How to install upper control arms - Revision history

Frantik: /* Getting Started */

2007-02-04T09:08:30Z

‎Getting Started

Frantik at 09:08, 4 February 2007

2007-02-04T09:08:14Z

Frantik at 07:54, 4 February 2007

2007-02-04T07:54:34Z

Frantik at 07:53, 4 February 2007

2007-02-04T07:53:07Z

71.141.232.46 at 07:13, 4 February 2007

2007-02-04T07:13:18Z

New page

safety first! chock your rear wheels before you do anything else.

loosen the lugnuts before you raise the vehicle.

now you can jack up the car. but don't put the jack under the oil pan!

jackstands ftw

gather the tools of the trade. and make sure those tools include a ball joint removal tool. it's a pain to try to take it w/ a hammer. i got this one for $5 at harbor freight, but the girl overcharged me. they're only $3. but it still beats the $10+ at any auto parts store.

get out that haynes manual. it comes in handy.

here's the principal part we're after. mine is just a stock replacement arm, but if you're using a prelude one, i don't think it will look extremely different. but make sure you get one w/ the bushings. otherwise, you'll utter many curses trying to remove them from the old arms. mine came w/ new bushings which i already pressed in before i got the idea to take pix.

now that the wheels are now removed, you should be looking at something like this:

remove the little bolts that hold the cover over the castle nut and take the cover off. 10 mm is the bolt size here.

now loosen the castle nut, but don't take it all the way off.
part 2:

open the hood and look at the top of the strut towers toward the rear of them. you'll see two bolts, like i've circled in the picture. these are the driver's side. on the passenger side, one is under the "mystery box."

the passenger side can be done w/ the sockets, but unless you move the metal bracket holding the pcv hose, you're stuck w/ an off-set wrench for the driver's side bolts. remove both of them completely.

now bust out that ball joint remover and position it like so:

i have no pictures for this, but i just hit it on the end w/ a hammer until the joint seperated. or you may not even need the hammer. it's up to you, really, and your particular car.

also, you then have to remove the long nut that runs through the bushings and reuse it unless you get a new one. i did, but it didn't even fit so i had to reuse the old ones anyway. tighten that bad boy down.

put the new ball joint in, put on the castle nut, and run the cotter pin through it. check your hayne's manual for the correct torque on it.

and the rest, installation is the reverse of removal. after you attach the castle nut, just attach the little dust cover and attach the two bolts to the body. then put your wheel + lugnuts back on and tighten when you let the car back down.

level of difficulty (1-10 scale): 2 or 3, but probably higher w/o a manual
downtime: 45 - 60 minutes. however, i took 3 hours on passenger's side, 2 on driver's. but on the passenger side, i had to hammer the ball joint out bc i didn't have the tool. on the driver's side, i had the tool. however, it's so much easier to use the tool if the control arm is completely unbolted from the body, not just loosened. and i figured that out quite a ways into the project. then the bushing wasn't pressed in far enough, so that added even more time pressing it all the way. so if you have an arm w/ the bushings already pressed in, you can probably expect 20 mins/side with all tools and everything flowing smoothly. if you have the press the bushings in, add another 10 minutes to each side to get those pressed in correctly. if you press them in wrong, it's a real pain to fix

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 # Safety first! chock your rear wheels before you do anything else.
 # Loosen the lugnuts before you raise the vehicle.
-# Now you can jack up the car, but don't put the jack under the oil pan!  Be sure to use jackstands.
+# Now you can jack up the car, but don't put the jack under the oil pan!
 # Gather the tools of the trade and make sure those tools include a ball joint removal tool. It's a pain to try to take it w/ a hammer. I got this one for $5 at harbor freight, but the girl overcharged me. They're only $3, but it still beats the $10+ at any auto parts store.
 # Get out that haynes manual -- it comes in handy.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 # Loosen the lugnuts before you raise the vehicle.
 # Now you can jack up the car, but don't put the jack under the oil pan!  Be sure to use jackstands.
-# Gather the tools of the trade and make sure those tools include a ball joint removal tool. it's a pain to try to take it w/ a hammer. i got this one for $5 at harbor freight, but the girl overcharged me. they're only $3. but it still beats the $10+ at any auto parts store.
+# Gather the tools of the trade and make sure those tools include a ball joint removal tool. It's a pain to try to take it w/ a hammer. I got this one for $5 at harbor freight, but the girl overcharged me. They're only $3, but it still beats the $10+ at any auto parts store.
-# Get out that haynes manual. it comes in handy.
+# Get out that haynes manual -- it comes in handy.
-# Here's the principal part we're after. mine is just a stock replacement arm, but if you're using a prelude one, i don't think it will look extremely different. but make sure you get one w/ the bushings. otherwise, you'll utter many curses trying to remove them from the old arms. mine came w/ new bushings which i already pressed in before i got the idea to take pix.<br/ >[[Image:PC170169.jpg]]
+# Here's the principal part we're after. mine is just a stock replacement arm, but if you're using a prelude one, i don't think it will look extremely different. but make sure you get one w/ the bushings, otherwise you'll utter many curses trying to remove them from the old arms. Mine came with new bushings which I already pressed in before I got the idea to take pictures.<br/ >[[Image:PC170169.jpg]]
 =Removing the control arms=
-# Once the wheels are removed, you should be looking at something like this: <br />[[Image:PC170175.jpg]]
+# Once the wheels are removed, you should be looking at something like this: <br />[[Image:PC170175.jpg]]<br />
-# Remove the little bolts that hold the cover over the castle nut and take the cover off. 10 mm is the bolt size here. [[Image:PC170180.jpg]]
+# Remove the little bolts that hold the cover over the castle nut and take the cover off. 10 mm is the bolt size here. [[Image:PC170180.jpg]]<br />
-# Now loosen the castle nut, but don't take it all the way off. <br /> [[Image:PC170182.jpg]]
+# Now loosen the castle nut, but don't take it all the way off. <br /> [[Image:PC170182.jpg]]<br />
-# Open the hood and look at the top of the strut towers toward the rear of them. you'll see two bolts, like I've circled in the picture.  These are the driver's side. on the passenger side, one is under the "mystery box." <br />[[Image:PC1701781.jpg]]
+# Open the hood and look at the top of the strut towers toward the rear of them. you'll see two bolts, like I've circled in the picture.  These are the driver's side. on the passenger side, one is under the "mystery box." <br />[[Image:PC1701781.jpg]]<br />
-# The passenger side can be done w/ the sockets, but unless you move the metal bracket holding the PCV hose, you're stuck w/ an off-set wrench for the driver's side bolts. remove both of them completely. <br /> [[Image:PC170185.jpg]]
+# The passenger side can be done w/ the sockets, but unless you move the metal bracket holding the PCV hose, you're stuck w/ an off-set wrench for the driver's side bolts. remove both of them completely. <br /> [[Image:PC170185.jpg]]<br />
-#Now bust out that ball joint remover and position it like so: <br /> [[Image:PC170184.jpg]]
+#Now bust out that ball joint remover and position it like so: <br /> [[Image:PC170184.jpg]]<br />
-# I just hit it on the end w/ a hammer until the joint separated. or you may not even need the hammer. It's up to you, really, and your particular car.
+# I just hit it on the end w/ a hammer until the joint separated. You may not even need the hammer. It's up to you and your particular car.
 # Remove the long nut that runs through the bushings and reuse it unless you get a new one.
 =Installation=
 Installation is the reverse of removal.
-# Put the new ball joint in, put on the castle nut, and run the cotter pin through it. check your hayne's manual for the correct torque on it (32 ft/lb) <br /> [[Image:PC170187.jpg]] <br /> [[Image:PC170181.jpg]]
+# Put the new ball joint in, put on the castle nut, and run the cotter pin through it. check your hayne's manual for the correct torque on it (32 ft/lb) <br /> [[Image:PC170187.jpg]] <br /> [[Image:PC170181.jpg]]<br />
 # After you attach the castle nut, just attach the little dust cover and attach the two bolts to the body.
 # Then put your wheel + lugnuts back on and tighten when you let the car back down.

