Technical Control arms tightening procedure

[Danoid]

I’m going to tackle replacing both control arms soon and wondering if there’s any official way of tightening it back up?

I’ve seen plenty of videos where people replace the arms then tighten it up and job done, but doesn’t sound right to me

I would have thought I’d need to measure where the car sits from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel arch, change arms then jack up the suspension arm until the distance is as before then tighten everything up.

I suppose doing the above might not be brilliant because if current control arms have sagged it still won’t be correct distance

thanks

 

[vexorg]

Pretty sure the front (horizontal) bolt should be tightened when on level ground. If not then you stress the rubber on the centre sleeve.

 

[jrkitching]

I would have thought I’d need to measure where the car sits from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel arch, change arms then jack up the suspension arm until the distance is as before then tighten everything up.

No.

The final tightening should be done with the car standing on level ground with the weight of the car on its wheels.

If the ride height is substantially out of limits after following this procedure, the most likely cause is sagging, broken, incorrect or modified spring(s). If they are changed, they should be changed as a pair.

 

[Danoid]

No.

The final tightening should be done with the car standing on level ground with the weight of the car on its wheels.

If the ride height is substantially out of limits after following this procedure, the most likely cause is sagging, broken, incorrect or modified spring(s). If they are changed, they should be changed as a pair.

That sounds logical but is it possible to get under there to tighten all the bolts up?

Which bolts are the most important to tighten up when on the ground? as there’s a bolt hidden by the subframe (the bit you need to remove after removing the 4 bolts by the crash bar)

im not sure I like the sound of putting the wheels back on without that part, probably fine

 

[vexorg]

Fit the bolts hand tight. Leave the bumper and front brackets off, wheels on, car back on the ground, there's just about enough space to get a torque wrench on unless you have a 4 post ramp.

The bumper and brackets are all costmetic, even finger tight, the control arm bolts arent going anywhere, and the car is supported by the front struts, so not going to collapse on you. (assuming you are only doing the lower arms and havent removed springs or top mounts...)

 

[Danoid]

Fit the bolts hand tight. Leave the bumper and front brackets off, wheels on, car back on the ground, there's just about enough space to get a torque wrench on unless you have a 4 post ramp.

The bumper and brackets are all costmetic, even finger tight, the control arm bolts arent going anywhere, and the car is supported by the front struts, so not going to collapse on you. (assuming you are only doing the lower arms and havent removed springs or top mounts...)

Yeah only the control arms for now, need to do both sides of suspension too but looks somewhat easier then the control arms so I’ll get them done first

 

[vexorg]

Easier doing it all at once if there's other work needing done, then only get the tracking done once.

 

[Danoid]

Is there a particular brand to avoid? I’ve used lemforder in the past for a VW and was OEM, but at £90 each bit steep but if I have to I will.

I was looking at Febi parts, any good?

 

[jrkitching]

I’ve used lemforder in the past for a VW and was OEM, but at £90 each bit steep but if I have to I will.

Lemforder are good.

The cheapest parts are aimed at those who just want to get the car through an MOT and don't care if it needs doing again a year or two down the line.

If you're planning on keeping it for longer than this, it's worth paying for premium parts if it means you won't have to do this job again.

 

[John202020]

I used Lemforder as we are likely keeping the car for life

 

[Danoid]

Lemforder are good.

The cheapest parts are aimed at those who just want to get the car through an MOT and don't care if it needs doing again a year or two down the line.

If you're planning on keeping it for longer than this, it's worth paying for premium parts if it means you won't have to do this job again.

The febi ones are cheaper at £60 but not eurocarparts crap cheap.

I’ll do some more research on febi, I can get even cheaper but that’s usually a false economy, especially like you said it’s a sod to change

 

[Ralf S.]

I used Meyle.. they were somewhere mid-priced and I needed some in a hurry for an MOT failure, so I couldn't stretch to Lemforder.

Anyhow, three years on (although that means only about 18,000 miles) and they're still sound.


Ralf S.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I used Meyle.. they were somewhere mid-priced and I needed some in a hurry for an MOT failure, so I couldn't stretch to Lemforder.

Anyhow, three years on (although that means only about 18,000 miles) and they're still sound.


Ralf S.

Yes Meyle. My friend stocked Meyle parts at his factor's before he got ill and they had to close the doors. I've used a lot of Mayle branded parts over the years and never had a problem.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

No.

The final tightening should be done with the car standing on level ground with the weight of the car on its wheels.

If the ride height is substantially out of limits after following this procedure, the most likely cause is sagging, broken, incorrect or modified spring(s). If they are changed, they should be changed as a pair.

One of the few times ramps come in really useful. By ramps I mean this sort of thing:



I doubt if the weight transfer is sufficient to make any difference but if you want to be pedantic about it you could always jack the back of the car up until it's level. My drive slopes away from the house slightly so if I turn the car round so it faces the road and drive it up on the ramps facing that way it ends up very nearly level. Once up on the ramps there's plenty of room to work a torque wrench and of course, the weight is on the wheels so ride height is correct and the front bushes won't be "wound up" The rear bushes, having a vertical bolt, cam be tightened either in this position or with the suspension on droop - makes no difference. What you're trying to achieve of course, is no "wind up" of the rubber in the bush when the car is at rest and at normal ride height.

As jrk says, if the ride height is wrong before you start - usually lower than spec - then the springs have to be the major suspect. However I found when I did Becky's front end a few years back, that, whilst she was generally lower than spec on both sides, one side was sitting a little lower than the other. I checked the old springs against each other and against the new springs and found that both old springs were slightly shorter than the new ones - due to relaxing with age no doubt - but both old springs were the same length which wouldn't account for her being slightly lower on one side than the other. However she had an almost new top mount on one side and a well worn one on the other which was obviously the "villain" causing the one side to be lower than the other. So, if ride height is low, it's very likely to be springs but top mounts might just be a contributing factor too.