Mazda 6 and Ford Fusion Front Control Arm Replacement How To - First Generation 

How did you get the sleeve off the ball joint taper though?

Unfortunately i had the same problem needless to say im irritated i didn't tbink to realize that the thickness mattered

No problem, glad the video helped.

You're welcome. Hope the job goes well for you.

It's a piece of cake. I live in nashville n and can do it for you for a lot less tan the dealer quoted me. $5000

+‫الرجل الشرير‬‎ 2009 and up is different. The two lower control arms are replaced with a single piece.

My subframe wont lower I did everything you said one of the ball joints won't break loose please help 2007 mazda 6

Robert S noisy as in squeaks?

Robert S does it stop under braking?

Robert S the squeaking i mean, hopefully the car stops when you brake haha.

Did the repair. I used the non-flare nuts that came with the new ball joints and that was a mistake. The nut on the driver rear control arm disintegrated and the control arm popped off the spindle and control arm was dangling in my rim. Towed my six back home and put the original ball joint nuts back on.

I would just replace the front one. But be careful, depending on how you take out the control arm there is a good chance of ripping the boot on the other control arm. Good luck!

+happywrenching I'm going to use a ball joint separator from Harbor Freight. Seems like a lot of folk have had good results with it. Thanks!

+themainmason I've found that hammering upwards on the control arm near the hub to be the easiest way to remove either control arm. Since you'll be replacing them anyways, no harm done! I broke two HF ball joint tools on my 2007 Mazda 6 before Hammer Time success! The bushing will likely be stuck to the bolt, cut through the ball joint bolt stud on the joint side then find a big socket, place the bushing on the socket threaded side up and hammer out the remaining stud. If you've gotten this far it should be apparent what to do. Have fun!

Great video mate even after 8 years ... Does the 2011 mazda 6 also share the same parts with the 2nd gen fusion?

@@elrami4159 Yes but mostly when it comes to the engines and their related parts. Fusion uses the 2.5 developed by Mazda and Mazda uses the 3.7 developed by Ford.

The ball joints weren’t really an issue for me, just used a pickle fork and same size hammer u have. About 10 good hits and it pops out. I had more issues with the top control arm getting the bolts out past the shock. When u compress the spring up the bolt head was too big to fit in between the coils, I ended up taking the top bolts of the shock off and u can push the shock left or right to make clearance to pull the bolts out. Also my steering is heavier now, maybe I over tightened the bolts on all control arms. But thanks for the great tutorial.

What happens if we don't remove the steering column? It does seem daunting.

Hey man how did the work go? I have the same car. Im about to replace my entire suspension. I am worried about having issues with the bolts. Hope you get this message. #MazdaGang

It went pretty smoothly honestly. If it hadn't have been for this video, I would have been confused as hell when I got to the lower rearward control arm. I did need a bit of help in pulling the the sub frame down a little bit to get that bolt out. When he was using the pickle fork, he was able to keep the metal boot in. I was not able to do it, and the boot came out with the control arm. Getting the bolt off the old control arms is easily the hardest part of the job. Thankfully the boots are metal, and can slip back in. The only issue I had other than those boots, was I ordered the wrong part. I ordered a front lower-rearward driver side control arm, when I needed one for the passenger. It's fine though, cause eventually the driver side one will be going into the car when I replace the rest of the suspension. Just follow the instructions in this video, and you'll do just fine.

+Draggon Reaper thank you, I appreciate the feed back

Draggon Reaper Where did you put the jack stands for this? On the pinch welds or the frame rail?

There is a DIY shop in my city, and I went over there and used their lift. I'd probably set the jack stands under the frame instead of the pinch welds. If you can, have the jack stands right behind the front suspension to reduce the overhanging weight that's been lifted. Just be sure the position is stable, and won't move.

Sorry, don't know what size it was - nothing was labeled. Used one of the forks from the Lisle 41500 kit.

My rear lower control arm had to be pulled out with the whole knuckle because the ball joint taper would not come out. I broke an aluminum pickle fork and a ball joint seperator tool in half in the process. I beat the piss out of it in my vise and it came out with the bushing which is part of the knuckle. I had to have a friend heat it up with torches to separate the bushing from the ball joint taper.

+Chris Groff What other bolts need to be removed to get the subframe down? Just more of the subframe bolts?

Chris Groff I

Yes, each control arm can be individually taken out. Another source of squeaking are sway bar bushings so you may want to check them out and add silicone grease to them.

worked like a champ for me on my 2004 Mazda 6s. The key was leaving the nuts on the balls and not letting them pop out completely. It only took 20 or so wacks with a 5lb hammer. I used the exact same pickle fork set he used. The Lisle 41500.

Excellent. Not sure why people are having problems with the pickle forks. Its effective. Hammering upwards runs the risk of the sleeves popping out of the knuckle along with the control arm.

FYI - as many people have already reported, you run the risk of removing the steering knuckle sleeve along with the ball joint if you use a sledge to hit the control arm. Then you have to mess with trying to remove the sleeve from the ball join. Not fun. Using the pickle fork ensures that the sleeve stays in the knuckle. All other points are valid.

No easy way of doing that bro... Hammer, hammer, swear, hammer...