You definitely have enough room to remove the old ball joint. You use a open end wrench for the nut and a pair of vise grips to hold the joint. When I did mine, I ripped off the boot on the ball joint so I had more room for the vice grips.
One crusial thing my friends- tight the bolts when the vehicle is on the ground. If you tight the bolts while the car is lifted, you are going to set the bushing to a stress and they will fail in few months. Hope the comment will help.
@@rockefelleragent1357 Instead of putting it on the ground. Jack the steering knuckle up until the car starts to lift off the axle stand. Then tighten up.
Anton you are absolutely true. This is what I was about to mention but i searched and found you already mentioned it. So +2 more thumbs up for you ;) Not a lot of mechanics do it properly and after a short while after a bigger bump your bushings will break again for not installing them correctly. You first have to lower the car at the nominal ride hight before tighten the bolts of the horizontal axis bushings.
for future reference the spring shock assembly is at its furthest travel s you had it, no need to jack hub assembly. easier to pull hub away from the car slightly to release the balljoint from the arm. 😃
There is some dude letting go an old Golf here in my country. 2008 model, rather affordable price too. This series is kinda tempting me to deal with the 'older car feel' and restore it and care for it ... Or... i could get a much newer, better condition city car!
My VW 2002 2.0L Golf I bought from a relative had a number of repairs that needed addressing. One was a worn tire. I replaced that tire, however the tire shop had me go back to my mechanic to loosen a bolt on the tie rod simply because they don't have a torch. Several months later, I'm noticing wear on one of my front tires and I'm thinking they may not have done the alignment properly or at 180,000 miles less care was put into it. I am tool-less and have very few places to do the work myself. Should I be considering putting the car up on jacks and looking for any play in the suspension? After watching this video, I'm certainly interested in buying tools to do the work myself and replacing tie rod ends, ball joints, and lower control arms. What would you recommend I focus on? BTW according to my VW mechanic all my repairs are done except a new radiator (perhaps) and rear brakes. I will clean out my wheel wells with degreaser this week and inspect the bushings etc.
Spent 4 hours replacing Wheel hubs/bearings on my car AND CV Joints... Could have changed out the LCA in an extra 20 minutes which is what was wrong in the long run. GRRRRR!!!!
i have a 2000 seat leon that uses the exact same LCA, i have taken the old out but I am struggling to put the new in. There doesn't seem to be enough space for me to be able to slide in the Ball joint connection and then bring the bushing ends up to where they need to be. Does anyone know why this is? help would be much appreciated
Grab the brake disc with both hands and do a 1/4 circular move left and right, pushing up off from your chest on direction to the front differential. You will notice when all comes to the right place. Sorry about my english.
You never want to use an impact on the lower control arm bolts, they all have a torque spec and overtightening them will hurt it just as bad. Use a proper torque wrench to tighten the bolts.
CROSS G I gota vw caddy mk3 2012...essentially looks the same...I was thinking Torque settings 70 for ball joint 70 for the 18,s n 50 for the 16. Would you agree? TIA
For an extra 2 bucks.. You deserve an extra 2 thumbs up for an awesome video that has definitely helped out big time. Great step by step. The clips. The direct narration. Excellent work.
Last few i did i spent most of my time heat and smacking rustey bolts...lots of swearing and throwing tools...everything is always seized to the max..... Everytime i watch a vid i never see guys have one issue with seized nuts n bolts.
Ya my balljoint on my subaru was seized in there I was ready to sell all my cars and all my tools I was so pissed. Then I tried unbolting the inner bolts first letting it hang by the balljoint and just hammering the shit out of the control arm. Ya it got dented but was being replaced anyway and it worked! Out popped the balljoint
Don't buy $60 control arms. After 5000 or maybe 7000 miles, the cheap bushings will be toast, and you'll have to go through the whole thing all over again and you'll have put a lot of extra wear on the tire. Only buy quality parts - buy once, cry once.
I love this series it's cool to see this normal car become nicer and nicer I'm really enjoying the restoration videos on it and I can't wait for the mods either!
The best tutorial video and also a lot tips. I learned a lot from this tutorial. now im able to repair my own car and also to share my videos with all you.
