Front Lower Control Arms

[2006gtmike]

Does it take approximately the same amount of time to replace the ball joints in the control arms themselves in comparison to replacing the entire control arm assembly with a new control arm?

I'm thinking it takes more time to replace ONLY the ball joints because you have to remove them from the arm, but I could be wrong!

 

[Sleeper_08]

Replacing the front lower control arms requires looseing the two rack mounting bolts which can be a bit of a challenge as they are hard to get at and big and tight.

For my car I bought a set of GT500 arms and had Steeda X5 ball joints installed in them ahead of time. Then we just swapped out the arms when we did the suspension work.

 

[tjm73]

Wouldn't it be just "front control arms" since there are no front upper control arms?

 

[Liftedbronco]

I got in there to change my arms and never touched the rack bolts. Perhaps because my engine was out? I dont recall if there was a clearance issue. Anyway, ford reccomends replacing the whole arm rather than pressing out the balljoint.

I think its one of those "what are your goals" kind of deals. Are you lowered enough to want X5 balljoints? maybe then thats the way to go. Do you want to upgrade to something like bmr a arims? They obviously come with new balljoints.

Even if you want to stay stock (ish), then just upgrade to gt500 arms. theyre about the same cost as new gt arms with better bushings.

 

[908ssp]

Can you press out the ball joints on the car? If not and you have to remove the arms in any case then having a second set of arms prepared is going to be faster.

 

[DusterRT]

Can you press out the ball joints on the car?

I doubt it...granted I'm using a real gem of a press (Harbor Freight 20T), but the one ball joint I have pressed out didn't leave easily (and shot out like a mortar when it did pop...watch your feet!). Perhaps some heat would help, but trying to do it on the car is likely making things way more difficult than just pulling the arms off.

 

[STEVE_POE]

Can you press out the ball joints on the car? If not and you have to remove the arms in any case then having a second set of arms prepared is going to be faster.

yes

you need a good press. , grease , heat "torch kit " and one hell of a impact gun to drive the new one in all the way . little extra insurance. put a small weld on the ball joint to lower control arm. they tend to pop out on the race track.

 

[STEVE_POE]

I got in there to change my arms and never touched the rack bolts. Perhaps because my engine was out? I dont recall if there was a clearance issue. Anyway, ford reccomends replacing the whole arm rather than pressing out the balljoint.

I think its one of those "what are your goals" kind of deals. Are you lowered enough to want X5 balljoints? maybe then thats the way to go. Do you want to upgrade to something like bmr a arims? They obviously come with new balljoints.

Even if you want to stay stock (ish), then just upgrade to gt500 arms. theyre about the same cost as new gt arms with better bushings.

oh I would love to know how you got the front bolt out without pulling back the steering rack.

 

[kevinatfms]

^ use a short swivel and a 1/2 inch impact, i do it all the time at work. just unbolt the tie rod at the knuckle and push the rack to the opposite direction of the bolt you wanna remove.

 

[kevinatfms]

oh and if you buy the OTC ball joint press(c channel) and a good ingersol rand 1/2inch gun it works like a champ on the car. did mine in about 45 min and have 5-10 track days on them with no problems.

 

[2006gtmike]

So my question was:

Does it take more time to change out the ball joints OR the entire control arm itself?

About the same amount of time?

 

[STEVE_POE]

So my question was:

Does it take more time to change out the ball joints OR the entire control arm itself?

About the same amount of time?

it will be faster to swap the arms.....

 

[Liftedbronco]

steve - i changed to a bmr k member when i did my a arms. so im starting to think i had the rack out first....

 

[Pop'stang]

oh I would love to know how you got the front bolt out without pulling back the steering rack.

Well I just did my ball joints and didn't remove the steering rack (couldn't get the bolts loose). All you have to do is turn the wheel as far to the right (for the driver side A-arm). Then you remove the tie-rod and move it so that you can fit a 18mm deep socket on the front A-arm bolt. It will be tight against the steering rack rubber boot coming out, but if you wiggle it back and forth, it'll come out. Putting it back on is easier. Do the same for the passenger side.

You mentioned that sometimes the ball joint pops out and suggested to weld it to the a-arm. I installed the Steeda X-5 ball joint that comes with a C-clip. Would it still come out with that clip installed? Thanks.

Patrick

 

[Infamousjim]

I had no problem getting mine out without moving/removing anything extra. Maybe my car's more smacked around underneath then I thought.

 

[krang00]

I have my stock arms with less than 25k on them if you're interested. It was pretty easy to swap them out. I just had to turn the rack all the way left, then right to clear the front bolts for each side.