Front Control Arm and Alignment?

[MPDano]

Ughhhh. I was hoping that front control arm was an easier job than the rears. Control Arms really wasn't that bad, except I removed a bolt that I should have and had to remove the spring to relieve tension on the drivers rear to get it back in.

[semcoinc]

Here are more of my experiences that I posted in another thread:

Heat in the form of a propane torch on the tension strut at the ball joint combined with my Harbor Freight

popped the arm free from the ball joint.

Then removing the ball joint was a real joy as well. Heat around the spindle area surrounding the joint with generous PB Blaster followed by impact extensions and whackings from my BFH persuaded it to release. Thankfully the E12 torx bolts removed easily without damage. (pre-PB Blasting probably helped).

Another mega PITA was the ABS wheel sensor. This was totally corroded into the bare steel of the spindle, even though the sensor housing is plastic. I removed the wiring harness from the frame and when the spindle was finally removed was able to back tap it out with a drift punch without damaging the plastic.

Cleaned all the joint openings with a wire brush and applied liberal doses of anti-corrosion product for reassembly.







Put a new seal in the differential and waiting for drive shaft and front suspension parts to arrive today.

Will battle the driver side tomorrow and maybe a piece of Saturday. Will also change the front diff fluid since the drain plug, I believe, is only accessible with the skid plate out of the way.

The skid plate will rotate nicely out of the way to enable the inner CV joint whack to remove from differential by leaving it dangling from one bolt. Then when you want to work on the other side, dangle it from the opposing front corner bolt.

Also, completely removing the steering knuckle/spindle from the strut and attaching arms is really a short cut way to get at the bolted in ball joint and probably corroded in ABS sensor. It worked for me.

I also use liberal doses of anti-corrosion spray and wire brushing of all the mating surfaces to ease any future disassembly, although I use the "touch it once" standard so that I'm not back in there in my lifetime with the vehicle.

Mike