changing out upper control arms ?'s

[JeremyL]

the rear look really easy to do, the bolts are easy to get to and there really isnt much in the way. i dont see any problems coming up there except for the usual 17 yr old stuck bolts. the fronts however i dont see how you can get the UCA off without taking the whole coilover out. the bolt is basically right on the spring...how do you get around that?

[jayshonda]

bolt is not on the spring. they are both to the rear of it. upper control arm is a simple job. don't need to remove axel nut, brake or anything else.
jack up, take off tire
remove two nuts protruding up through inner fender. (may have too move some hoses and stuff to get at back nut.)
bolts on the control arm push down and upper arm is loose
remove ball joint cover (two 10 mm bolts)
remove ball joint castle nut
whack ball joint apart with pickle fork.
whole upper arm is now in your hand
remove long pivot bolt on control arm holding mounting bolts
put new bushings in new control arm, put in long bolt and mounts
arm now complete to reinstall in car.

[JeremyL]

well the arms im getting are complete with the ball joint already in them so im assuming this would make it that much easier

would the upper arm ball joints being shot make the feel like its wandering all over the road? They are to the point where you can move the wishbone and control arm a few mm apart

[SteveDX89]

well the arms im getting are complete with the ball joint already in them so im assuming this would make it that much easier

would the upper arm ball joints being shot make the feel like its wandering all over the road? They are to the point where you can move the wishbone and control arm a few mm apart

The way jayshonda described how to do it is correct. However, I'd separate the ball joint first before unbolting the upper arm from the body. Keep the knuckle steady while you're beating the ball joint out of it and prevents the arm from flying and hitting something when it comes loose. The ball joints are part of the upper arm. They're not supposed to come apart.

It's possible that bad joints could cause your car to wander. From what you describe, they definitely need replacing. It's more of a safety issue. If one of the bad ball joints fails, that whole corner of the car's suspension is worthless. We've had a member who had a ball joint fail and it totalled his car cause he couldn't control it anymore.

[Oldblueaccord]

well the arms im getting are complete with the ball joint already in them so im assuming this would make it that much easier

would the upper arm ball joints being shot make the feel like its wandering all over the road? They are to the point where you can move the wishbone and control arm a few mm apart

It will wander left to right at highway speeds. Kinda like its driving itself.

wp

[md21722]

How do you get to the nut under the carb vacuum box if the passenger side needs to be done?

Thanks,

[BlueBead]

How do you get to the nut under the carb vacuum box if the passenger side needs to be done?

Thanks,
take the vaccuum box off..... Just don't diconnect any of the hoses and put it back the same way and you'll be fine.
I can rip off my parts car one and tell you how its done tommorrow if you want... PM me if you need me to do that for ya.

[SteveDX89]

How do you get to the nut under the carb vacuum box if the passenger side needs to be done?

Thanks,

Just unbolt it from the firewall and flip it over. You can leave all the lines connected. There's enough slack that you can swing the box out of the way.

[md21722]

take the vaccuum box off..... Just don't diconnect any of the hoses and put it back the same way and you'll be fine.
I can rip off my parts car one and tell you how its done tommorrow if you want... PM me if you need me to do that for ya.

I have a parts car too. :) I will test on that one first when the time comes. I think my UCA is weak on the passenger side. At last check it was okay, but at a previous check I could have sworn it had some play in it.

-brian

[jigga225]

I think you may have to take the windshield wiper motor off too. (for drivers side)

[JeremyL]

how would anything under the hood affect something in the wheel well?

well im getting these parts to finally fix this thing today and i plan to get started on it tonight so ill probably be back with some issues soon

[SteveDX89]

how would anything under the hood affect something in the wheel well?

well im getting these parts to finally fix this thing today and i plan to get started on it tonight so ill probably be back with some issues soon

To get the upper control arm out, you have to remove two bolts from the shock tower in the engine bay. On the driver side, the windshield wiper motor is in the way. When I did it, I unbolted it and pulled on it until I could get the socket in there. I didn't take it out completely.

[EricW]

Heres how i moved the wiper motor when i replace my uca.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/673000-673999/673064_64_full.jpg

[JeremyL]

well ill have to poke around the shock to see the F UCA's

but i just did the two rears and man what a piece of cake that was, took me easily under 2 hours. have 4 new tires going on hopefully tomorrow and id love to get the fronts done so i can start driving this thing

[BMS]

This job is not something that the average joe-shmoe can pull off, but anyone with mechanical know-how can use a little common sense to get this done. I did it with just my bag of tools and the Haynes manual. The only issues that you would have are siezed bolts, but that's easy to fix, and it sounds like you won't have to do any pressing of new bushings. If you do have to press in new bushings where the bolt goes through the inboard side of the arm, have it done in a shop so you don't screw it up. I learned that one the expensive way.

[JeremyL]

actually ill disagree with BMS on one count, this is something that the avaerage joe schmuck can do with simple hand tools. both front and back were a piece of cake. if i had to do this over again i could do all 4 in about 2 hours maybe less.

of course it took me an hour too long because i had to go back and reverse the UCA's because i put them on backwards.

for a side note the UCA's did fit and hold everything together when put on the wrong side but the camber was visibly positive. if you were lowering the car chances are you would replace these pieces anyway so maybe by just putting them on backwards you could bring the camber back to normal and save the purchase of a camber kit