←Older revision		Revision as of 07:54, 4 February 2007
Line 28:		Line 28:
	Downtime: 45 - 60 minutes. However, I took 3 hours on passenger's side, 2 on driver's. But on the passenger side, I had to hammer the ball joint out because I didn't have the tool. On the driver's side, I had the tool. However, it's so much easier to use the tool if the control arm is completely unbolted from the body, not just loosened. And I figured that out quite a ways into the project. Then the bushing wasn't pressed in far enough, so that added even more time pressing it all the way. So if you have an arm with the bushings already pressed in, you can probably expect 20 minutes/side with all tools and everything flowing smoothly. If you have the press the bushings in, add another 10 minutes to each side to get those pressed in correctly. If you press them in wrong, it's a real pain to fix.		Downtime: 45 - 60 minutes. However, I took 3 hours on passenger's side, 2 on driver's. But on the passenger side, I had to hammer the ball joint out because I didn't have the tool. On the driver's side, I had the tool. However, it's so much easier to use the tool if the control arm is completely unbolted from the body, not just loosened. And I figured that out quite a ways into the project. Then the bushing wasn't pressed in far enough, so that added even more time pressing it all the way. So if you have an arm with the bushings already pressed in, you can probably expect 20 minutes/side with all tools and everything flowing smoothly. If you have the press the bushings in, add another 10 minutes to each side to get those pressed in correctly. If you press them in wrong, it's a real pain to fix.

		+	=Links=
	Original write up by [http://www.3geez.com/forum/member.php?u=5362 snoopyloopy] and appears in this thread: [http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57131 How To: Changing upper control arms/Install Prelude or aftermarket arms]		Original write up by [http://www.3geez.com/forum/member.php?u=5362 snoopyloopy] and appears in this thread: [http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57131 How To: Changing upper control arms/Install Prelude or aftermarket arms]
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		+	[[Category:How To]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-safety first! chock your rear wheels before you do anything else.
+=Getting Started=
-loosen the lugnuts before you raise the vehicle.
+=Removing the control arms=
-now you can jack up the car. but don't put the jack under the oil pan!
+=Installation=
-jackstands ftw
+=Commentary=
-gather the tools of the trade. and make sure those tools include a ball joint removal tool. it's a pain to try to take it w/ a hammer. i got this one for $5 at harbor freight, but the girl overcharged me. they're only $3. but it still beats the $10+ at any auto parts store.
+Downtime: 45 - 60 minutes.   However, I took 3 hours on passenger's side, 2 on driver's. But on the passenger side, I had to hammer the ball joint out because I didn't have the tool. On the driver's side, I had the tool. However, it's so much easier to use the tool if the control arm is completely unbolted from the body, not just loosened. And I figured that out quite a ways into the project. Then the bushing wasn't pressed in far enough, so that added even more time pressing it all the way. So if you have an arm with the bushings already pressed in, you can probably expect 20 minutes/side with all tools and everything flowing smoothly. If you have the press the bushings in, add another 10 minutes to each side to get those pressed in correctly. If you press them in wrong, it's a real pain to fix.
-get out that haynes manual. it comes in handy.
+Original write up by [http://www.3geez.com/forum/member.php?u=5362 snoopyloopy] and appears in this thread: [http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57131 How To: Changing upper control arms/Install Prelude or aftermarket arms]