I am getting frustrated with this darn contorl arm
08-06-2004, 05:27 AM
#1
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I am getting frustrated with this darn contorl arm
I have been trying to get the strut assembly to break loose on the car to work on the upper control arm. I am not having any luck with it. I can clear the guide bolt with the lower bolt in the shock assembly. I think it may have something to do with the Eibach springs and shocks being stiffer. I was up under there with a pry bar and the thing will not clear the guide. Is it a major pain to get the strut assembly back in the car if I remove the lower bolt. I have visions of a car that I can't bolt back together. Talk about dumb engineering, having to remove an entire assembly just to get a stupid bolt out of a control arm.
08-06-2004, 05:47 AM
#3
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Hell man you never said anything about non OE springs and shocks.
Had I known that I could have saved us both time. Yeah start taking stuff loose at the bottom. As for the engineering, its just fine with factory components. We do it every single day no problems at all. I kept wondering why the hell you were having such a hard time.
08-06-2004, 06:03 AM
#4
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Question: Do you have both front wheels off of the ground or did you disconnect the sway bar link?
If not, then you're fighting the tension of the sway bar. Either get both sides up in the air, or disconnect the end sway bar link, or do both. This should give you enough room to maneuver the strut under there.
08-06-2004, 06:36 AM
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I think you have to remove the mounting bracket..
to replace the Upper-Front control arm. And this means removing the strut assembly. I never tried to remove the Upper-Front w/out disassembling everything, but I don't think it's possible. Maybe someone else has done it.
For the Upper-Rear control arm, you can do it w/out removing the strut assembly, but it's still a PITA.
For the Upper-Rear control arm, you can do it w/out removing the strut assembly, but it's still a PITA.
08-06-2004, 06:45 AM
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Not exactly sure if I understand the situation, but here goes...
As mentioned by 6ULDV8, you need to remove the lower bolts too also. Then, when the whole assembly is loose at the bottom and middle, you can try rocking the assembly back and forth to loosen the retainer. A needle nosed plier can be used to remove or pry that stupid retainer out. A pry bar between the plate and car frame will likely help too. Not sure why that retainer is needed, but you don't have to replace it when you're done.
Too reassemble the whole thing again, it helps to have a bottle jack to push the assembly up while you try to guide it into place to line up the bolt holes at the bottom. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Too reassemble the whole thing again, it helps to have a bottle jack to push the assembly up while you try to guide it into place to line up the bolt holes at the bottom. Hope this helps. Good luck.
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08-06-2004, 08:31 AM
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Yes very possible with the OE set up. Have never had
to take anything apart on the bottom end to get the job done. With his different springs and shocks I'm afraid thats all out the window. The stud with the retaining clip was just something that helped on the assembly line and serves no real purpose now.