Finishing the Civics Control Arm Replacement.

Wraping it up, there will be an update once we get the car back from the frame shop, after the control arm replacement it was still bent at the strut and possibly somewhere else.
UPDATE- The frame shop did an alignment and now it drives perfectly. We are keeping an eye on tire wear.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• honda
• civic
• control
• arm

[jessesan2003]

Bad ideal to use grease, this will eventually leak to the bushings and destroy them. Not worth the time to do this.

[JoeSchlubb]

@jessesan2003  Your right I wish I wouldn't have done that, This afternoon I was driving home from work and the weakened bushing failed and the wheel fell off. Did I put grease on the bushing?

[syndrome666]

...Also, I obtained a repair manual for the 7th gen civics (01-05), and it says to install (control arm), raise the control arm with a floor jack to simulate normal ride height before tightening the fasteners to the specified torque. I noticed you didn't use any kind of jack to place the new control arm back on. Any advice there? I'm confused if I need one or not to do the job. Thanx in advance!

[JoeSchlubb]

You are right you really should use a jack to set the bushings before tightening, I didn't and it worked ok, but over time it could cause the bushings to wear out faster i suppose.

[syndrome666]

Thanx for the pointers. My control arm bushings just finally went and the car sounds horrible at the front wheels, so i ordered a pair of Dorman aftermarket to see if they'd last longer. It's not worth replacing the bushings since it'll cost as much as replacing the whole arm new with the new bushing already installed....A question though, I didn't plan on replacing the ball joints, is it necessary to get new ball joint boots anyway since i'm replacing the control arms?

[JoeSchlubb]

You could try to reuse the boot, but I always seem to tear them when I take them off so I fugured i better have one, especially since I ordered via mail.

[auxpower13]

@jessesan2003 Totally not true. You don't know what you are talking about.  He can come and pick me up and do 130 in that car all day and I won't worry a bit.

[auxpower13]

I did the exact same repair (and then some) on my 2003 RSX. I recommend the alignment simply because you changed the suspension bushings and the control arm. Usually not necessary if you put the tie rods to the same length and the car tracks nicely. You are doing the right thing to observe the wear...unfortunately, that takes a lot of time to develop and by the time you notice the problem, it has already cost you hundreds of dollars. The $75 alignment is well worth it IMHO.

[auxpower13]

@jessesan2003 Bologna. The grease is a good idea on the shoulder of the bolt. I don't recomment putting it on the threads, though. Blue nylon locker would be better. The bushing material is unaffected by almost anything you would find in your garage. I don't reccomend paint thinner, chlorine or acetone, though...they will destroy the bushing but only after repeated exposure.

[auxpower13]

@jessesan2003 Bologna. The grease is a good idea on the shoulder of the bolt. I don't recomment putting it on the threads, though. Blue nylon locker would be better. The bushing material is unaffected by almost anything you would find in your garage. I don't reccomend paint thinner, chlorine or acetone, though...they will destroy the bushing but only after repeated exposure.

[jessesan2003]

You predicted it when you said you would drive it to the ground . The red spray stuff , including the grease really added insurance to failure. Lucky you lived to tell about it.

[Lafue108]

dude, liquid penetrant and a cheapo butane torch works fine on old bolts.... greasing everything up is unneeded, especially when you have a full out air tool set. Greasing bolts up risks overtorqing and breaking off heads.

[opsvideo2008]

@justinity When separating the lower control arm ball joint or even the outer tie-rod end (which controls the steering and is a type of ball joint) NEVER USE A PICKLE FORK. The correct tool is a ball-joint lifter which can be used to GENTLY separate both the control arm ball-joint AND the outer tie-rod. Type the word "ball-joint lifter" in the search box of Amazon website & it will show you what it looks like. The pickle fork will destroy your rubber boots as well as the ball-joints itself.