Woke up this morning and was going to try and install my lower control arm, sway bar endlinks, and outer tie rod ends. Well I was somewhat successful because I got 2 out of 3 done. I couldn't get the lower control arm done because I couldn't get the ball joint nut off without removing the axle. I know it can be done without removing the axle but in my case, the nut was rusted shut and i'm afraid of rounding it with a wrench.

So I ended up doing the tie rod ends and sway bar endlinks. I'm going to get the 36mm axle nut from autozone tomorrow and attempt to install the lower control arm.


Out with the old. The passenger side sway bar endlinks was destroyed. As I remove the nut, I can see SANDS pouring out where the bushing was supposed to be. :O


In with the new.


Both sides are done


New Struts, endlinks, tie rods. I'm ballin out of control!! LOL

 

Looks good.
I recently replaced the LCAs on my Maxima, the only part that gave me any real trouble was the pivot shaft on the passenger side because the sleeve managed to get mechanically welded to the pivot shaft and it just wouldn't let go.

 

Good work, I saw your other thread about the struts. Seems like your cookin along nicely. Whats your past mechanical experience? I do hope you greased those joints. Beware of the lca. Removing the bar with the 3 27mm bolts can be a pita. A buddy was doin my lca's a good while back and we had to take it to a shop to have them pressed off.

 

You're not the only one with that headache. When I replaced my OEM LCAs last year I had to slide the axles out of the hubs also. After grinding off those pins I used a breaker bar to remove those rusted nuts. An open end wrench never could of done it.

 

great job bro...about how long did it take you for the tie rods and end links

 

Thanks! I'm just a car enthusiasts so I don't have a real professional experience per say but I'm pretty mechanically incline. I did greased the contact points/joints because I'd think they'll squeak and squeal if you don't.

About your warning on the LCA, I'm replacing the LCA as a whole assembly just like this, I don't think I need to worry about pressing anything in or out (bushing wise).


And according to this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTIePKbH3hY

Removing the LCA involve removing the 19mm ball joint nut and (6) 22mm bolts. What's this (3) 27mm bolts you're talking about?

 

It took about 2 1/2 hours but it's mostly because I wasn't prepared. I didn't know all the tools needed for this job and was constantly running back and forth to get them. Also jacking up the car, removing the wheels, and using all hand tools in general waste a lot of time

I need a cordless impact driver badly but they're pretty crappy power-wise. The $330 dewalt cordless impact is only rated at 300ft/lbs

 

I think he means the pivot shafts (2) as those are 27mm nuts (I broke the nuts loose before removing the arms). As stated in my previous post (#2) my passenger side pivot shaft was mechanically welded to the bushing sleeve and was a royal PITA to break the weld and get the sleeve off, of course I managed it with hand tools and some improvisation, and patience... tons of it, as well as a whole lot of heat.

 

Is this the pivot shaft? If so, the nut attached to it is 27mm? Wow. I guess I'll be stopping by autozone again to rent the socket. I have a very large breaker bar so It shouldn't be a problem removing it. So far breaker bar wins every fight I brought it to.

 

Yes x2, and the nuts aren't what you have to worry about, it's whether or not the bushing sleeve will let go of the pivot shaft itself (just past the threads as shown in those pictures). I was just glad my driver's side was just rust (simple twist broke the rust loose)... passenger side really sucked because the sleeve came out of the bushing and wouldn't come off the pivot shaft.

 

How did you end up getting it off? I think I'm going to soak it with WD-40 and pray to god it's not rusted shut or difficult to remove.

If I do happen to get it off, I'm going to put some anti-seize on the thing before installing it. Hopefully it will prevent it in the future from seizing or rusting/bonding together.

 

You are going to love the results when you are done. I just did all the same a couple of weeks ago. Mines darn near like it was when it was new. I guess I got lucky none of my old parts put up much of a fight but I had access to a lift and just about any tool known to man thank's to my little brother. The hardest part was pinching the lock washer on the new inner tie rods. Keep up the good work man.

 

I improvised, severely... I took a 1/2" thick (handle) breaker bar and pushed it through the center-most hole of the pivot shaft, heated the sleeve with a propane torch (I know, not the greatest) to swell it a bit, after I got it hot enough I put a pipe wrench on it and put a 4ft pipe on the end of the pipe wrench and just put the entire weight of my body behind it (breaker bar handle being on the same side I was pushing down on to work more like a scissor) and also bounced on it a bit until it finally started to let go. I just kept at it until I got it loose enough to turn it without the pipe on the wrench and allowed me to get a gap between the back of the pivot shaft and the sleeve, then finally had my friend jam a screwdriver in there and pry between the 2 while I twisted it until it got to the threads and just slid the rest of the way off from there fairly easily.

By no means am I recommending doing this if you encounter the same problem, this is simply what I decided to do when I had encountered it after having attempted all other methods available at the time.

Just because the sleeve stuck to the pivot shaft that tightly added about 2 hours to the total time it took me to do that control arm.

 

if you're replacing the lcas what's wrong with rounding the ball joint nut? i went through the same thing and didn't want to buy a ball joint removal tool or pickle fork like what everyone suggests. after soaking it with fluid i tried using a torch/hammering but nothing worked so i tried something different

 

How's your steering position and alignment after. I remember the day i messed with the inner and outer tie rods.

 

Steering is fine. I just break the locknut loose and didn't move it out of position while installing the new one on. Although, I'm going to get an alignment done after i'm done installing everything.

 

Yeah you should align it when you are finished no sense in chewing up your tires after all that work. If you count the rotations of the outer tie rod end when removing you can get close to the same alignment before all the parts swapping. But you are resetting a lot of suspension geometery going from old to new parts. Have them do a four wheel alignment as they should be able to shim the rear struts if necessary to get your whip spot on. The alignment tech should love you long time with all new parts.

 

Did you get your parts from the group deal? I'll be tackling this job for the first time in the next few weeks.

 

I ordered it through eBay, there's a seller who sell the whole kit for $100 shipped. It includes (2) lower control arm w/bushings & ball joints, 2 inner tie rods, 2 outer tie rods, 2 sway bar endlinks/bushings.

 

I bought the same stuff you did. Have you noticed clunking and a "coil binding" sound while driving and turning?

 

No, mine is perfect. You must have installed it wrong. There are a lot of variables that you must take into consideration. One thing that most people do wrong is installing it facing the wrong direction. If you look at the strut mount, the metal plate will say which side to face the front of the car.

 

Good work

 

is this the equivenant of those sway bar endlinks? my driver side is shot and i need replacing too.


http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=705337_0_0_

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=356099_0_0_

 

this one is good. remember is use a coupon.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web..._715177050____

 

im looking at these off ebay...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-4-TIE-RO...item1c0ed2bccf

Thoughts?? experience??

And does anyone know where to get boots from. My pass side boot is shot and i cant find any on courtesyparts.com.

 

I don't have any knowledge about those, but personally, I wouldn't use anything other than Moog or OEM for suspension parts. Might cost a little more, but there is no question about quality. Go to Rockauto.com. You can get good prices on parts, and you can find the boots.

 

When I purchased sway bar end links off ebay 2 years ago I returned them immediately beacuse they were poor quality. They wouldn't even mount evenly. I got the moog sway bar end links, PN K9824, from rockauto for $22 and they were much better.

 

Cool.

Rockauto had all the parts. ACDELCO and MOOG brands. Ima get the MOOG brands.

I had a feeling that Ebay stuff may have been too cheap.

 

matco remade an IR cordless impact, and its got like 700 torque and a thousand somethin breakaway torque. needless to say its like a doller per pound of torque lol.