Upper Control Arms

isaiah3g

isaiah3g

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
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Location
Hammond,La
My moogs are crappin on me. Lots of rattle and clunking.

What are you running and why? How are they doing for you?

Anyone have motorctaft?
 
What is the best method for replacing the upper control arms, when I did the springs on mine I was looking at how they come out and it looks like its a huge pain to get to the nuts on the shock towers..one is burried under the brake booster and master cylinder and the rest are a tight squeeze to get to with a wrench..the other side looks like the intake tube has to come off.
 
I used wrenches and bit my tongue. It was a major pita for drovers side. Pass side was no walk in the park either.

I tightened up the pass side nuts Friday and the noise slightly went quieter. I just called oriellys and told them what was happening. I have a lifetime warranty so im going to take advantage of that.
 
18mm ratcheting wrench for the one under the break booster makes things ALOT easier. The other ones are easy to get to.
 
I just bought Dormans to replace the unknowns that have bad bushings and one noisey balljoint after 50K.
 
The NAPA UCAs look like heavy duty versions, versus all the others. Have not seen one in person, but would like to do a side by side comparison.
 
Keviiin I used an 18mm ratcheting combination wrench and a little patience. There is enough space between the master cylinder and engine to fit the wrench through and using another combination wrench for leverage was able to remove it with little trouble. Had to go to the ACE on NW Highway to get a magnet and retrieve the nut after dropping it. Took a little over 2 hours to switch them out. The 18mm wrench allows you to not have to remove the tube or anything. If you need one you can use mine, don't buy the one from advance for $20, ACE sells the same thing for $15.

I am using napa's master chasis control arms. They are about 2x thicker than stock and have a replaceable ball joint. The ball joint socket is where you can grease it regularly and is considerably larger than stock.
 
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I went with Dorman, 191K on factory original ones and they still weren't making any noise, just looked like crap. Used an 18mm wrench on the drivers side to hold bolt by master cylinder and removed bolts out from underneath wheel well with a ratchet and socket after removing the nut stays, it's easier that way. Pass side was a piece of cake compared to drivers side. Lower control arms have 197K on them now and still no noise but they also look like crap and need replaced....maybe next summer.
 
shawn_sloma said:
Keviiin I used an 18mm ratcheting combination wrench and a little patience. There is enough space between the master cylinder and engine to fit the wrench through and using another combination wrench for leverage was able to remove it with little trouble. Had to go to the ACE on NW Highway to get a magnet and retrieve the nut after dropping it. Took a little over 2 hours to switch them out. The 18mm wrench allows you to not have to remove the tube or anything. If you need one you can use mine, don't buy the one from advance for $20, ACE sells the same thing for $15.

I am using napa's master chasis control arms. They are about 2x thicker than stock and have a replaceable ball joint. The ball joint socket is where you can grease it regularly and is considerably larger than stock.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of greasable and replacable ball joints.
 
Just remove the Master from the Booster, do not disconnect the lines from the master. The lines are pliable as long as you dont kink them, which would actually take a bit of extra careless effort to do.
 
I replaced mine with Arnotts. :shifty:

NOT fun. Especially the driver side, holy carp. There's an "access hole" under the fender liner which appears to have been designed for double-jointed spider monkeys with small tools. I, um enlarged it just a tad (cos by this time I was almost ready to go out and chew the face off a homeless person).
 
kaha said:
I replaced mine with Arnotts. :shifty:

NOT fun. Especially the driver side, holy carp. There's an "access hole" under the fender liner which appears to have been designed for double-jointed spider monkeys with small tools. I, um enlarged it just a tad (cos by this time I was almost ready to go out and chew the face off a homeless person).
Click to expand...

The previous owner of my Mark took the initiative and 'enlarged' that access hole. Quite a bit. Made it a lot easier to change out the upper control arm anyway.
 
keVIIIn said:
I like the idea of greasable and replacable ball joints.
Click to expand...

I liked it also. Meant I could keep them properly lubricated and reduce wear on them. Not to mention you can replace the ball joint and not the entire arm. I wish I had taken a picture of the stock UCA's compared to Napa's. The Napa ones look very beffy compared to them. They were pretty easy to replace once getting the proper tool to get to them. Now if I could only say that about my rear sway bar. One of the bolts broke when installing the one I got off the Mark at summit picknpull. Looks like i'm going to have to cut the exhaust out to drill it out and retap...
 
I'm surprised one of our local forum machinist friends haven't come up with derlin bushings for the front UCA.
I don't have the skills that some have but could probably manage to turn a set out. I'm sure you wwould pick up more road noise and feel there isn't much to that bushing as it is.
 
k9t8m said:
18mm ratcheting wrench for the one under the break booster makes things ALOT easier. The other ones are easy to get to.
Click to expand...

^ Agreed. Ratcheting/Gear Wrenches are your best friend since the impact gun.
 
18mm ratcheting wrench makes this job very easy. Must have really for this job. It eliminates having to remove the master cylinder. Only had to disconnect the wiring harness to reach in there and hold the nut in place when reinstalling the nut.
 
97MarkJA said:
I'm surprised one of our local forum machinist friends haven't come up with derlin bushings for the front UCA.
I don't have the skills that some have but could probably manage to turn a set out. I'm sure you would pick up more road noise and feel there isn't much to that bushing as it is.
Click to expand...

I certainly could, but I don't see the benefit, as the wear item is usually the ball joint, not the bushings.
 
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