Anyone struggle with Rear UCA replacement?

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Roosevelt T

Roosevelt T

10 Year
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Threads
12
Messages
803
Location
AZ
Went under the vehicle - looked easy. Read a few threads. Everyone said it was cake. Goal was to do it without lifting the vehicle to make everything easier.

- Started with passenger side UCA. Couldn't get the bolt out, it was hitting the spring. Tried prybar and ratchet strap, but I still couldn't get enough clearance. Decided I had two options, lift the truck a little to extend the pass side spring to get clearance, or remove the bottom shock bolt and lift the truck enough so the spring would sag, rotate the spring and set the vehicle back down and gain clearance that way.
- I chose the former, and pounded the bolt out with after gaining clearance with the truck lifted (tire still on the ground, just enough to extend the spring enough for the clearance I needed). Bolt came out pretty easy all things considered and didn't ruin any threads.

However - the new UCA is slightly longer than the previous one, and will not line up in the rear bolt holes.

I can't figure out what to do, so I am hoping others that had to fight with this install could chime in. I read about using some ratchet straps (I presume to move the axle a little and line up the bolt), but its not really helping. Also lifting the rear of the truck is making it line up worse, not better... another reason it doesn't really seem like ratchet straps are helping.

Pic of the new vs old for comparison.

Rear UCA.jpg
 
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I have two Rear UCAs that have been sitting in my garage for almost a year now because I’m too afraid to dive into them. I, too, thought they were supposed to be easy. But I quickly found out they were tricky and put them off for another day.

I will soon when I replace the rear shocks, which will be a hell of a time.
 
are you lifting the frame or the axle?
is the other side out? you may be fighting against yourself
 
3_puppies said:
are you lifting the frame or the axle?
is the other side out? you may be fighting against yourself
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Frame. Not sure how I would just lift the axle. I could lift the axle after the fact with another jack or with the damn ratchet straps if that's what it takes. Hoping people that have fought with this before make my life easier.

I think undoing the drivers then complicates the problem, and I'll have to fight with both sides.
 
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Roosevelt T said:
However - the new UCA is slightly longer than the previous one, and will not line up in the rear bolt holes.
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It’s not longer. The bushings in your old arm are old and settled..

IIRC, when I took the upper out the axle rotated slightly (forward, I think, but I don’t remember). I just used a ratchet strap to rotate the axle back so that the “tower” would line up.
 
JunkCrzr89 said:
It’s not longer. The bushings in your old arm are old and settled..

IIRC, when I took the upper out the axle rotated slightly (forward, I think, but I don’t remember). I just used a ratchet strap to rotate the axle back so that the “tower” would line up.
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Did you do this with the truck on the ground, or off the ground?

The axle needs to move a good amount when it's off the ground. On the ground it's close, but I can't get a ratchet strap to move it at all.
 
I remember it being a pain. I made it work with a good sized pry bar. Figure which side of the bar would be easier to pry against, put a bolt in the opposite side. This was one of those jobs that sounded and looked easy, but was a struggle and took way longer than it should to get a bolt in.
 
TILLOTSON said:
I remember it being a pain. I made it work with a good sized pry bar. Figure which side of the bar would be easier to pry against, put a bolt in the opposite side. This was one of those jobs that sounded and looked easy, but was a struggle and took way longer than it should to get a bolt in.
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As in prying on the actual arm itself?

Edit: Re-read your post, I get it now.
 
Roosevelt T said:
Did you do this with the truck on the ground, or off the ground?

The axle needs to move a good amount when it's off the ground. On the ground it's close, but I can't get a ratchet strap to move it at all.
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On the ground.
 
Closing the loop on this one. Hopefully someone can search this in the future and it will help. Thanks everyone for their assistance.

- As I said in the OP, this looks very easy and all the DIY's say its cake. The passenger side UCA was a big PITA.
- The spring is in the way of the bolt and a ratchet strap/pry bar was not moving the spring nearly enough to get the bolt out.
- This necessitated lifting the vehicle to get clearance, which then made the rear end out of alignment and I couldn't get the new UCA to line up with the bolt holes.
- I tried getting the axle to rotate with a ratchet strap, by lifting the axle with the truck off the ground, with a pry bar, etc. Having the truck off the ground only made everything worse, as the arm was further from lining up with the bolt.

Actually, after all of this what worked was lifting and lowering the truck a few times... one time the suspension settled in a way that allowed the bolts to line up. Might have been luck, but that's what I would recommend as a starting point. I was getting nowhere with the other solutions.
 
I used a big ratchet strap to pull the axel one direction or the other until there was no tension on the bolt when I pulled it out. Then it only took an extra click on the strap to line up the bolt when installing the control arm.
 
When I was sizing up the job, I was wondering if one of those Milwaukee cordless ratchets would make it easier to get the bolts out at that tough angle.
Great to hear thats not even the hard part, the lining back up is :oops:
 
I had no issue with springs or anything else in the way of removing the bolts. Pulled right out.

FYI, you remove the nut with your ratchet/socket not the bolt head.
 
Coin said:
I used a big ratchet strap to pull the axel one direction or the other until there was no tension on the bolt when I pulled it out. Then it only took an extra click on the strap to line up the bolt when installing the control arm.
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Resurrecting an old thread. Do you remember if you had the rear wheel(s) off the ground when you used the ratchet strap to align the bolt?
 
^ exactly, I had four ratchet straps going and I could barely move the pieces to achieve the alignment.

Also, just a note to not snug the bolts until the vehicle is lowered and level on the ground.
 
I am going to replace all of the rear links including the panhard bar. Is there an order of operations, or just do one at a time in no particular order?
 
I don’t think any order makes a difference. Just remove one and replace it before removing a second one. I think I did panhard last, just as a final satisfaction.
 
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