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Replacing Lower Control Arms - 2 bolt style...

D

dlphnfn

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
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Location
Central Iowa
Alright, I'll admit, I'm pretty much a Contour newb. I've done all my own work on my 88 Thunderbird and 2000 Explorer though, so I thought I'd give the Tour a shot! :cool:
I'm needing to replace the LCA's. I read on the old forum about how the 4 bolts are a complete PITA, but there seems to be little mention of the 2 bolts. From what I read, the passenger side is pretty easy, but the drivers side is the tough part.
Can anyone give me any hints or tricks?? Are there any special tools needed besides the torx bit? I'm only doing the LCA's this time around. I may do the ball joints and tie rod ends in the future.
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Erick --
 
well the Lca's come with new bushings and ball joints on them. the drivers side, one bolt will not come out because it hits the trans. so what alot of people do is cut that bolt off with a saws-all or something like that. then put the bolt back in upside down. some people are nervous about doing that. as if the nut came off the bolt would fall out. now i don't know if this is possible but when i do mine I'm going to see if i can take a drill press and drill a hole in that bolt so i can put a cotter pin in it. that way the nut will not come off.

now like i said i have not done them before but thats my understanding. I'm sure someone who has will chime in here soon.
 
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SVTC1136 said:
Check this link
You may also undo the subframe and jack up the engine to get at the bolt. Anyway you look at it its a pita.
Click to expand...

ya that works fine on the MTX's but if you have an automatic, that method will not work, you have to cut it out.

other than that bolt and a little bit of BFH action, its a pretty easy swap

[just did mine.... again... last weekend]
 
I started down the path of raising the transmission to remove the bolt but there was too much to remove to achieve enough height.

Cut the bolt with a Sawsall and put it back in upside down. I think I also cut part of the bolt back off so there was no chance of it impacting the transmissions.

New bolts are ~$20 for four from local stealership. May be cheaper from Toulsey.
 
ya the bolts arent cheap, something like 7-8 bucks each through bill j. but if they keep the wheel attached to the car, well then, they are priceless.
 
I've done at least 6 sets of 4 bolts but did my first 2 bolts this past weekend. They're a breeze compared to the 4 bolts.

ISSUES-Be careful with the halfshafts once you've removed or are about to remove the A arm. If you accidentally pull the tripod bearing out of the cage you'll have to remove the complete halfshaft and have the boot removed to fix it. Have a helper. If you decide not to cut the bolt head off (LH front), you must either drop the subframe an inch or so or raise the transaxle/drivetrain a similiar amount. Either way, you'll have to disconnect the LH upper mount and (minimum) loosen both lower mounts. If you put the bolt in upside down, you'll need to cut off at least 3 full threads to keep it from hitting the transaxle casing. The nuts are nylocks so they hold. You could get a new one from Ford or simply use thread locking compound for that extra safety factor.
 
bensenvill said:
ya that works fine on the MTX's but if you have an automatic, that method will not work, you have to cut it out.
Click to expand...

Not completely true... I did my Mystique which is 2-bolt by dropping the 2 front bolts in the subframe, pulling the bolt out of the front motor mount and lifting the motor/trans up and prying the subframe down with a 2x4... Worked like a charm... :D

Now, 4 bolt i've never done... So I have no clue about that one...
 
bensenvill said:
ya that works fine on the MTX's but if you have an automatic, that method will not work, you have to cut it out.
Click to expand...

why wouldn't dropping the subframe work for an atx :confused:

you need to drop the whole subframe, ie remove all four bolts and lower the subframe out of the way ...
 
I ended up using a hacksaw on the LF bolt and replacing it with one from an auto shop as my local dealership was all out. I got one that is as good of quality, but it is SAE, not metric. :shrug:
All in all, not a bad job. Maybe 4 hours with a parts run for a Torx bit :blackeye: and later for the bolt cause I thought for I'd be able to get it out of there without having to whack it off!! :blackeye::blackeye:
I ended up using a new lock nut AND red lock tite. Worked like a champ.
Thanks for the tips!
Next thing is to figure out why the passenger side was all covered in built up oil... Dang, it was just ridiculous working on the passenger side compared to the drivers side. :shocked: Any hints there?
Erick --
 
JEDsContour said:
Do you happen to have the part number?
Click to expand...
For the 4 bolt ones the bolts are W703116*S309 and the nuts are W520213*S440. I have the number for the 2 bolt arm bolts in my car.
I received the wrong ones when I ordered them from tousley, but he refunded me and sent the right ones quickly, but be sure to check I only noticed when I torqued the first one up and it snapped.
The 4 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M10 x 1.75 and the 2 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M12 x 1.75 if you want to just get them from NAPA or something.
 
SVTC1136 said:
=
The 4 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M10 x 1.75 and the 2 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M12 x 1.75 if you want to just get them from NAPA or something.
Click to expand...


Make sure you are getting grade 8 bolts. I also installed my DS front upside down, and used loc-tite to help keep it there. I also took a hammer to the last threads sticking out of the nut, just to make sure it won't be coming off. I do check the nut every time I'm under the car, just in case.
 
SVTC1136 said:
For the 4 bolt ones the bolts are W703116*S309 and the nuts are W520213*S440. I have the number for the 2 bolt arm bolts in my car.
I received the wrong ones when I ordered them from tousley, but he refunded me and sent the right ones quickly, but be sure to check I only noticed when I torqued the first one up and it snapped.
The 4 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M10 x 1.75 and the 2 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M12 x 1.75 if you want to just get them from NAPA or something.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I almost ran into that problem as well. Multiple part numbers. I brought the old bolts to the dealership and made sure I was ordering the correct ones. They new hardware will be here tomorrow, bolts and nuts.
 
SVTC1136 said:
...The 4 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M10 x 1.75 and the 2 bolt arms use Gr10.9 M12 x 1.75 if you want to just get them from NAPA or something.
Click to expand...


The above info is not 100% accurate for the four bolt type LCA

Each side uses 2 M10x Long? bolts. The other two bolts of the four bolt type are M12x Long?
 
Well, I ended up with the wrong hardware the first time. Even with the old hardware, the parts department guy had problems. Its confusing enough I thought I'd post some details:

For two bolt control arms, here’s what you need:

W703901-S309, BOLT, PKG OF 4 PCS
W703016-S306, NUT, ONE

The bolts are $5.25 each and the nuts were $8.80 each (Jeez!). $56.20 in hardware. At least I know they'll not come loose.
ControlArmBolts_1.jpg

ControlArmBolts_2.jpg
 
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