I was experiencing some clunks & clanks from the front of my car over rough pavement, especially the right side. Since the front control arms were about the only major part that had not yet been replaced, I figured I would see if that was the cause of this mystery noise, & it just so happens that I was correct. I had trouble finding a decent write up--my trusty Pelican Parts technical articles failed to yield pictures--so I thought I'd produce one to make this as easy as possible for anyone who was unsure about tackling this. Let's get started...
PREP WORK
What do I need?
Here's a picture of almost everything I needed:
Items, as pictured from left to right:
-Shop towels
-Q-tips
-Control Arm(s), P/Ns 31122228461 (L) & 31122228462 (R)
-FCA Hex Nut 1, P/N 31121095420 (x2)
-FCA Hex Nut 2, P/N 32211095267 (x2)
-PB Blaster
-White Lithium Grease (or WD40)
-Loctite Blue (medium)
-Dimple Pin
-Rubber Mallet
-Pickle Fork
-Small (Craftsman) Gear Puller
-Standard Steel Hammer
-1/2" Sockets (deep are preferable), 16-19, 21 mm
-1/2" Ratchet Driver
-Open-End Adjustable (17 & 19 mm combos would have been ideal)
-Torque Wrench, rated to at least 80 ft-lbs
Not Pictured:
-Jack
-Jack Stands (pair)
-Creeper/old skateboard
Now that we've got everything we'll need, let's get down to business.
STEP 1: POSITIONING THE CAR
The goal here is to get the front of the car up on jack stands with sufficient room to work underneath. Here's what I've found to be the quickest way, especially with a car that is lowered a good bit:
0) Break lug nuts free, but do not remove them.
1) Jack up the right side, using the rear right jack pad.
2) Place your first jack stand on the lowest setting possible underneath the right front jack pad location.
3) Release jack. Yes, your car will be pivoting on the left rear wheel & the jack stand...
4) Slide jack in from the front & raise the car using the front subframe crossmember.
5) Insert left jack stand.
6) Raise each stand to the desired height, making sure that both sides are equal, & lower the jack so that the car rests on the stands. Remove your front wheels. For the time being, you can leave your jack under that front crossmember with light pressure for reassurance.
When you're finished, it should look like this:
STEP 2: OLD, TIRED FCA REMOVAL
Here's a look at what we're replacing:
With the wheel removed, turn the steering wheel such that the rotor is pointed inward. We will first remove the (17 mm) nut from the outer ball joint:
You won't be able to remove it completely, but loosen it until it almost touches the bottom of the strut. It shouldn't be too hard to break free unless you're dumb enough to use a stubby open end adjustable, like myself.
Next, we need to pop the ball joint free from the hub assembly. There are two ways to do this.
The first way will be to use our pickle fork, jamming it between the hub knuckle & the control arm:
Take your hammer and force the pickle fork's wedge to separate the joint; it will take some persistence with that hammer. THIS METHOD WILL DESTROY THE BALL JOINT. Don't plan on reselling these suckers for more than $5 combined.
Can't seem to get that thing to budge?? Well, luckily for you, there's a second way to go about doing this. I couldn't get that pickle fork to pop the joint for the life of me, so I removed the strut from the hub assembly. It is attached by 3 bolts: 2 at the bottom, which go directly into the hub, & a third bolt that goes through the "branch" that extends out of the top of the hub. All 3 of these bolts are 18 mm. Before you do this, though, pull the brake line & co. out of the bracket on the strut body. In addition, place your jack under the brake rotor for stability, so it doesn't flop around.
Here's another visual aid:
Now that we have better access to that ball joint, push the strut inward away from the hub. Using your gear puller, set the pin on top of the ball joint bolt & the two arms down under the hub knuckle, like so:
Now take your 16 mm socket & tighten that gear puller. Make sure the arms seated well under the knuckle; once you're ready, crank it down until that ball joint pops. & boy, will it pop...
You should now have something that looks like this:
Reattach the strut to the hub, but don't torque it down. We're just putting it back on for stability as we move in to the inner ball joint. Before we get there, though, let's remove those two bolts that are holding your FCAB housing ("lollipop") in place, using your 17 mm socket:
Moving right along, let's remove that inner ball joint nut. You have two access points: firstly you can try reaching around where the subframe meets the main rail & working blindly, or you can slide under the car from the front & perhaps get a look at what you're trying to do. Here's a quick visual of where you'll go in from (above the steering rack & PS cooling lines):
I apologize, but I couldn't really get a picture of the nut location. It's up there, I promise! Anyway, remove that nut with your 19 mm wrench...
