rear upper and lower control arms

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M

Mxndrnks

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Bird Rock, CA
I am getting ready to change out the rear upper and lower control arms. I have read the FSM. For those of you that have changed these out yourself, any tips or anything I should know? Like, do I really need to jack up the rear, remove the tire etc.? Can you do one at a time with out lifting the rig? I.e. replace upper, replace lower, switch sides repeat? Thanks!
 
No need to jack up the vehicle..well a little is necessary to make the job easier.

When you are working on the driver's side lower control arm jack the passenger side up, from the frame, just a little to shorten the distance between the mounting holes and visa versa.

I've also used a ratchet strap on the uppers to shorten the distance between the mount holes.

And be sure to NOT turn the bolt heads on the control arm mounting bolts. If you cheaped out and are not replacing the mount bolts be sure to check the small ridges under the bolt heads to be sure they're there #1 and not rounded off #2. And if they are be sure to carry spare bolts, nuts and washers in your tool kit ;)

One last thing: The washers are Belleville style...make sure you get the concave side towards the frame side/convex towards the bolt head.

1/2 :banana: job.
 
Thanks Dan! That is great info!

So, no need to remove the wheel?

P.s. I am replacing bolts, nuts, and washers and keeping old ones as spares.
 
Mxndrnks said:
Thanks Dan! That is great info!

So, no need to remove the wheel?

P.s. I am replacing bolts, nuts, and washers and keeping old ones as spares.
Click to expand...


No need to remove wheels; in fact its easier & certainly faster if you don't. And as TM stated above do one at a time.

Sorry to keep stating this but tighten and torque from the nut side.
 
Thanks again Dan! I was just going to PM you in the beginning, but thought the info might be helpful to others! So Thank you for stressing to tighten the nut side only!! It doesnt say anything about that in the FSM and others my not know!

Cheers!
 
Mxndrnks said:
Thanks again Dan! I was just going to PM you in the beginning, but thought the info might be helpful to others! So Thank you for stressing to tighten the nut side only!! It doesnt say anything about that in the FSM and others my not know!

Cheers!
Click to expand...


You're welcome. Trying to pay it forward :D
 
Great timing Jon. RobRed and I are looking at some suspension maintenances. We were planning out control arms in November. Feel free to share some notes or pics.
 
Wife took the camera with her and my smart phone died. So no pictures. But, I will add any additional notes I come up with this afternoon. I am starting it in the next hour.
 
spressomon said:
No need to jack up the vehicle..well a little is necessary to make the job easier.

When you are working on the driver's side lower control arm jack the passenger side up, from the frame, just a little to shorten the distance between the mounting holes and visa versa.

I've also used a ratchet strap on the uppers to shorten the distance between the mount holes.

And be sure to NOT turn the bolt heads on the control arm mounting bolts. If you cheaped out and are not replacing the mount bolts be sure to check the small ridges under the bolt heads to be sure they're there #1 and not rounded off #2. And if they are be sure to carry spare bolts, nuts and washers in your tool kit ;)

One last thing: The washers are Belleville style...make sure you get the concave side towards the frame side/convex towards the bolt head.

1/2 :banana: job.
Click to expand...

So, I got both upper and lowers installed on both sides. The process is pretty straight forward. I followed Spresso's info above at first but ran into issues.

I stated on the passenger side first. The LCA came right out with out jacking up the truck at all. When I went to reinstall it, I lifted the opposite side per Spresso's recommendation above and could not get things to line up. So, I put my bottle jack on the same side and everything lined up great. The passenger side LCA is only a little more tricky due to the muffler there. But an extension made it easy. The Upper control arm was really straight forward. I did need to adjust the Jack to get the holes to line up right. But it was easy.

For the drivers side, I again used the bottle jack on the same side. It went pretty much straight forward. Only little things I noticed, is my lower control arm mount (the forward one) is slightly bent from the factory location from taking hits. When trying to install the new bolt at each end, I would adjust the jack until the hole on the side the bolt goes in aligned. I would insert the bolt as far as it would go then readjust the jack to align the other side and then it would slide right in. I had to do this at both ends. The upper control arm was straight forward.

So, for me, jacking up the side I was working on worked and jacking up the opposite side didnt.

I cant give an accurate time estimate to change all four I was doing other stuff while under there (installing propeller shafts,, paint touch up, etc.). But it shouldnt take more than 1.5-2 hours max I would think.

On a side note, I was surprised that the Slee heavy duty lower control arms were actually smaller than the factory arms. and my upper arms were definatly shot after 150K. Not as bad as some pictures we have seen on here. But bad enough that I cant wait to try things out. I still have more work to do though before I do.
 
Interestingly enough when the rear upper control arm bushings are worn it translates into torque steer issues under acceleration. Or at least mine did.

Glad everything went well for you...weird though as mine won't line up when I raise the side I'm working on. Sorry for the bad advice!
 
I dont consider it bad advice. One way worked for you and the other for me. I think it is great that people now see that they may need to try both sides to see what will work for them!

Everything you have provided is invaluable!!!!

Cheers!
 
thanks for all of the advice in this thread. i picked up some links in the metal tech sale this month, and took a stab at getting the uppers installed today. i had a pretty tough time getting the rear bolt back in on the driver's side, but i may just be a moron.
 
mtnzorro said:
thanks for all of the advice in this thread. i picked up some links in the metal tech sale this month, and took a stab at getting the uppers installed today. i had a pretty tough time getting the rear bolt back in on the driver's side, but i may just be a moron.
Click to expand...

Rear bolt, drivers side?? Use a heavy duty ratchet strap or a jacket, depending, for alignment. :cheers:
 
spressomon said:
No need to remove wheels; in fact its easier & certainly faster if you don't. And as TM stated above do one at a time.

Sorry to keep stating this but tighten and torque from the nut side.
Click to expand...

Adding to above - Set torque when vehicle is setting at ride height not when lifted
 
My metal tech lower control arms arrived today, and i hit a snag trying to get the old arms off. my rear shock is blocking me from being able to get the rear bolt out. did anyone else run into this problem? at this point, the only thing i know to do is to try to move the shock. i was working on drivers side tonight, but it looks like passenger side will have the same issue. i've got the tjm adjustable shocks. perhaps they're a little larger than some? anyone have any other suggestions?


not the greatest pic:

 
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