Rear Control Arm Install Difficulty Level Laying On Your Back?

[90lxwhite]

I'm thinking about doing the rear control arms pretty soon so I "googled" install instructions and this video came up and now I'm second guessing doing it myself. This guy has a lift, air tools, and I jack to support the rear. I have none of the above. My main concern I guess is supporting the rear. I didn't think about that... How tough is it for the shade tree first timer?

View: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jCf3Pxlfq88

 

[addermk2]

It's not hard at all, the main tool you need is a floor jack and jack stands.

Jack up the rear of the car and support the car under the torque boxes. With the floor jack under the differential, unbolt the rear shocks.
Once the shocks are undone, lower the axle and remove the springs. I have found that if you leave the wheels on, you can slip your foot into the wheel and step down, which will relax the spring on the side you're stepping on, and they almost literally fall out. Do the same thing on the other side.

When replacing the arms, remove ONE ARM AT A TIME! make sure you replace that arm before moving on. this prevents the axle from shifting around uncontrollably.

Once all of the arms are installed, do not tighten all of the bolts completely. You'll want to raise the axle back up under the body so it's near ride height. THEN tighten all the bolts.

lower the axle back down and re-install the springs the same way you took them out.

jack the axle back up and bolt your shocks back in.

 

[NOS1543]

I found it to be pretty easy. Only a few bolts.

 

[90lxwhite]

It's not hard at all, the main tool you need is a floor jack and jack stands.

Jack up the rear of the car and support the car under the torque boxes. With the floor jack under the differential, unbolt the rear shocks.
Once the shocks are undone, lower the axle and remove the springs. I have found that if you leave the wheels on, you can slip your foot into the wheel and step down, which will relax the spring on the side you're stepping on, and they almost literally fall out. Do the same thing on the other side.

When replacing the arms, remove ONE ARM AT A TIME! make sure you replace that arm before moving on. this prevents the axle from shifting around uncontrollably.

Once all of the arms are installed, do not tighten all of the bolts completely. You'll want to raise the axle back up under the body so it's near ride height. THEN tighten all the bolts.

lower the axle back down and re-install the springs the same way you took them out.

jack the axle back up and bolt your shocks back in.

I found it to be pretty easy. Only a few bolts.

Thanks fellas

 

[Onefine88]

Yep, as said, its not too bad. The worst part is the laying on your back part.

Oh,,, when lowering your axle be careful not to over stretch the little rubber brake line that comes down in the middle near the differential. Its best to disconnect that.
I forgot about that when I did mine and learned a valuable lesson

 

[Shakerhood]

As said above its not too bad, sometimes there will be corrosion on the bolts and they will be seized, its a good idea to put some anti-sieze on the bolts when putting everything back together.

 

[A5literMan]

Also for safetys sake block the front wheels. Also the bushings on the axle can be a pita to remove. I used a torch on my old car. Haven't done the uca yet on the 86. I'm going to redo the entire rear this spring/late winter. Boxes,uca,lca,springs,shocks,rear axle,and a arb.

 

[MFE92]

You'll need to drop the cat-back out of the way to get access to the front bolts, and then pray to all that is holy that the bolts haven't rusted to the sleeves in the bushings. If they have, time to bust out the sawzall or an impact wrench and get after it.

 

[Chuckman]

as said, the only things that will really bite you in this is the factory bolts. if they've never been removed, they WILL be rusted to hell and back, and WILL be a pita to take out. a couple good punches, a hammer, and an impact wrench will all be handy. even if by some miracle theyre not rusted up, put some new bolts in while you're there, the lowers are M12 thread x 110mm, class 10.9 (metric version of 8.8). local fastenal near me had em in stock when i did mine, 4 bolts/nuts, 8 washers, and 4 lockwashers was like $10-15 iirc.

 

[revhead347]

There is another tool not mentioned. Sometimes no matter how you jack the rear end, the bolt holes won't align. Get a ratchet strap. Sometimes you need to run a ratchet strap between the front of the car and the axle to pull the axle a 1/4" forward to get the bolt through. With a floor jack and a ratchet strap, it's a piece of cake.

