Control Arm Replacement

[Piecez061388]

I think I might have a bent passenger control arm. Last year when I had it aligned, the mechanic said so. Now, when I put my new rims on, it is easier to notice that the passenger tire sits slightly more rearwards in the wheel well than the driver side. Also, the passenger tire rubs and shouldnt.

 

I got a newer control arm form the junk yard. I want to put it on myslef. I know that I have to use a prybar to get it off the ball joint stud, then take it off the frame. As soon as the old one comes off, the stuff should snap into place and line up with the new one.

 

My question is, what if I in fact acually have a bent strut or something else. Will i be able to get the new control arm on? Can I maybe just press on the hub and make the stuff line up?

[5speedz34]

Wait first why would you drive on a bent control arm for a year?!

 

But, if the strut, or strut tower assembly is screwed you would have to replace it. Honestly, I mean you're not going to know until you actually replace the control arm.

[GnatGoSplat]

I bet you aren't going to be able to pop the balljoint out with just a prybar. You're going to need a pickle fork at minimum, and it's likely to screw up the balljoint boot.

 

If your strut is bent, yeah, you should be able to force things to line up. The upper mount has a rubber isolator so you'll just be fighting the spring, but it should have plenty enough give to move the strut assembly a couple inches in any direction without having to put much muscle into it.

 

[Piecez061388]

Well I talked to the shop teacher today and he said that its worth a try to replace, but in reality the whole subframe or unibody could be bent or twisted causing my misalignment setback problem.

[GnatGoSplat]

Anything's possible, but you won't know until you start replacing stuff.

It could even be nothing is bent, just the subframe is knocked out of alignment.