For this joint, you really don't have any choice but to use your pickle fork. Insert like so:
Hammer that sucker in there. It'll take quite a few whacks, probably, but it'll go. It shouldn't be as stubborn as the outer joint. Once it pops, the entire arm will fall to the ground. If you'd like, have some bubble wrap on the ground to keep from hurting your floor or the arm.
PREP WORK
What do I need?
Here's a picture of almost everything I needed:
Items, as pictured from left to right:
-Shop towels
-Q-tips
-Control Arm(s), P/Ns 31122228461 (L) & 31122228462 (R)
-FCA Hex Nut 1, P/N 31121095420 (x2)
-FCA Hex Nut 2, P/N 32211095267 (x2)
-PB Blaster
-White Lithium Grease (or WD40)
-Loctite Blue (medium)
-Dimple Pin
-Rubber Mallet
-Pickle Fork
-Small (Craftsman) Gear Puller
-Standard Steel Hammer
-1/2" Sockets (deep are preferable), 16-19, 21 mm
-1/2" Ratchet Driver
-Open-End Adjustable (17 & 19 mm combos would have been ideal)
-Torque Wrench, rated to at least 80 ft-lbs
Not Pictured:
-Jack
-Jack Stands (pair)
-Creeper/old skateboard
Now that we've got everything we'll need, let's get down to business.
STEP 1: POSITIONING THE CAR
The goal here is to get the front of the car up on jack stands with sufficient room to work underneath. Here's what I've found to be the quickest way, especially with a car that is lowered a good bit:
0) Break lug nuts free, but do not remove them.
1) Jack up the right side, using the rear right jack pad.
2) Place your first jack stand on the lowest setting possible underneath the right front jack pad location.
3) Release jack. Yes, your car will be pivoting on the left rear wheel & the jack stand...
4) Slide jack in from the front & raise the car using the front subframe crossmember.
5) Insert left jack stand.
6) Raise each stand to the desired height, making sure that both sides are equal, & lower the jack so that the car rests on the stands. Remove your front wheels. For the time being, you can leave your jack under that front crossmember with light pressure for reassurance.
When you're finished, it should look like this:
STEP 2: OLD, TIRED FCA REMOVAL
Here's a look at what we're replacing:
With the wheel removed, turn the steering wheel such that the rotor is pointed inward. We will first remove the (17 mm) nut from the outer ball joint:
You won't be able to remove it completely, but loosen it until it almost touches the bottom of the strut. It shouldn't be too hard to break free unless you're dumb enough to use a stubby open end adjustable, like myself.
Next, we need to pop the ball joint free from the hub assembly. There are two ways to do this.
The first way will be to use our pickle fork, jamming it between the hub knuckle & the control arm:
Take your hammer and force the pickle fork's wedge to separate the joint; it will take some persistence with that hammer. THIS METHOD WILL DESTROY THE BALL JOINT. Don't plan on reselling these suckers for more than $5 combined.
Can't seem to get that thing to budge?? Well, luckily for you, there's a second way to go about doing this. I couldn't get that pickle fork to pop the joint for the life of me, so I removed the strut from the hub assembly. It is attached by 3 bolts: 2 at the bottom, which go directly into the hub, & a third bolt that goes through the "branch" that extends out of the top of the hub. All 3 of these bolts are 18 mm. Before you do this, though, pull the brake line & co. out of the bracket on the strut body. In addition, place your jack under the brake rotor for stability, so it doesn't flop around.
Here's another visual aid:
Now that we have better access to that ball joint, push the strut inward away from the hub. Using your gear puller, set the pin on top of the ball joint bolt & the two arms down under the hub knuckle, like so:
Now take your 16 mm socket & tighten that gear puller. Make sure the arms seated well under the knuckle; once you're ready, crank it down until that ball joint pops. & boy, will it pop...
You should now have something that looks like this:
Reattach the strut to the hub, but don't torque it down. We're just putting it back on for stability as we move in to the inner ball joint. Before we get there, though, let's remove those two bolts that are holding your FCAB housing ("lollipop") in place, using your 17 mm socket:
Moving right along, let's remove that inner ball joint nut. You have two access points: firstly you can try reaching around where the subframe meets the main rail & working blindly, or you can slide under the car from the front & perhaps get a look at what you're trying to do. Here's a quick visual of where you'll go in from (above the steering rack & PS cooling lines):
I apologize, but I couldn't really get a picture of the nut location. It's up there, I promise! Anyway, remove that nut with your 19 mm wrench...
For this joint, you really don't have any choice but to use your pickle fork. Insert like so:
Hammer that sucker in there. It'll take quite a few whacks, probably, but it'll go. It shouldn't be as stubborn as the outer joint. Once it pops, the entire arm will fall to the ground. If you'd like, have some bubble wrap on the ground to keep from hurting your floor or the arm.
Comment