How-to change lower control arms

Are your ball joints worn out or bushings shot? It's easier to change the whole lower control arm (lca) out then to change just the failed part and through rockauto they are only a little over $100 shipped for both sides. Here is my how-to on changing them.

Tools you need:
18mm wrench
21mm wrench
3/4" wrench
T-55 torx bit
13mm wrench and socket
Hammer
Pliers either needlenose or a pair of side snips
Screwdriver
Pickle fork
Impact really speeds things up
Possibly a sawzall



1. Jack the vehicle up and remove the tire.

2. Pop all the plastic clips off that hold the wires for the wheel speed sensor. Screwdriver works well for this.



3.Take the bolt out on the rear of the lca. 18mm and 21mm wrench.



4.Take the sway bar endlink off. 13mm wrench and socket. If yours are fairly old they will most likely snap so this is where the sawzall comes in handy.



5.Take the front bolt out on the lca. T-55 torx and 21 mm. You can see the bushing is shot on this one.



6. Remove the cotter pin on the ball joint and take off the castle nut on the ball joint. Pliers and 18mm. If the ball joint doesn't cooperate the sawzall will come in handy again.



7. Use pickle fork and hammer it inbetween the ball joint and spindle. Sorry I didn't get a pic of this I was pretty greasy by this time.

8. Put new lca in place and put the new nut that comes with it on the ball joint. Don't put the grease zerk in until the end just in case you have to jack it up to get stuff in place. Tighten the nut (3/4" on the new one) and install the new cotter pin.

9. Put the rear bolt into place wiggling it around and using the screwdriver to line it up. 18mm and 21mm wrench

10. Put front bolt in using the same technique. T-55 torx and 21mm

11. Put sway bar end link back in. 13mm wrench and socket

12. Put all the clips back in on the wheel speed sensor wire.

13. Put the wheel back on and release the jack

14. Enjoy the new found no clunking front end.

Lol I was going to do a write up on how to do this when I did mine. Looks like I won't have to now. Nice write up.

Anyone that hasn't done this, it's by far one of the easier things to do on this car.

Is it the same for the 04 comp g? I think I remember reading somewhere on here they changed the control arms and other parts of the suspension for 04-05 and then went back to the old way for 06+

changing lca's is even easier when your sub frame is on Bills garage floor...

great how-to! will definitely come in handy when i replace my lca

Just did it on my 04 comp g with no write up. Very easy


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Originally Posted by FriboRage

Is it the same for the 04 comp g? I think I remember reading somewhere on here they changed the control arms and other parts of the suspension for 04-05 and then went back to the old way for 06+

I believe everything is the same except the sway bar end link but I'm not certain.

On my 04 GT2 the sway bar is connected to the sway bar link, and neither are connected to the control arm.

1 question? how do you know when you need them changed.

if you jack up the car, take the wheel off. and see this like he posted in the pic. and have loud clunking when you go over bumps and turns. or have over 100,000 miles or more your due.

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

if you jack up the car, take the wheel off. and see this like he posted in the pic. and have loud clunking when you go over bumps and turns. or have over 100,000 miles or more your due.

Thanks ,im going to have to doit this weekend cause im getting a clunking noise when i hit a bump.Thanks again

lca's are a boat load cheaper if you order them on line. i got mine for 42 a side. 98 shipped. from partsgeek. rockauto has real good prices too. i just went with the dorman arms, they are working just fine.

parts stores wanted 70 a side, f them.....

I buy most of the parts from rockauto,have not tried partsgeek yet.I am goint to compare prices and see who gives out the best deals.thanks again

i cant get this thing lined up for the life of me

Shove a screwdriver into where the bolt goes and wiggle it around until it lines up.

What helped me was putting a block under my rotor and jacking it up...made it much easier.

i saw the torque specs on one other post but now i cant find it...do you know what they are?

the spec is tight!

^x2 lol

I just crank them down really tight.