's discontinued. The dealers don't either.
I tried a couple others. oemfordpartsdirect and bluespringsfordparts Both of those show the wrong arm for my car.

So it's looking like from what I can see that the 14mm arm is a different design than the 16mm? Which makes me even more confused since RockAuto shows both 14 and 16 arms that have the front offset bushing mount that looks like mine.

When I got the car in February the guy gave me receipts on what he had replaced which included 4 upper arms and ball joints 4 stabilizer links and 4 lower arms and ball joints. But I am thinking on the front the mechanic called the front knuckles, control arms, since the lower balljoints appear to be new but the lower arms bushings have that play.

SMGDH Why couldn't Ford have made this easy?
 
That other arm in your post above looks like the rear lower control arm.
 
That other arm in your post above looks like the rear lower control arm.
My bad. You're right Joe. I did not notice I had to go all the way down for the front suspension.
But I'm still confused because while I was just back there I checked both the 2001 and 2003 in addition to my 2002 and all three list the same number for the lower arm but starting with a 6 instead of a 2 like the site that says mine is a 16mm. On an irrelevant note, for some reason the page for 2003 didn't seem to show any rear suspension pieces. (shrug)
 

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