Upper Control Arms

93bird

Registered User
I'd sure like to know what the engineer was smoking that designed the original fastener arrangement for the passenger side upper control arm. First they use those stupid staked on anti rotation ears then they put the nut for the rearward mount in an inaccessible place. Frustrating R&R to say the least.
 
Not sure if you've seen it (or already replied), but several of us in St Louis will be meeting for dinner on Wednesday. Check the events or medwest section. Feel free to stop by and vent :)
 
18mm wratcheting wrench works great for the UCA nuts inside the engine bay. Ive never had a problem getting them off. The driver's side is more inaccessable if you have the early style brake system.

- Dan
 
First they use those stupid staked on anti rotation ears then they put the nut for the rearward mount in an inaccessible place. Frustrating R&R to say the least.
Be sure to knock the ears off. They were put there for assembly purposes, but aren't needed afterwards. You need the extra 1/8" to get a 6pt socket ;) to seat on the bolt head. Also, I learned that if you raise the car and take the wheel off, and crawl underneath, you can easily reach the nut. All you need is a loose fitting backup wrench on it. Another hint is to reach behind the spring with an extension(s) and a deep 6pt socket. :cool:
 
I know this thread is old, but I'm wondering how you're supposed to get a wrench around the rear nut on the UCA on the passenger side. There is something in the way, not sure what it is exactly but looks like part of the A/C system. It's black and cylindrical with some metal fluid lines coming out of the top of it. There is a little bracket holding it, but I just can't see what is going on back there, there's just too much ~~~~~ in the way.

Also, any suggestions for getting the UCA out of where it attaches to the spindle? The nut came off the bolt that pinches it in there but the bolt will not budge for anything, and the UCA won't come out either. Penetrating oil and the B.F.H. are not working at all, I can only get the UCA to move out of it maybe 1/8"
 
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ohhh fun...or something like it

well i hope ur rear facing bolts are easier to get loose then mine were, i managed to break my day old Craftsman 18mm ratcheting wrench one my drivers side, but for the passenger side i just unhooked all of the wiring and removed the metal bracket that wasn't holding anything, then i reached between the hood and shock that holds it up to undo that bolt (had to use open ended wrench). Good Luck.

~Darrel
 
Try wedging the split open with a chisel or large screwdriver. Also, you may be able to push the bolt out with a large c-clamp or small ball joint press.
 
the bolt slides (think big hammer as hard as you can hit it) out, I tried and tried with a fork, but nothing happened then i came inside and looked at the one I replaced it with and went oh where it is attached to the spindle is notched for a bolt...go figure. I just got done replacing uppers, lowers, and sway bar endlinks on both sides about a week ago, it was not fun.

~Darrel
 
Well I finally got the dang thing replaced. That bolt at the pinching part would not come out no matter how hard I hammered the end, so I started to use a dremel cutoff wheel on the head of it. After running out of cutoff wheels (only had 2), it had heated it up enough I guess to let the pounding finally work. Then the fun part came with the rear facing bolt. Got that bracket loose and wedged a screwdriver on the cylinder thing and got barely enough room to get it out from the top and the bottom with short/normal sized wrenches. Even bought the ratcheting craftsman wrench for 25 bucks, what a ripoff. Thanks for the help guys. Now I replaced one of the rear rotors and the caliper piston won't go back with the c-clamp, guess I gotta get a new one of those too :(
 
You need a "brake cube" and a ratchet and an extra pair of hands to get the rear caliper piston back in. Or the nice tool, which is like a modified c-clamp that twists the thing in too.

As for the ratcheting wrenches, I found them quite helpful for this very same job. I never had any of them break.
 
Thanks for all the help. I did a little more searching and saw something about auto parts stores having loaner tools for the job. Sure enough advance auto parts had a nice $100 set to borrow at no cost. The set had like 5 different adapters for all types of calipers as well as a bunch of allen wrenches and torx wrenches should they be needed. Got the piston back in less than 2 minutes.
 
Thanks for all the help. I did a little more searching and saw something about auto parts stores having loaner tools for the job. Sure enough advance auto parts had a nice $100 set to borrow at no cost. The set had like 5 different adapters for all types of calipers as well as a bunch of allen wrenches and torx wrenches should they be needed. Got the piston back in less than 2 minutes.

That's definitely the route to go. The "cube" I bought years ago had to be modified to even work on my SC....even then, it was a pain.
 
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