# The way I shipped them, it's not too bad. -->

Posted by Matt (93SE) on October 08, 2003 at 22:43:19: In Reply to: Matt - anyone - control arm R/R tips por favor?? posted by Jacob on October 08, 2003 at 22:20:57: unbolt the sway bar end links and the 17mm nuts on the ball joint. crawl under the car and remove the huge bolts holding the rear bushing and the entire control arm gusset onto the frame. I think they're either 24 or 27mm. (be sure to watch for different lengths. I think they're all the same on a J30, but they were different lengths on kelly's Altima). Now the enitre control arm assembly will drop down and you can swap it out as one piece. BE VERY CAREFUL on the right side, as if you look closely, the engine crossmember is bolted to it. you'll have to remove the two rear bolts on it and lower the engine a couple inches to get the control arm gusset free. not a big deal, but if you don't brace the engine, you'll have one helluva headache and lots of things to fix under the hood. Then just replace all the bolts on the gusset and rear bushings. make sure each bolt is in before you torque anything down. usually I just run them in a few turns by hand, then use the impact on it after that. if you don't get all the bolts lined up before you tighten it down, you'll never get them all in properly (well, unless you loosen them again and start over) Bolt everything else like the ball joints and sway bar back together and lower the car onto the ground. when the car is resting on the ground with full front-end weight applied to the front bushings, then and ONLY then should you tighten the front control arm bushing nuts. if you don't, you'll pin the center part of the bushing down at the wrong angle and ruin the bushings almost immediately. I learned that one the hard way. :( For the first time, plan a couple hours. it's a 2 hour job for me start to finish-- including removing and replacing all of the bushings. I'd say probably 30-45 minutes to just R & R the whole thing. There's also a writeup in the articles section on 4dsc, but it details removing the control arm from the gusset, not removing the whole thing. it's easier this way, as most of the time the front bushing is siezed onto the gusset and it takes me a while with a blowtorch and pulley puller to get them off. If you got any other Qs, holla. Replys: Nice!! And a few dumb questions.. Jacob ('03 WRX) 00:01:41 10/09/2003 (3) yes... «§» (93 SE) 00:10:55 10/09/2003 (2) NICE!!! Jacob ('03 WRX) 00:17:44 10/09/2003 (1) Double Nice!! Mikey P (93 SE) 11:38:37 10/09/2003 (0)

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: unbolt the sway bar end links and the 17mm nuts on the ball joint. : crawl under the car and remove the huge bolts holding the rear bushing and the entire control arm gusset onto the frame. I think they're either 24 or 27mm. (be sure to watch for different lengths. I think they're all the same on a J30, but they were different lengths on kelly's Altima). Now the enitre control arm assembly will drop down and you can swap it out as one piece. : <B>BE VERY CAREFUL on the right side, as if you look closely, the engine crossmember is bolted to it. </b> you'll have to remove the two rear bolts on it and lower the engine a couple inches to get the control arm gusset free. not a big deal, but if you don't brace the engine, you'll have one helluva headache and lots of things to fix under the hood. : Then just replace all the bolts on the gusset and rear bushings. make sure each bolt is in before you torque anything down. usually I just run them in a few turns by hand, then use the impact on it after that. if you don't get all the bolts lined up before you tighten it down, you'll never get them all in properly (well, unless you loosen them again and start over) : Bolt everything else like the ball joints and sway bar back together and lower the car onto the ground. when the car is resting on the ground with full front-end weight applied to the front bushings, then and ONLY then should you tighten the front control arm bushing nuts. if you don't, you'll pin the center part of the bushing down at the wrong angle and ruin the bushings almost immediately. I learned that one the hard way. :( : For the first time, plan a couple hours. it's a 2 hour job for me start to finish-- including removing and replacing all of the bushings. I'd say probably 30-45 minutes to just R & R the whole thing. : There's also a writeup in the articles section on 4dsc, but it details removing the control arm from the gusset, not removing the whole thing. it's easier this way, as most of the time the front bushing is siezed onto the gusset and it takes me a while with a blowtorch and pulley puller to get them off. : If you got any other Qs, holla.