Replacing a control arm

A friend of mine's car ('92 Accord) needs a lower rear control arm (says her brother - all I know for sure is that the wheel is sitting at an angle). Her brother hit a curb while he was drunk and offered her the car for free if she can get it fixed, so I told her I'd at least attempt it. The problem is, I've never changed a control arm before (to be honest, I'm not entirely certain of what it does - any clarification would be appriciated). Is the job difficult? Are there any special procedures that I should know about? Any tips?

Unless you have lots of tools, jackstands, a good floor jack and SOME under-car repair experience, don't attempt it. Strut and spring packages have a lot of stored energy and you could get hurt taking it apart and possibly need to compress something to get it back together.

I'd suggest hitting the local library, they should have real car manuals in the reference section. Chiltons or Haynes (a total piece of crap in my opinion) might cover the repair but are sketchy in a lot of areas.

If you do decide to take on the repair, see if the replacement parts are available and try to have it on hand before you start. The visual aid will give you a good idea on how it comes out.

Bob

Depending on the car's model, you may not be able to put the coil back in without the proper coil compression tool. Some cars, their control arms allow the wheel to lower all the way and you can just slip the coil back in, but some dont.