Missing Control Arm bolt and rusty cable inquiries (1 Viewer)

[Jerome3]

I drove home from gainesville to boca raton(270 miles) last weekend and took a look under the car and noticed the rearmost of the 2 bolts on my passenger side lower control arm was missing. the bolt must have loosened up and fell out since i had my bushings pressed and installed. before i order it from cdan i was wondering if driving around this distance would have put enough added stress on the one remaining bolt that i should go ahead and replace it as well? also are there any other problems that could have occurred while driving like this. i took it to the dealer to replace it for the drive back but the part wasnt in stock so drove back up at a low speed not to make it any more risky. also what i believe to be my throttle cable has lost its plastic coating in some places and is rusted up, is it worth replacing this as well when i put an order into cdan? thanks in advance guys
jerome




man looking at these pics makes me realize how much damage the driving on the beach and salt water does to my car. all the effects of summers in martha's vineyard

 

[Tools R Us]

Replace the bolt, check the rest for proper torque.

 

[CruisinGA]

remember not to tighten the nut, but the head of the control arm bolts.

There are bumps on the nut that are designed to hold it in place, tightening the nut will flatten these.

I almost lost one on a roadtrip, but caught it right when there was the nut was still on by two threads.

 

[Jerome3]

thanks GA i feel i should replace all four as the shop probably tightend the nuts on all four when putting them back in. ya get what ya pay for i guess wish i had the tools to do all my own work unfortunately i dont have the money or space to fit them all in my dorm

 

[landtank]

I thought you were to tighten the nuts BUT loosen the bolts.

 

[Tools R Us]

All movement is from the bolt side, that said I have seen some that had the nut nubs worn, when retorqued held fine. There is no notation in the FSM on only turning the bolt. Torque spec is 130 ft lb.

 

[Safado]

Are they the same size as the rear upper control arms? If so I have a spare you can have for the price of shipping. Let me know.

 

[cruiserdan]

For what it's worth the service manual states that the suspension bolts are non-reusable fasteners.

 

[CruisinGA]

I thought you were to tighten the nuts BUT loosen the bolts.

Might be it. I'm not certain.

In most cases you tighten the nuts, so that may be true here as well.

 

[Rich]

What is required is to NOT turn whichever end of the fastener has the locking protrusions, whether tightening or loosening the fastener. This is to avoid unnecessary wear on the locking mechanism and the mating surface. On the front control arms, the two front fastners have locking nuts - so only turn the bolt, on the same arms, the single rear bolt has the locking serrations, so only turn the nut.

 

[Jerome3]

Are they the same size as the rear upper control arms? If so I have a spare you can have for the price of shipping. Let me know.

that would be awsome safado. anyone know if they are the same size?

 

[landtank]

I don't think they are the same size. You could use a 5/8" fine thread grade 8 bolt while you waited for the correct one. Just be sure to use a jamb nut on it.

 

[Jerome3]

sounds good thanks for all your responses guys