Front End Suspension Work
 

Hi Guys,

So I was driving at 70 mph on 1-95 the other day and coming off the off-ramp I heard this loud pop and saw some black piece of rubber fly out from underneath my drivers side front wheel well. The car kept driving fine so I continued to my destination. Upon arrival I take a look under there and notice the outer bushing, washer and bolt completley mssing from the attachment of the Sway bar to my upper control arm!!! Well I found some rubber bushing material and fit it in there with a new bolt and large washer. It got me home and I have been driving it like that for a week now, but it is far from tight

The whole thing has prompted me to review my whole front end. A few questions:
1). On the upper control arm the ball joints look really good. Can I just replace the bushings to the sway bar without having to replace the whole UCA? Where can I buy the right size bolt and washer/fitting for this joint?
2). The ball Joints on the LCA look terrible and the boot is definetly torn. This sounds like a big job....should I even attempt this?
3). I plan on replacing the tie rods and front struts while correcting the issue with the UCA....what else should look at and how will I know if it needs replacing?

1) The UCA is cheap and very easy to do. IMHO just replace it. It is an under an hour job.. and worth every cent. You may be surprised at how bad the bushing may be on the UCA.
2) Sorry, I am just getting into my LCA and needed to replace the lower ball as well.
3) Have someone turn the wheel while you are under the car. Look for any abnormal movement (or lack of movement) or looseness.

Good luck!

MAke sure the tip of the sway bar is not cracked. It is much easier to just replace the UCA, rather than press in new bushings.

If you are replacing the lower ball joints you are already into it far enought that replacing the upper ball joints will be a part of the project. The upper control arm and ball joint is all one unit and in most cases comes with the bushings needed for the sway bar and arm. When I did mine I jacked up the car and then lowered it down so the lower arm rested on a jack stand then I could remove the entire steering knuckle with out having to use a spring compressor but if you are going to do this make sure the lower arm bushings don't need to be replaced.

Ball joint is an easy weekend project with the right tools. Nothing fancy is needed, just use the press from Autozone.

I'll have a how-to article for this procedure done soon, you can learn from my mistakes (I've already made a few. :rolleyes:)

The upper control arms aren't expensive, but they sure arent exactly cheap. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. I just hate replace the whole arm when all the other joints seriously look in good shape. Either way I still need to find a source for the fitting (bolt and washer looking cap) for the sway bar attachment. I guess I can get the bolt at the hardware store......I have the diameter, but I don't know how long it needs to be (the one I put in there is too short for sure).

I look forward to reading the write up on the lower ball joint.

Try www.*************** for front end parts, fastlane seems a bit high on these parts for some reason.

My write up will cover everything (UCA, LCA bushings, Guide rod mounts) but the lower ball joint, but once you have it all apart the lower ball should not be very hard if you have the correct tools.

Are you SURE the end did not break off of the sway bar? It has been known to happen. There is a repair kit available to fix it if it did break off.

I am sure the sway bar is good. Its got the tip with the threaded inside and looks just fine.