Hey all,

I just have a quick question. I see on a lot of posts that if you don't have a jack under the control arm when you disconnect your linkages and strut, then there is danger of the control arm dropping and spring popping out. This made me a little worried while working on my front end. I have a safety chain around the spring just in case, and put a jack under my control arm. I have EVERYTHING disconnected on the drivers side. I tried lowering my jack ever so slightly, and then a little more, until the jack was just below the arm... and the lower control arm hasn't moved at all. Does this mean my control arm is rusted in place? Or is it only a possibility that the control arm would drop?

-Andrew

 

is it still attached to the ball joint or something? because something's gotta be keeping it in.

 

how tight is your safety chain ? ill bet the control arm moved and you didnt notice it, then the chain tightened and stopped the arm from moving

 

The chain is pretty loose. No way the chain is holding it...

 

ok in that case id say that
1 your springs are shot
2 your control arm bushings are shot and the metal sleeve in them are rusted to the control arm bolts
? how hard is the ride in your car and how low is the car?

 

Any way you can take a pic of it, showing it?

My guess is, your missing something that needs disconnecting, or it is already at full droop.

What/Where do you have the chained wrapped to?

 

Ill snap a picture tomorrow.

 

Do everything in this order to drop the lower control arm:


-take wheels off
-have steering unlocked
-remove sway bar clamps from frame (2 bolts,1 clamp, 1 rubber bushing per side)
-turn wheel full crank towards center of car (working on driver side turn wheel all the way to the right, reverse if working on passenger side)
-place a jack under the control arm to apply pressure on the suspension
-remove cotter pin from lower ball joint
-remove nut from lower ball joint
-lower jack down from control arm slowly

heres where it gets loud and scary if you havent ever done this before lol. If the control arm doesnt break loose from the spindle then put the ball joint nut back on a couple of turns and give it a couple of taps with a hammer until it breaks loose.

-Put the jack back under the control and apply pressure back to the suspension
-Take the nut off the lower ball joint
-lower jack again and you should be able to remove the springs and have the control arms free from the spindle

You should now be able to work on your struts without having to worry about the springs slamming off. Ive done this so many times now that I just hammer the ball joint once the nut is off and watch the control arm whip down lol