Kurt

 

[Sharad]

I've always done the control arms myself in my garage on jackstands using hand tools. As mentioned before, the biggest tip is to only do one arm at a time.

 

[89oem]

Mike, be sure the torque box side bushings are factory rubber style, Not urethane. On the Axle side urethane is good. This will help with wheel hop and not cause noise/vibration or tear torque boxes. You can find them cheap at NPD.

Unless you're going MM heavy duty LCA's, which are designed stronger and rubber/urethane like above .... the rubber/urethane replacements are your best bet...

 

[90lxwhite]

as said, the only things that will really bite you in this is the factory bolts. if they've never been removed, they WILL be rusted to hell and back, and WILL be a pita to take out. a couple good punches, a hammer, and an impact wrench will all be handy. even if by some miracle theyre not rusted up, put some new bolts in while you're there, the lowers are M12 thread x 110mm, class 10.9 (metric version of 8.8). local fastenal near me had em in stock when i did mine, 4 bolts/nuts, 8 washers, and 4 lockwashers was like $10-15 iirc.

Thanks man. I was wondering what bolts were in there. Yeah they're the originals, this job is staring to sound a little rough. Dang I wish I had a lift...

 

[90lxwhite]

Mike, be sure the torque box side bushings are factory rubber style, Not urethane. On the Axle side urethane is good. This will help with wheel hop and not cause noise/vibration or tear torque boxes. You can find them cheap at NPD.

Unless you're going MM heavy duty LCA's, which are designed stronger and rubber/urethane like above .... the rubber/urethane replacements are your best bet...

So I get a set of arms and replace urethane bushing that comes with them on the chassis side w rubber bushings?

 

[90lxwhite]

One more question: If I was just to replace the lowers would that do much for me or will I still be wagging my azz like a big dogg upon acceleration?

 

[Chuckman]

Lowers only is fine, will still be a great upgrade. As long as tge bushings are decent you can save the uppers for when/if you go bigger.

Dont be scared of any difficulty in this, all we're warning you about is the typical stuff a 20+ year old car has.

 

[89oem]

This is what I put in http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Heavy-Duty-Mustang-Rear-Lower-Control-Arms-1979-1998-P498.aspx, the bushings are rubber at the torque box and spherical at the axle, I lost my corner carvers link that did a deep dive technical analysis on all the typical solutions, but basically only thing better is a Torque Arm and Pan Hard bar, the linked LCA will reduce flex dramatically. The factory LCA is just stamped metal and it flexes with drivetrain torque Like Chuckman said factory uppers are fine lowers will stop the flex. You could swap the uppers rubber axle side bushings with urethane, but it they look ok dont even mess them,

If its swaying that much though its pretty likely the bushings on upper and lowers may be shot, doubt you had enoughpower or poor aftermarket controls arms that would tear your torque boxes..... if you weld, weld the seams on the torque boxes, like so

 

[srtthis]

tip to help get the lower bolts back in easier... put a ratchet strap around the control arm pocket and the front of the arm and use it to pull the rear to the arm and get the bolt in

 

[90lxwhite]

This is what I put in http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Heavy-Duty-Mustang-Rear-Lower-Control-Arms-1979-1998-P498.aspx, the bushings are rubber at the torque box and spherical at the axle, I lost my corner carvers link that did a deep dive technical analysis on all the typical solutions, but basically only thing better is a Torque Arm and Pan Hard bar, the linked LCA will reduce flex dramatically. The factory LCA is just stamped metal and it flexes with drivetrain torque Like Chuckman said factory uppers are fine lowers will stop the flex. You could swap the uppers rubber axle side bushings with urethane, but it they look ok dont even mess them,

If its swaying that much though its pretty likely the bushings on upper and lowers may be shot, doubt you had enoughpower or poor aftermarket controls arms that would tear your torque boxes..... if you weld, weld the seams on the torque boxes, like so

Yeah man the car lived with pretty much stock power all it's life and the bushings are stock w a million miles on em(Bout 300k). It's time for bushings I know. The tail wag wasn't near as dramatic before the blower. I gotta get sum arms...

 

[89oem]

thats allot miles, get the MM heavy duty, once and done