And.....The NEW control arm saves you the time of pressing the old bushings out and new ones back in. Worth $2 I'd say....Thanks, saved me a ton at the dealership--SSS
you actually don't need to take the axel out to get the ball joint out. just loosen the nut untill it buts up against the cv axel, then smack the knuckle where the ball joint goes through with a bfh untill it pops free, then grab the ball joint shaft with needle nose vice grips and loosen the nut the rest of the way. and you don't have to use a jack underneath the knuckle when pulling out the lca, the suspension is at full droop, the shock is preventing the spring from expanding anymore.
Very nice job showing how to remove and replace the control arm. Good clear video and explanation. I learned a good bit. One important note: other videos I've watched indicate that the car should be lowered to the ground before torquing the control arm bolts so as to avoid future issues with the bushings (I see others have commented on this point). One last thought; I've heard that the alignment should be checked checked at the end..
Nice video. But you've got a lot of rust under that car. I probably would have done some kind of rust removal while I had the old control arms off. At least spray some rust converter or something. If you don't do something soon, that car's going to crumble back into to the dirt.
I like the way you explain things. It would be good that every time you replaces a part explain why it is bad (Diagnosis) or how to verify that it is bad. For some people it is not easy to realize if the part is damaged or not (only when it is too late)
Milan, I have a 2004 GTI VR6 and will replace the control arms soon. The video you made is helpful in getting me familiar with the job before starting. Since the car is 14 years old, I'll spend a little extra money on buying the control arm assembly and ball-joint instead of only replacing the bushings. I'm considering the Black Forest Industries control arms with urethane bushings. I understand the BFI urethane bushings are stiffer than factory rubber bushings, provide more precise/responsive steering and last longer. If you have experience with urethane bushings, do you have an opinion on them? Good idea? Bad idea? Do they make the car too rough of a ride if the car is for everyday use, not tracking? Also, I'm interested in knowing if the right control arm is just as easy to replace or if it's different in some way. Additionally, what other opportunistic maintenance do you recommend at the time the control arms are replaced? I'll inspect the CV boots to make sure they're still good or replace the axle if necessary. The one additional step I am considering, but unsure if I'll do, is possibly replace the shocks and springs. If you have a video on replacing them, I'd like to watch that as well. The shocks and springs on my car are original and seem to be okay, but I'm unsure how long they're designed to last. Your thoughts and opinion are appreciated. By the way, the MK4 GTI has treated me well. Hopefully yours runs well too.
Hello✋🏻nice video and SPECIFIC 👍, I have questions , my car is LandRover LR3 and I'm hearing nocking from front lower control arm and I want to change it by myself . Until now the only thing I did to my car is oil change and oil filter . So I don't have impact wrench , impact socket . Can you please tell me what impact is good what impact socket type should I buy ? What should be aware of ! Thank you
Do you happen to have any content referring to a 2004 Scion XB control arm replacement? I pressed in new ball joints on the driver and passenger side and they apparently were not pressed in properly (according to firestone upon getting my alignment) and are popping out.
Control arm looks same as the Subaru control arms. Had a struggle getting my ball joint out and it wasn't even that rusty. If you're replacing the whole arm do this: remove inner bolts first and let it hang by the ball joint. Remove pinch bolt and the nut, soak in pb blaster, then hammer away on the old arm. It gets dented but it will pull the ball joint right out!
How did you know the control arms bushings were bad I suspect because when I turn all the way and lock the steering wheel on u turns it makes a pop. Hopefully it's the bushings since I just bought new control arms with new bushings and ball joints.
been reading elsewhere that the control arm bushing fasteners should not be torqued until control arm is in the same position it would be if car is on the ground. Thus, would jack from the ball-joint/rotor area until car lifts off the jack stand and then torque the bolt. I could see where that might reduce stress on the front bushing but it seems to me it wouldn't matter on the rear bushing. Your thoughts? Video was nicely done
I have a Toyota yarus 2007 the rear bolt has rusted off and there is no access to the nut on the top. any suggestions on how to get the rusted stub out?
