Upper Control Arms

I just did uppers for the second time.

They arent bad at all to replace.

All of my bushings were shot and one ball joint.

Car will soon have 100k miles and is on its 3rd set of uppers.

Oem lasted to around 68k

Arnotts lasted around 30k

We shall see what the moogs last.
 
shawn_sloma said:
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...
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Nice! You grabbed the air bags and air shocks off that 95? lots of good parts from that thing, I'm glad one of us got to it first before some guy looking to resell it all for profit on eBay did.
 
This is how I did my driver's side UCA and I didn't have to remove the master cylinder:

UCA-IMG-20110531-00469Large.jpg
 
^ That is slick. I didn't even use the hole, though. But contrary to what seems like popular practice, I made sure to keep the flags on the bolts. Then I don't need a second tool to hold the head still while torquing the nuts.

I got the Arnotts off ebay, and don't have much faith in them, but we will see how they all go...
 
izackary said:
^ That is slick. I didn't even use the hole, though. But contrary to what seems like popular practice, I made sure to keep the flags on the bolts. Then I don't need a second tool to hold the head still while torquing the nuts.

I got the Arnotts off ebay, and don't have much faith in them, but we will see how they all go...
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I don't blame you for not breaking off the flags - I never do either. Why would anyone want to make the job MORE difficult (which is what I consider it if you break the flags off)?
 
I used a VISA card and I was fixed in no time. :D From all the bad rap that Moog gets on these forums I would stay away. Motorcraft is the way to go.
 
NetKeym said:
I don't blame you for not breaking off the flags - I never do either. Why would anyone want to make the job MORE difficult (which is what I consider it if you break the flags off)?
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Exactly. I can see where maybe they got seized on some cars...but if you cut them off, do yourself a favor and replace them! :rolleyes:
 
I have had Arnotts uppers on mine for about 5 years. Not that many miles on them and they are going out.
Arnott struts were on around 3 years, I'm sure they did not help the UCAs.

The old Struts were replaced this week with brand new OEM, and next on the list is UCAs.
Looking at Raybestos arms, made in the USA and have grease fittings. Researching the Moogs, they are made out of the country now and no fittings.
 
My Arnotts came out of the box looking like they had ball joint boots full of nothing but air. Has anyone else noticed that or am I just that lucky to be the only one?
 
keVIIIn said:
Nice! You grabbed the air bags and air shocks off that 95? lots of good parts from that thing, I'm glad one of us got to it first before some guy looking to resell it all for profit on eBay did.
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The airbags were still there when I left. Whatever shop replaced the suspension with a conversion kit, cut out everything for the air system. I thought about selling them on ebay but, would rather see them go to someone else that needed them. I might go back next monday and buy a few pieces off the rear suspension, if they are still there. That car was pretty clean underneath and would like to replace some of the midwest rust on this car.
 
I would place the Arnotts back in the box, and get your money back. I was a Mark VIII newby when I bought mine back in 07, learned the lesson now.
 
This was back in May, and they haven't sheared off yet. I will file a warranty complaint if necessary. I was able to save one old UCA but the other was totally trashed and is long gone. I don't want to deal with the downtime then having to park the car at the in-laws' (instead of my apt complex) while waiting.
 
DLF said:
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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I think the benefit would be a bushing that actually rotates, the set from SCP and the new moog set I have in the garage both have bushings that are bonded together. I'm sure its the way they are made thus the reason for having the car at ride height before you torque to spec. I'm sure the first time someone hits the rays switch or asham and the suspension goes beyond its standard range of motion it tears the rubber loose from the steel sleave causing premature wear. At least that's my theory anyway.
 
My TRW's had bad bushings, the ball joints had torn boots but weren't making any noises. I bought the moog replacements with the serviceable ball joints.
 
izackary said:
So buy TRW.
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TRW's also have bonded bushings.
I also wonder about the quality of the ball joints they put in the replacement control arms. It looks like the ball joint alone is as much or more than a replacement arm.
 
I got mine back in the spring and the bushings rotated inside the mounting point, no sweat.
 
izackary said:
I got mine back in the spring and the bushings rotated inside the mounting point, no sweat.
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It looks like everyone list the moog arms, TRW arms may be in the box but no guarantee what you're going to get.
 
Well I predict my LCAs will last a heck of a lot longer than the Arsnott arms...
 
m_maker said:
Damn, that picture got popular quick ;)

Perfect opportunity to clean out all the debris behind the fender sound deadener too.

I miss that car :(
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LOL Yes, I've used that pic SEVERAL times trying to help ppl out!

Thank You!
 
Well, as soon as my new pass side oem air shock comes in, im going to oriellys and swapping out my moog control arm. I figured I'd pay for a new alignment anyway swapping out the shock assembly,I might as well take advantage of the lifetime warranty with the control arm and swap it.
 
Boots bad on UCA ball joints...do I need to replace UCAs?

isaiah3g said:
Well, as soon as my new pass side oem air shock comes in, im going to oriellys and swapping out my moog control arm. I figured I'd pay for a new alignment anyway swapping out the shock assembly,I might as well take advantage of the lifetime warranty with the control arm and swap it.
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I was reading this thread because I have purchased two air shocks, p and d, (AVS-16 and 17) for the front SLA suspension. The boots are rotted/torn on the ball joints of the UCA's. If I am going to replace the original air shocks then I might as well replace the UCA's at the same time is my thinking. I presume I can do the UCA's at another time but perhaps it best to do the air shocks and UCA's at the same time? I would appreciate the advice being new here and new to doing work of this difficulty and complexity on my own car(s). From this thread it appears to me that the "NAPA" struts or TRW(?) or LCA(?) UCAs with a serviceable ball joint would be a better than the original UCAs Thank you for your comments/posts.:cool:
 
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