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removal of rear control arms

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dlphnfn

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
687
Location
Central Iowa
Sorry to be so "We Todd Ed", but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the rear control arm (the front one of the 2). The bolt that goes into the subframe.
I found this pic and edited it to show exactly which bolt:
Clamp4.jpg


Its tucked between the subframe and the gas tank. There isn't enough room for a socket, and I can't get it straight enough for a wrench. What do I need to do? I'd like to get this out ASAP so I can put my ES bushings in before the weekends over! :laugh:
I saw a post from blu_fuz that you don't need to drop the subframe, but I may end up doing that...
Any help?
Erick --
 
So, I guess I'll drop the SF tonight. I didn't want to have to, but I don't see how I can get the CA's off without...
Erick --
 
If I remember my manuals correctly, you either have to drop the gas tank to get access to the nut/bolt, or drop the rear subframe like you suggested. Other people have stated that you can cut the bolt off (hack saw? grinder? dremmel?) to remove the control arm, then when reinstalling, reverse the side the nut goes on the bolt, so you won't have that issue next time. Never done it myself, but that sounds promising. Goodluck and let us know how you make out.
 
You should just drop the subframe, it's not hard, assuming the bolts aren't seized. On a side note though, why is your sway bar held on with zip-ties?
 
That's not my pic. :) mine is much cleaner.
I think I'll give it a go tomorrow by pulling at least the front part of the subframe down.
Will I need alignment pins to get the SF back in there?
Erick --
 
I did end up just dropping the sub frame and now I can work on everything right in front of me. Now that I see how that bolt comes out, I'm not sure how you would get it out if it were still in the car. Not saying it's impossible, just not seeing how it would happen.
Oh well on to bushings and then a reinstall!! :D
Erick --
 
how did the bushing install go? I'm about to do the same upgrade and wondered how the bushings at the knuckle/wheel end fit...is there a sleeve like the other one? do you just burn it out and press in the new one?
 
I'm not going to lie. It's a •••••! :D
My dad and I took out all 8 and put 2 new ones in, in about 2 hours. We simply weren't sure how to put the 4 ES bushings in the control arms or the hubs. Then the replacement 2 bushings for the hub to swing arm is a pain too. I'm going to wait until I have access to my dads press at work for that one. We were using a vice and hand tools for everything. If I had to do it again, it'd be done in half the time.
I'm hoping I hear back from Pole120 on how he did the ES bushings. I need some hints on those bad boys!!
Erick --
 
I put everything back together this weekend. (Yeah, slow, right!) Turns out I had almost everything backwards.
I won't explain what I *thought* and what I had to replace, but all you really need to buy is the ES set. They don't make replacements for any of the other 4 bushings (from what I could find, anyway).
The 4 ES bushings that come in the Control Arm Bushing set are actually for the trailing arm (the bent looking arm from the hub forward). You need to remove the one in the hub and remove teh bushing from the other end to re-use the sleeve. After doing that, everything went back together real slick.
Got it back on the road yesterday, and I can feel no difference. :)
Now off to get some Koni's.
Erick --
 
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