Quote:
Originally Posted by byronnash
I finally rented vstech's spring compressor and got started on my lower control arm rebuild tonight. I have all the parts off the car and apart. I was not able to get the spring all the way out and didn't want to start banging it so I left it compressed and just sort of hanging up there. The only two things I can't get disassembled right now are the lower control arm bushing and the ball joint from the spindle. I threaded in the new guide rod mount and put in the new bushings that connect the guide rod to the LCA.
3 questions for the experts on here.
- What's the easiest way to get the lower control arm bushings out of the end that is closest to the engine?
- For those of you who have gotten the ball joints out of the spindle yourself, what tool did you use? I rented a set of tools from Advanced but haven't figured out how to get it out so far.
- I think I may have damaged the threads on the UCA ball joint when popping it loose from the spindle(?). Did I just buy a new UCA or is there some way to fix that?
Thanks! |
What do you mean the spring is just hanging there? When you release the shock and upper control arm from the spindle, the spring should fall out with the compressor.
To remove the bushing from the control arm, you just cut/saw the sides of the bushing and punch them out.
To unhook the LCA from the spindle, I either wack it fork tool or get a big hammer and wack it hard as hard as I can at the LCA eye. When hitting it very hard, it will come apart.
If the UCA balljoint stud is mushroomed and threads are damaged, it's probably best to get a new UCA.
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