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There's no rocket science to removing your control arms, but there are a few tricks of the trade and a few areas to pay attention to for safety. This should serve as a pretty good step-by-step on how to do it without getting too frustrated or hurting yourself :thumbsup:
There are several ways to skin this cat, but this is my preferred method. I encourage someone else to make a similar thread using a different method.
I happen to have the front clip off my car which makes things a lot easier to get to, but hopefully will make it more apparent how it all ties together.
1. Break the lug nuts loose on front wheels.
2. Jack up the front of the car and support it securely on jack stands. It doesn't have to be exceptionally high, but you want it far enough off the ground that the lower control arm can swing down quite a ways.
3. Remove wheels.
4. Remove calipers and use a piece of wire to hang them from the frame to avoid undue stress on the brake hose.
5. Remove the shock absorber. Just remove the nut and bushings at the top of the shock and the two bolts holding it to the lower control arm.
6. I use a long 5/8" threaded rod and a sturdy steel plate to hold the spring pressure and secure the lower control arm. A lot of people chain the spring to the frame and use a jack under the arm to hold it up, but I feel the threaded rod is less risky and a little easier. Just insert the rod through the hole in the lower arm and up through the upper shock mount. Use a couple good size washers and a nut to secure it at both ends. Don't tighten it up yet, just get it in position and take out most of the slack.
7. Now you can remove the cotter pins on the upper and lower ball joints and loosen the castle nuts a couple turns. Do the same for the tie rod end.
upper ball joint nut: 3/4" wrench
lower ball joint nut: 15/16" wrench
tie rod end nut: 11/16" wrench
8. Now you're ready to separate the tie rod ends from the steering knuckle. If you're not going to reuse the grease boot a pickle fork is a great tool for this job. If you've never used a pickle fork before there isn't much to it. It's just a fork shaped wedge that you can drive between a suspension member and a ball joint or tie rod end to separate the tapered shaft on the stud from the tapered hole. I got a set at Sears that's made in the USA by Lisle for $40. Don't be shy about whacking the **** out of the thing to get it to pop the tie rod out of the hole.
9. Once you've loosened things up with the pickle fork, remove the nut and swing the tie rod down out of the way.
10. Now you're going to repeat the same procedure for the upper ball joint. Make sure you only loosened the castle nut a few turns and did not remove it completely. The only thing holding that coil spring in place is the connection at the two ball joints that you're about to break loose. Now insert the pickle fork and give it a couple good whacks to separate the upper ball joint from the knuckle. Be sure that the fork is lined up so it's not running into the frame or another part of the control arm and all the force of the hammer blow is being used to wedge the fork between the ball joint and the knuckle. You'll also notice that there are different sizes of pickle forks. I used the smaller one in my set for the tie rod end and upper ball joint, but that one wouldn't fit around the stud on the lower ball joint.
Notice how close the end of the fork gets to the frame:
11. Now you can tighten up the nut on top of the threaded rod to pull the lower control arm up and remove any tension on the upper ball joint. You can now safely remove the castle nut on the upper ball joint. Loosen the nut on the threaded rod to allow the lower control arm to droop and relieve the spring tension. Stock springs are REALLY LONG. I have the VBP 550# springs and they're much easier to install and remove.
12. Remove the threaded rod and lower the control arm as far as necessary to remove the spring.
There are several ways to skin this cat, but this is my preferred method. I encourage someone else to make a similar thread using a different method.
I happen to have the front clip off my car which makes things a lot easier to get to, but hopefully will make it more apparent how it all ties together.
1. Break the lug nuts loose on front wheels.
2. Jack up the front of the car and support it securely on jack stands. It doesn't have to be exceptionally high, but you want it far enough off the ground that the lower control arm can swing down quite a ways.
3. Remove wheels.
4. Remove calipers and use a piece of wire to hang them from the frame to avoid undue stress on the brake hose.
5. Remove the shock absorber. Just remove the nut and bushings at the top of the shock and the two bolts holding it to the lower control arm.
6. I use a long 5/8" threaded rod and a sturdy steel plate to hold the spring pressure and secure the lower control arm. A lot of people chain the spring to the frame and use a jack under the arm to hold it up, but I feel the threaded rod is less risky and a little easier. Just insert the rod through the hole in the lower arm and up through the upper shock mount. Use a couple good size washers and a nut to secure it at both ends. Don't tighten it up yet, just get it in position and take out most of the slack.
7. Now you can remove the cotter pins on the upper and lower ball joints and loosen the castle nuts a couple turns. Do the same for the tie rod end.
upper ball joint nut: 3/4" wrench
lower ball joint nut: 15/16" wrench
tie rod end nut: 11/16" wrench
8. Now you're ready to separate the tie rod ends from the steering knuckle. If you're not going to reuse the grease boot a pickle fork is a great tool for this job. If you've never used a pickle fork before there isn't much to it. It's just a fork shaped wedge that you can drive between a suspension member and a ball joint or tie rod end to separate the tapered shaft on the stud from the tapered hole. I got a set at Sears that's made in the USA by Lisle for $40. Don't be shy about whacking the **** out of the thing to get it to pop the tie rod out of the hole.
9. Once you've loosened things up with the pickle fork, remove the nut and swing the tie rod down out of the way.
10. Now you're going to repeat the same procedure for the upper ball joint. Make sure you only loosened the castle nut a few turns and did not remove it completely. The only thing holding that coil spring in place is the connection at the two ball joints that you're about to break loose. Now insert the pickle fork and give it a couple good whacks to separate the upper ball joint from the knuckle. Be sure that the fork is lined up so it's not running into the frame or another part of the control arm and all the force of the hammer blow is being used to wedge the fork between the ball joint and the knuckle. You'll also notice that there are different sizes of pickle forks. I used the smaller one in my set for the tie rod end and upper ball joint, but that one wouldn't fit around the stud on the lower ball joint.
Notice how close the end of the fork gets to the frame:
11. Now you can tighten up the nut on top of the threaded rod to pull the lower control arm up and remove any tension on the upper ball joint. You can now safely remove the castle nut on the upper ball joint. Loosen the nut on the threaded rod to allow the lower control arm to droop and relieve the spring tension. Stock springs are REALLY LONG. I have the VBP 550# springs and they're much easier to install and remove.
12. Remove the threaded rod and lower the control arm as far as necessary to remove the spring.
