I was under the cruiser a couple weeks ago and saw I had an outer tie rod end with a torn boot. I looked at it again today and found grease leaking from the lower control arm ball joint and a crusty upper front bushing. The stabilizer link bushings are also toast (I can't believe these are more than the tie rod ends). From what I can find here on mud and given the fact that I plan to do this in the driveway with basic tools, it looks like the best option is a full lower control arm replacement. I'm guessing I should try to get it done now before winter. It drives straight with no clunks or noises. Any experience with this project? Any other parts I should check before I order or proactively replace while I have it apart? I'm sure it will need aligned. Any tips to get it close so I can drive it 15 miles to the shop? Thanks for the community help.
Lower control arm bushing replacement
- Thread starter bgriest
- Start date
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It’s a pretty straightforward job. IMO the trickiest parts are the passenger sway bar link lower bolt and getting the lower ball joint taper out of the “ball joint bridge” (my phrasing) that connects it to the bottom of the knuckle. For that I put the upper bolt flats of the bridge onto two extra jack stands and hammer downward on the exposed bolt end of the taper. It’ll take some force but will come out.
If you leave the upper arm in place the whole knuckle will just hang from it via bushing tension after you loosen the ball joint bridge, lower strut bolt, sway bar link bolt, and LCA main bolts. The LCA will then swing downward where you can remove the bolts and sleeves.
Don’t pull outward on the knuckle too much or you risk dislodging the inner CV joint.. this can nuke it if you reassemble things without noticing the issue then drive it.
Getting the lower strut bolt into the LCA is usually not too difficult, but the passenger side sway bar link bolt in to the arm gives a lot of people trouble. I like using a large prying implement below the frame rail on top of the sway bar to pull it down and manipulate the arm trying to get the bolt holes to line up. The issue is the suspension dropped out changing some geometry.. once it’s on the ground everything lines up better.. but getting it onto the ground to help that geometry can cause binding, so be careful if you end up doing that before stabbing the sway bar link bolt. Drivers side is comparatively easy due to the ability to put a floor jack under the kdss arm (it’ll push downward) and get it lined up precisely. Keep track of the washer and hardware orientation from the drivers side link into the kdss arm. Easy to get wrong.
Open KDSS valves but no more than 3 turns!
If you leave the upper arm in place the whole knuckle will just hang from it via bushing tension after you loosen the ball joint bridge, lower strut bolt, sway bar link bolt, and LCA main bolts. The LCA will then swing downward where you can remove the bolts and sleeves.
Don’t pull outward on the knuckle too much or you risk dislodging the inner CV joint.. this can nuke it if you reassemble things without noticing the issue then drive it.
Getting the lower strut bolt into the LCA is usually not too difficult, but the passenger side sway bar link bolt in to the arm gives a lot of people trouble. I like using a large prying implement below the frame rail on top of the sway bar to pull it down and manipulate the arm trying to get the bolt holes to line up. The issue is the suspension dropped out changing some geometry.. once it’s on the ground everything lines up better.. but getting it onto the ground to help that geometry can cause binding, so be careful if you end up doing that before stabbing the sway bar link bolt. Drivers side is comparatively easy due to the ability to put a floor jack under the kdss arm (it’ll push downward) and get it lined up precisely. Keep track of the washer and hardware orientation from the drivers side link into the kdss arm. Easy to get wrong.
Open KDSS valves but no more than 3 turns!
What he said.
Also, mark your alignment cams before you begin working and return the cams to those positions when you’re finished. It will still need to be aligned, but this will make driving to the shop a lot nicer.
Also, mark your alignment cams before you begin working and return the cams to those positions when you’re finished. It will still need to be aligned, but this will make driving to the shop a lot nicer.
You might want to have the lower arm cam sleeves\bolts on hand. A lot of times these are seized in the bushing and have to be cut out.
As @GrouchyTech said, place matchmarks on the No. 2 camber adjusting cam and No. 2 suspension toe adjusting plate.
installation instructions attached.
As @GrouchyTech said, place matchmarks on the No. 2 camber adjusting cam and No. 2 suspension toe adjusting plate.
installation instructions attached.
The sway bar links aren’t bad to do if you can do it with the truck on the ground if you can and they will come right off and easy to line up the replacement bolts. Just do one at a time.
Your lower ball joint doesn’t look bad to me. They all seem to accumulate dirt and grease. I swapped my LCAs when chasing down a noise and was surprised that the factory LBJs have virtually no grease in them - the boot is soft and feels empty. So if you’re seeing a bunch of grease, it’s not the balljoint leaking, it’s just road grime that accumulates there. If the boot isn’t torn and you’re not hearing clunking and there’s no oblivious play when you put a truck on a lift and shake the wheel at 12 and 6 they’re probably still ok.
Your lower ball joint doesn’t look bad to me. They all seem to accumulate dirt and grease. I swapped my LCAs when chasing down a noise and was surprised that the factory LBJs have virtually no grease in them - the boot is soft and feels empty. So if you’re seeing a bunch of grease, it’s not the balljoint leaking, it’s just road grime that accumulates there. If the boot isn’t torn and you’re not hearing clunking and there’s no oblivious play when you put a truck on a lift and shake the wheel at 12 and 6 they’re probably still ok.
Good tips from grouchy, turbo, and linuxgod.
Even if the LBJ is ok, those bushings are fragged and the effort to change them in the arm isn’t worth the savings. There is yet another gulf states 20% parts sale til 10/14.. I got my arms from serra and while the box was pretty beat up the arms were fine.
Even if the LBJ is ok, those bushings are fragged and the effort to change them in the arm isn’t worth the savings. There is yet another gulf states 20% parts sale til 10/14.. I got my arms from serra and while the box was pretty beat up the arms were fine.
More thoughts..
Final torque the LCA bushing bolts with the suspension loaded, otherwise you risk tearing up your new bushings. Not having a 4 post lift I pull the truck onto ramps so I have more room. Loosen the bolts to release the bushings then go to spec. It’s still pretty tough.. not a lot of room to work and the number is 207ft-lbf.
Also make sure your alignment shop actually goes to that spec.. it’s quite high compared to what they normally work on. A number of people here have had their alignment drift from the shop not hitting the spec.
Final torque the LCA bushing bolts with the suspension loaded, otherwise you risk tearing up your new bushings. Not having a 4 post lift I pull the truck onto ramps so I have more room. Loosen the bolts to release the bushings then go to spec. It’s still pretty tough.. not a lot of room to work and the number is 207ft-lbf.
Also make sure your alignment shop actually goes to that spec.. it’s quite high compared to what they normally work on. A number of people here have had their alignment drift from the shop not hitting the spec.
Tight enough to drive to the shop is all you need. A few uggaduggas.
- Thread starter
- #10
Thanks for input and tips. I just placed an order with Serra.
- Thread starter
- #11
Got arms, tie rod ends, and stabilizer links from Serra with the 20% off sale. Shipping says free, but it's up to $200. I was over that, but I'll take what I can get.
Break the order up into multiple smaller ones to stay under the limit. Have had to do this for brake rotors.