I'm trying to replace the front lower "curved" control arms after the ball joint separated on the passenger side. I've seen some good how-to's but I still have some questions
The old, separated, control arm doesn't seem to reach the ball of the ball joint that is still in the spindle. I tried moving the spindle assembly closer to the control arm but it didn't seem to budge. I wasn't leaning too much into it since I was only on the scissor jack at the time. Is this normal, or indicative that some other parts are bent? I had to drive a few blocks to get home after sensing the problem, hopefully that wasn't enough to escalate the issue.

The other question I have is on removing the control arm where it is mounted to the sub-frame. The nut is inside the subframe, so I'm wondering how you get at it. The protruding threads make a deep socket necessary, but I cant even get a normal socket in the small hole in the subframe. Do I need an offset boxend? It doesn't even seem like that would work.

Granted, I made all these observations in the dark, and in the new england cold. Please correct me if I'm totally off about something.

 

I can only help with the first one since I cant picture the second one.

When you take out the lower control arms from the spindle, it will always be difficult to get back into place. There is a lot of torsion going on. Youll just need to figure out a good way off getting it back in. Playing around with the steering position helps, then I recommend sitting down and using your foot to push to arm into place while using your hands to control the spindle. good luck

 

Cool, thanks. I thought that was the case, but didnt want to try anything drastic without the car on some secure jack stands.

As for the second question, hopefully this picture (Thanks to A4 Effort on audizine) will illustrate it:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...n/DSC01246.jpg
Obviously the head of the bolt is accessible, but I'm wondering if I need an offset box end in order to get to the nut. Which would mean i need to buy one, but hey I'm always looking for excuses to buy tools.

 

I replaced my control arms this summer and had no issue taking that bolt out. I guess all you need is a box wrench

 

quick tip, which is probably covered in your DIY's...

don't forget to bring the suspension back to "normal height" before tightening all the bolts...

 

As to the first question, do you have both front wheels in the air? When you just jack up one corner, the sway bar is doing exactly what its designed to do and keeping the hanging suspension from moving down all the way.

2nd question, I'm with redline, you just need an offset box wrench...and a big one too. What is it a 19mm?

 

Good point on the sway bar, didn't think of that. I will have both the wheels up when I get to it, so hopefully that will help. Maybe loosen the endlinks if I need to?
Its currently snowing, and I don't have a garage... or any of my tools... luckily I can take the bus to work.
It's an 18mm, in case anyone needs to know.

 

No need. Get both front wheels off the ground and there is no tension on the sway bar at all.