So this is a write up for the 13s front lower control arms. It's really easy but it takes time

What you will need: Anti-sieze, Ratchet, 17mm wrench, 14mm Socket, 17mm Socket, 22mm Socket, Vice Grip, TQ wrench, 6 lb sledge hammer (It has to be above 6lb) 4 jack stands and a jack. And a pair of new lower control arms with ball joints.

What you might need: A breaker bar

Thing you DONT need: pickle fork or "ball removal joint tool"

Time you will need: 1-3 hours

Cost: About $100. You can get OEM lower control arms(A pair) for about $100 on internet

1: First jack up your car and put in on the jack stands. You only need to jack up the front so you will need 2 jack stands



2: Take off the front wheels

3: Remove the left and right swaybar endlink nuts with a 14mm socket(Bottom)

4: Remove tension rod with 17mm socket



5: Remove the strut to spindle bolts with 17mm socket and 17mm wrench



6: Remove the cotter pin that's on the ball joint with a vice grip

7: Remove the ball joint nut with a 22mm socket



8: Disconnect the ball joint and the spindle with a 6 lb sledge hammer. Use a jack to hold on to the brake rotor. And hit the ball joint bolt with the hammer. Hold on to the spindle while you are hammering the bolt. But be careful tho you have to aim right. If you think you might hit something else then just remove the struts. So you will have more space to hammer the bolt out. From my experience pickle fork or those ball removal joint tools wont work. There are a lot of suspension technicians agree with that too. I've spent almost 2 hours trying to disconnect the ball joint and the spindle with the pickle fork and ball joint removal tool. I even used the impact gun. The only thing I saw was the removal tool getting destroyed. You are going to waste a lot of time if you use them. You might be able to get them out at the end. But a 6lb sledge hammer is a lot more quicker and easier. I only hit 5 times and I disconnected the ball joint and the spindle. Yes. Doing this is going to damage the ball joint bolts but buying a set of new ball joint isnt that much cheaper than buying pair of new lower control arms that have ball joints. And it's a lot more easier. So I would highly recommend people to buy a pair of new lower control arms that come with ball joints.







9: Remove the inner control arm bolts with a 17mm socket and 17mm wrench



10: Put on the new lower control arm

11: Connect the ball joint to the spindle. And tighten the nut with a 22mm socket. It doesnt have a TQ spec on FSM so you wont find the TQ spec anywhere. So just make it tight but dont over tighten the nut. Because it will damage your ball joint boot

12: Put the cotter pin back on and make sure you twist them right just like in the picture



13: Put the tension rod back on

14: Re-tighten the sway bar endlink. Be careful when you are putting the nuts back on make sure both lower control arms are at the same height. So you should use jack stands to support the lower control arms. If they are not on the same height you wont be able to put the nuts back on.

IMPORTANT: If your ball joints dont come with grease inside. You HAVE to grease up the ball joints with any good lithium or moly based grease. If you are not sure open the valve on the bottom of the ball joints and check.

15: Put on the wheels and lower the car

IMPORTANT: Make sure you torque all the bolts. Except the ball joint nuts. You have to torque the bolts AFTER the car goes back to the ground. This is VERY important

Put some anti-sieze on the bolts when you are installing them. So next time when you have to work on your car it will be a lot more easier. But dont put anti-sieze on the ball joint bolts

You should get an alignment after this.

So that's it! If you have questions please feel free to send me an e-mail. Address is [email protected]

By mchkc240




Modified by mchkc240 at 12:52 AM 10/18/2007

Nice! Now get some SS brake lines , anti sway bars and upgrade those brakes! J/K , nice job man.

Man when I was working on my car I was tripping about breaking my brake lines because the the strut was like pulling it really tight. I do need some SS brake lines. Buffer sway bars and better brake

I'm glad you wrote this up. Step by Step instructions are nice! And I'm a sucker for pictures....

Serious tho DONT even try the fork and those "ball joint removal tools" hammer is the way to go. I was like "F*ck this Im going to hammer this! " And I hammered the bolt for 5 times.. And it popped out. I was like "SH*T I've spent 2 hours for nothing" I decided to do this because there are a lot of people out there still use/tell people to use fork and those "tools" But they are useless!

a writeup on a step that removes 3 bolts and 4 nuts....

interesting

yokota180sx wrote:a writeup on a step that removes 3 bolts and 4 nuts....

interesting

Hey dude Im just trying to help people out. Why do you have to be such a d*ck?

