Hi there,
I am rebuilding my front suspension and steering, and I am having trouble bolting the A-arm back on. I had the ball joint and bushing pressed in, and I got one bolt on (the front one) but I am having difficulty bolting on the rear (shorter) bolt. I can't get the bolt home to line up. I have tried using a hydraulic jack to try to press the bushing into place. I also tried using a small sledge hammer to bash it into place.


So far I can't get the hole to line up, no matter what I do. Does anybody have a tip or trick to getting the arm to go back in?

 

Put in the bolt that you can't get in now, first; then try to put the other one in.

A pry bar works MUCH better than a hammer... beating on a piece of rubber to try to change its shape isn't all that effective. Big pair of channellocks or a C-clamp are also a good way to press something pliable into shape.

 

Floor jack to get it close. Pry bar to fine tune. And sometimes I stick a punch through the hole to get the hole aligned to get the bolt started.

As said, it mighht be easier to install the back first and then the front.

 

SUCCESS!
I tried Sofakingdom's suggestion and removed the one bolt and tried the other side first. Got it! then with a little fiddling got the first bolt back in. Now I just need to rent a spring compressor and I can reassemble the front A-arm.


Thanks for helping me with this. It was driving me nuts and took me 4 days to do it.

 

Sometimes the simplest is the best.