Replacing control arm

97 GP SE, has around 165,919. I will be replacing the control arms, will it be better to wait to get the to get the wheel alignment done after I change the control arms. Does it matter if I have the alignment done before I change the control arms, and get a new set of tires.

yeah, hold off before you get an alignment. Change your control arms first, unless you want to pay for two alignments. After I changed my control arms, my alignment was so far off that my steering wheel wouldn't return to center on its own after making a turn.

Tim is right, if you make an alignment before you replace them you'll need another one right after the replacement. Besides that the first alignment might not be accurate since you have a problem with the arms.

Best regards,

Oscar.

Thanks, Tim and Oscar, for your response to my question. That is what I thought, but I wanted to make sure that my assumption was correct. That will be a summer project, for my son and I. The cheapest price that I have found has been at Rockauto. The doorman's were like $65 dollar each. So I guess I will be ordering the control arms from Rockauto, unless someone can point me to another place on the web that is cheaper.

Is quality really a concern here at all? I mean they're just metal arms and rubber bushings, right? I'm thinking about going the same route as you doctor.

I'm not sure about metal but bushings can get worn/rotted faster when the rubber is crappy. I might be wrong on this, but I've had problems before with cheap bushings on my lincoln.

There is one guy who says: "The quality will be remembered when the price is forgotten" of course that doesn't means you have to buy the most expensive they have, but you can do some research on the net.

Best regards,

Oscar.

Have you ordered yours yet, doctor? I think I'm going to order mine today.


Let me ask you guys your honest opinions. You get get Dormans for $65. $20 and you can get Moogs. $20 more again, and you can get Raybestos. Do you really think the extra $20 in each case is worth what you are getting in return?

Well I decided to go with the Moogs. They have greasable ball joints, which is cool! :D

Sorry I have been laid up with a really bad sinus infection, so have not been really paying attention to the replies. I also believe that the doorman's have the lower ball joint grease fitting on them also. I will be ordering the control arms from rockauto.

How in the world do you get these stinking sway bar links off?? You know that plastic center piece that goes between the sway bar and the control arm? Is that thing threaded to the bolt somehow? I have no clue how to get that off aside from just sawing everything apart. Tips? haha

Saw it apart. It just slides over the link, but the center gets rusty and makes it impossible to get apart. I just cut mine and replaced them.

Gosh dang that was frustrating. I partly expected everything to just crumble off, but when it looked in decent shape I thought it would be fairly easy. That stupid plastic sleeve drew a lot of cussing out of me. haha. But okay, if that's my only choice, I can just saw it off - I ordered some Moog links with the new arms so not a big deal I guess.

Yeah, that or grab a big sliding pliars or vice graps and clamp on the center plastic piece to break it. Do what you gotta do.

K. I'll probably let my 4" grinder with a cutting blade take care of it then. Piece of crap.

Anyone have torque specs for those control arm bolts and the ball joint/TRE castle nuts?

Not sure on the bolts, but on the castle nuts, don't back off the nut to install the cotter pin.

Here you go!

Best regards,

Oscar.

Thanks man. Is that just for the ball joint torque? I didn't see the control arm ones on there.

You're welcome!

It's there:

Lower Control Arm
To-frame nuts. 83 Ft Lbs

Oscar.

Ha! Oh yeah, there it is. I'm an idiot. Thanks again man!

Haha, no problem! I hope everything goes well.

Well got them both in! When I removed the control arm on the driver side, the steering knuckle pulled away and popped the axle in half at the inner boot. So I had to repack it with grease and put a new clamp on - that sucked. The front bushing on the driver side control arm just fell out when I pulled the arm and on the passenger side the ball joint was completely shot. Glad to have these new ones in there. I also replaced the TRE's. This got rid of about 75% of my front-end knocking, but I'm still having some on bumps occasionally which is really ticking me off. I have new front shocks, shock mounts, control arms, bushings, ball joints, TRE's, flipped sway bar, new sway bar links, new motor mount, I don't know what else the deal is. Ugh.

if you go to rockauto.com you can get replacement arms for like $43 each. I had both of mine replaced.

Well the GP is finally almost done.:grinyes: The only thing was, I had to pull out the away bar out again, :banghead: because I had installed the bar wrong. When I installed the sway bar in. I did not notice that Dormann had printed on the bar. Install this side to the drivers' side. Other then that it was not bad installing the sway bar and the control arms. Now I have to get new tires and a wheel alignment. Then the car will be done and ready for the drive down to Columbia KY. We finally bought our house in KY. The house is on almost 20 Acres. The property has two oil wells and two natural gas wells. So I will not have to worry about how high I can set the house temp in the winter.


So I am looking for new tires, and I don't want to break the bank. What would be a good recommendation for a set of tires.

if you go to rockauto.com you can get replacement arms for like $43 each. I had both of mine replaced.

That is where I bought the control arms and all the rear suspension parts that I needed. Looking at the prices on the control arm bushings and the lower ball joint. I decided that doing the complete control arm instead of replacing the bushings and the lower ball joint.

Hi man,

That new property sounds great! Congratulations on it, My best wishes for you and your family.

About the tires, I don't know what would be a nice set of snow tires (if that's what you're looking for, I've never driven on snow) but I like the Michelin Harmony's regular season. That's what is installed on mine and have had no problems in 4 years. No noises or roughness.

Oscar.

Hi man,

That new property sounds great! Congratulations on it, My best wishes for you and your family.

About the tires, I don't know what would be a nice set of snow tires (if that's what you're looking for, I've never driven on snow) but I like the Michelin Harmony's regular season. That's what is installed on mine and have had no problems in 4 years. No noises or roughness.

Oscar.

I will not need winter weather tires in KY. They do get snow at times, but not as much as I had to deal with in IL. So as long as the tire performs well in the rain. When they do get snow, it usually not that much and it is gone the next day. The only problem with the snow it shuts done the state. They really don't need snow plows or salt spreading equipment.

You're welcome!

It's there:

Lower Control Arm
To-frame nuts. 83 Ft Lbs

Oscar.

I torqued the control arm nuts and bolts to 85 foot pounds, so I was not that far off. When I replaced the nuts and bolts for the control arm, I used grade 10. Since I had to use the acetylene torch on the nuts and bolts, I did not want to chance that I weakened the nuts and bolts. Better safe then sorry.