sprocket
Well-Known LVC Member
Upper and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rods. SRBs look good, sway bar links are fairly new and look good.
So far I have the upper control arm off the driver's side. I had to take a break to take the kids school shopping. I had to order lower control arms and I am waiting for them to arrive. I though they were good because they are fairly new but they are junk.
I had no problem at all removing the upper control arm. Here's how I did it:
1) Removed the nut retaining the arm to the spindle.
2) Tapped out the bolt. I had already used PB blaster on these a few times over the last couple of weeks. It was still tight. I used a crescent wrench on the head of the bolt. You can't really turn it because it is against a flat, but it can be turned back and forth ever so slightly and that was enough to free it up.
3) used a fork and a hammer to get the control arm out of the spindle.
4) Took the easy nut off one end from under the hood using a ratcheting wrench.
5) One the hard end I removed the guard from the strut tower and removed the bracket holding solenoids from the strut tower and moved those aside. I loosened the bolt holding the main wiring harness, unplugged it and moved it aside. I removed the bolt holding the wiring harness connector bracket and moved it towards the fender. This gains an extra click on the wrench and makes it much easier to remove the nut. I had to put a wrench on the wrench to initially get the nut to turn. Piece of cake after that. The whole process to this point was maybe 20 minutes.
6) took out the bolt on the left end of the control arm from inside the fender.
7) The bolt on the right end was blocked from coming out by a coil on the spring. This car has a coil conversion. So I removed the through bolt on the bottom of the strut. This didn't gain enough movement so I loosened the nuts on the strut tower but did not remove them. This gave enough play to get the bolt out.
8) Tossed the upper control arm on the ground.
OK, break is over. Now I need to get the lower arm off so I can bring it along to be sure I get a match from the APS. I ordered Thunderbird lowers because they are cheaper. They are Dorman, all other parts are McQuay-Norris and look to be of excellent quality.
So far I have the upper control arm off the driver's side. I had to take a break to take the kids school shopping. I had to order lower control arms and I am waiting for them to arrive. I though they were good because they are fairly new but they are junk.
I had no problem at all removing the upper control arm. Here's how I did it:
1) Removed the nut retaining the arm to the spindle.
2) Tapped out the bolt. I had already used PB blaster on these a few times over the last couple of weeks. It was still tight. I used a crescent wrench on the head of the bolt. You can't really turn it because it is against a flat, but it can be turned back and forth ever so slightly and that was enough to free it up.
3) used a fork and a hammer to get the control arm out of the spindle.
4) Took the easy nut off one end from under the hood using a ratcheting wrench.
5) One the hard end I removed the guard from the strut tower and removed the bracket holding solenoids from the strut tower and moved those aside. I loosened the bolt holding the main wiring harness, unplugged it and moved it aside. I removed the bolt holding the wiring harness connector bracket and moved it towards the fender. This gains an extra click on the wrench and makes it much easier to remove the nut. I had to put a wrench on the wrench to initially get the nut to turn. Piece of cake after that. The whole process to this point was maybe 20 minutes.
6) took out the bolt on the left end of the control arm from inside the fender.
7) The bolt on the right end was blocked from coming out by a coil on the spring. This car has a coil conversion. So I removed the through bolt on the bottom of the strut. This didn't gain enough movement so I loosened the nuts on the strut tower but did not remove them. This gave enough play to get the bolt out.
8) Tossed the upper control arm on the ground.
OK, break is over. Now I need to get the lower arm off so I can bring it along to be sure I get a match from the APS. I ordered Thunderbird lowers because they are cheaper. They are Dorman, all other parts are McQuay-Norris and look to be of excellent quality.