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Old 06-20-2002, 10:58 PM
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Control Arm CAM bolts and Such

I'm preparing to renew the upper control arm bolts and the lower control arm cam bolts.

The upper control look seasy to do. For the lowers I'm assuming that I have to put a floor jack under the road spring, compress the spring a little, then under the bolts, then lower the arm enough to put in the new bushings and then rasie it back into place?

TIA

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Old 06-21-2002, 12:13 PM
Fimum Fit
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How much longer do you plan to live?

I wouldn't mess with the lower control arm bolts without having the spring under the control of a proper spring compressor set.
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Old 06-21-2002, 03:44 PM
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There's the right way and the "good enough" way

The "right" way is to get a special saddle for your jack. The usual flat saddle is too wide and may possibly slip. I custom built a saddle using two small scraps of steel (one rod, one angle iron). A little bit of welding and lots of grinding to shape the pieces produced a tool I've used for about 10 years now. In cross section, it looks something like the notch formed by your thumb and index finger. Total investment, including paying somebody else to weld it was a few hours collecting the steel and grinding on a bench grinder followed by the 10$ worth of welding.

The "good enough" way to do it is to invest in a 6 foot long piece of chain that will loop THROUGH the spring and through the lower control arm. There should be enough slack to account for the spring growing twice it's current, visible length.

With the car on jack stands just as high as you can lift it, place your best jack (not some wimpy little bottle jack) under the control arm with the wheels of the jack pointing towards the ball joints so that the wheel's hub is between you and that spring.

If that spring were to let loose, it could fly a good 20 feet and kill somebody. Between the chain keeping it from going far, and keeping the wheel hub in the way, you should be safe. keep the kids and cats well away from you.

When putting the new bushings in, it helps to have kept them in the freezer for a while and to lube them with glycerin.

-CTH
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Old 08-01-2002, 08:46 PM
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Re: There's the right way and the "good enough" way

Quote:
Originally posted by cth350
The "right" way is to get a special saddle for your jack. The usual flat saddle is too wide and may possibly slip. I custom built a saddle using two small scraps of steel (one rod, one angle iron). A little bit of welding and lots of grinding to shape the pieces produced a tool I've used for about 10 years now. In cross section, it looks something like the notch formed by your thumb and index finger. Total investment, including paying somebody else to weld it was a few hours collecting the steel and grinding on a bench grinder followed by the 10$ worth of welding.
OK I've finally have got some time off to attack the road springs and finish doing the front suspension. I want tot try to build one of these jack saddles you've described. I actually did find mention of it in a manual but the picutre they show is unclear. How does it stay on the jack. Can you post of picture of yours or a drawing? Maybe there's a picture of it in the MB Special Tools Manual?

Thanks

Adrian

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