DazzlinDave

Hi all
Ok, just rebuilt entire front end...all moog except the delco idler arm, and kyb agx's.
Question is, whats the best way to tighten the control arm bolts? Can the car just be resting on jack stands under the control arms, or is it better with the tires on, sitting on ramps or blocks?
Also would it be better to adjust the idler arm position with the car weight on the suspension or can i do it with the car sitting up in the air and tires off?

Many thanks in advance !

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

If you have the stock style bushings, rubber, then it's best to have them at least close to their ultimate orientation. They rubber itself is supposed to be locked into place, then its flexion take up the articulation of the metal parts. That way they're at rest in the "normal" suspension position.

If on the other hand you have poly, or any of the various other freely rotating designs, then it doesn't matter.

Idler arm, none of that matters. The steering linkage ahead of the rod ends is fixed and doesn't articulate with suspension travel. It's a parallelogram, and depends only on the steering gear mounting location, the idler arm mount location, and the control arm pivot axes. If you can imagine the line going through the CA bushings, the inner rod ends should be in that line; the idler arm should be adjusted so that its axis is parallel to the steering gear's axis, and vertically so that the center link is parallel to the line between the CA bushing lines as described above. You can tweeeeek it from there, to get different bump steer results for instance (the wheels turn in or out according to the suspension travel on that side), but that's the baseline.