loading the suspension before tighting new controls arm

[bock]

im instaling some upper and lower control arms.
The instruction say i should preload the suspension before tighting the bolts of the arms.

can i do this by jacking the rear end with the floor jack?
Or should i drop the car on the ground?

thks.

 

[90mustangGT]

It's probally best the snug the bolt down, put the car on the ground and then torque them down.

 

[jerryD]

i did it by jacking up the car off of the jackstand a couple of inches. leaving the stands in place i tourqed it all down. then lowered car back onto the stands.

 

[bock]

Why we have to do this?

 

[jerryD]

if you tighten the bolts with the rear just hanging and then put a load on it, you may be causing a bind with the bolts and bushings. also, its kinda hard to properly torque down frame/body bolts when the car is on the ground. not much clearance to to any good.

 

[bock]

Cool....

thks for the reply.

im installing torque boxes rienforcement at the same time...

 

[Euphoric306]

jerryd hit it right on the head, i did exactly that

 

[bock]

should i do this for both lower and upper arms?

 

[jerryD]

i would say yes. just be careful when the car is in the air. i think that you should try to push your wrench/ratchet/breaker bar or whatever tool you are using, up when you tighten. its alot harder to try to lift the back half of the car with just(tool) that as compare to pulling the car downward(gravity helps it too).

 

[Michael Yount]

It's actually a good idea for just about any suspension component that moves in a bushing -- sway bars, Panhard rods, control arms, etc. Snug them -- but load the suspension so the car is AT RIDE HEIGHT before torquing them. Some cars if you torque them with the suspension at full droop, there's enough friction in the bushing to cause the car to ride noticeably higher than it should stock. And, of course, you'll tear the bushing up in a relatively short amount of time -- not to mention jacking with the alignment and handling of the vehicle.

It's best/easiest done with the car on a rack under the tires. You can jack the rear suspension -- but that's not a perfect substitute for the car sitting level on all 4 tires.

 

[jmd2914]

this might be an old thread im posting on but would it work to have jackstands under the back axle and ramps under the front tires? for getting the suspension level?

 

[bock]

I did it by jacking the rear with a floor jack in the middle of the rear end...

thats ok?

 

[Mavrick]

I did it by jacking the rear with a floor jack in the middle of the rear end...

thats ok?

That's how i jack the back end of the car up.. although if your working under the car, you should be using stands. Working under a car supported by only a floor jack is dangerous. What if the jack were to fail?

 

[gcwh02]

im going to attempt this soon too, so i jack up the back of the rear in the middle. Then i have jack stands under each of the axles, but i dont want them on the axles yet? Should I get them snug while its sitting on just the jack and then lower them and torque them on the stands?

 

[bock]

That's how i jack the back end of the car up.. although if your working under the car, you should be using stands. Working under a car supported by only a floor jack is dangerous. What if the jack were to fail?

there was 2 stands under the axles....