Oh btw there are more than 3 bolts and 4 nuts

Mr. d!ck did a write up on TC rod that's even easier why dont you go flame him? Is it because he's a moderator?

zerothread?id=255688

mchkc240 wrote:
Hey dude Im just trying to help people out. Why do you have to be such a d*ck?

Oh btw there are more than 3 bolts and 4 nuts

Mr. d!ck did a write up on TC rod that's even easier why dont you go flame him? Is it because he's a moderator?

zerothread?id=255688

mainly becuase i didnt see it.but again, common sense isnt so common for people, so i guess this helps out hte people that have none???

regardless...3 hours?did you get drunk in the middle?

mchkc240 wrote:IMPORTANT: Make sure you torque all the bolts. Except the ball joint nuts. You have to torque the bolts AFTER the car goes back to the ground. This is VERY important

I saw this note in the FSM as well. But how do you reach under the car for all these bolts if it's on the ground?

Nice writeup anyhow

It doesnt take 3 hours but I would just say that so people can have extra time in case the ball joint is stuck or something. My left side popped right out but my right side took a longer time to hammer out.

I think you should e-mail d!ck and flame him right now. Because he said it might take up to 4 hrs to take out the TC rod. You are a f*cking d*ck man seriously! If you think you know all these thing then it's cool. Just be quiet. You dont have to flame people.

hai1206vn wrote:I saw this note in the FSM as well. But how do you reach under the car for all these bolts if it's on the ground?

Nice writeup anyhow

Thanks. Man it was hard. Just turn the wheels around and you will be able to get the TQ wrench in. But you will have to lay on the ground tho.

ugh, quit being a baby

mchkc240 wrote:It doesnt take 3 hours but I would just say that so people can have extra time in case the ball joint is stuck or something. My left side popped right out but my right side took a longer time to hammer out.

I think you should e-mail d!ck and flame him right now. Because he said it might take up to 4 hrs to take out the TC rod. You are a f*cking d*ck man seriously! If you think you know all these thing then it's cool. Just be quiet. You dont have to flame people.

quit being a d*ck then you cocky b*tch

Puppy Chow!

mchkc240 wrote:quit being a d*ck then you cocky b*tch

whiney child

Either way, d!ck didnt write that one, some other random guy did....so learn to read.

Stop Ethuggin' and grab some brews, guys.

i dont drink.....

.....I'll drink to that.

yokota180sx wrote:whiney child

Either way, d!ck didnt write that one, some other random guy did....so learn to read.

Ok some other guy did it. Did you flame all those people who did "easy write-ups"(According to you)? You didnt born with all this car knowledge either. You learned them right? And the write up is just a source so people can get some info. That's it. You know it then it's cool. Im glad that you know it. But I dont understand how come you have to flame people all the time?

becuase i know it ALLLLLLLLLL

duh.

There are a lot of people who know more than you too! But do they flame you when you are trying to help people out? Whatever man.

im not everyone else

enough of your bs man. Why did u have to start mocking his stuff? And did you have your kindness to share your experience to help out newer ppl? I haven't been here too long to know what kind of important forum member you are but it's ppl like you that screws up the maturity of this great forum.

: pats head:such a good kid!

hey yokota...can you do a write-up about changing headlight lightbulbs?with tons of pics?pls... I've been serch for ever....

dude im gonnaim gona have my wife put he 40d on super fast shots (like 9 shots a second)for the entire time i do it....

lol, i love every thread that yokota makes an appearance in. fwiw, i flame ppl that do easy writeup all the time. like the one about dash removal or the one about "stealth" running wires for ur system where the op ran the wires over the damn strut tower

i mean, seriouslyif its a writeup on how to do a 300zx brake swap cool

alot of people dont know how to bleed brakes and stuff.

but a few nuts and bolts?come on.

Yokota are you really have nothing to do but flame? This person took their time with pics of how to do something, that some people would find useful. So please keep your negativity to your gd self, and go play a game with some 13 year olds and flame each other.

^ wow, look at the stones of this 28 post newbie