Eighty-Sixer Posted October 6, 2011 Report Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Ok, I'm 21 and am not very experienced at working on cars, but I understand how 95% of them work. I also understand that on basicly any other car the answer to this question would be "ummm, loosen the two nuts, duh". But not my lumina... UGH. Anywho, I have two identical luminas. One with a bad tranny, and one with a fried bearing and a noticeably bent control arm on the same side (possibly bent the sway bar a little bit too). On the donor lumina the struts are as bad as they get, but the rest is fine. The problem here lies in the goofy freakin knuckle that looks like it's welded around the strut. I can't see the two bolts at all and it looks like the knuckle slides onto the strut or is permanatly connected? I haven't taken anything apart yet because I honestly haven't found ANY information online about this specificly. Does it slide on? or am I missing something entirely?... Once I find the cable to my camera I can post some pics... If I can. EDIT: I'm pretty convinced it's welded to the strut... how asinine is that? All advice/comments welcome, it's driving me nuts. Edited October 6, 2011 by Eighty-Sixer Quote
Crazy K Posted October 6, 2011 Report Posted October 6, 2011 OP fails to understand what he already knows.... which is that is is a one piece design. Our units are cartridge based. changing the cartridge is done through the top plate and can easily be done with a rental tool available from Autozone. You are swapping struts? If you actually do need to do anything besides changing the cartridge You need to verify that they use the same size rotor, and you should be concerned about making sure you don't mix spring rates. so change the cartridge only if possible, or both full struts as a set. Matched sets are imperative Your post above sounds like you have major damage... The frame is likely damaged if what you are describing is correct... verify that the tabs where the control arm mounts are not damaged or bent. The tabs can be straightened, but if the frame is knocked in, the frame needs changed too. Quote
AMP Posted October 6, 2011 Report Posted October 6, 2011 Hey i got two luminas as well one 97 and a 98, currently the 97 is the DD and the 98 is getting work (only need to tighten lifters), it had what was thou a blow head gasket but acually a blow lower intake gasket. bought for 200 bucks one owner car. yeah sorry this did not help at all. oh yeah i have no clue on the suspension. Quote
intern8tion9l Posted October 7, 2011 Report Posted October 7, 2011 as stated, if you take off the 3 nuts and the plate on top of the strut tower, you will be able to look down in there and see there is like a collar that comes off the strut cartridge at the top of the piece you are describing as welded to the knuckle. they can be changed with the car sitting on the ground Quote
Eighty-Sixer Posted October 8, 2011 Author Report Posted October 8, 2011 Well, I feel kind of stupid. Like I said in my OP "am I missing something entirely?"... I should have been more specific with what I want to do with what car. The one with the dead tranny has the unbent front end, but the struts are horrible. So I figured that it would be easiest just to switch the knuckle and control arm since it is the same side as the bad bearing. I can tell the ball joint end of the arm is bent up, and back. Although the tabs are fine, I got ran off the road by some moron trying to pass a semi. It wasn't to extreme, but it bent the arm when I narrowly missed a telephone poll and drilled the drivers side into a field approach. They are both the LS model made in the same month, so everything should be the same. Different question. I know the arm is bent, driving straight is an eighth turn to the left (and it will pull to the left). However, if I turn the wheel to the right lock and then drive straight it is about a sixteenth turn to the right and it will pull to the right. My Le Sabre does the EXACT same thing and I've had it inspected, nothing is bent. But obviously it could use some work... Could it just be alignment? I thought that slowly goes instead of varying to condition... So after I switch everything out (with new tie rod ends), if it still does this memory turn crap what would cause that? Inner tie rod ends? Rack and pinion? Possibly something else is bent? Control arm bushings? I know the ball joints are good... It's gonna get taken apart sometime within the next week so I could use all advice I can get before it get's put back together. Quote
Crazy K Posted October 9, 2011 Report Posted October 9, 2011 (edited) being LS or not means nothing. please get the RPO codes for your vehicles, look on the spare tire well cover, or the trunk lid or close vicinity. if present, then verify if the VIN present matches your vehicle(s) next record all the codes that start with numbers, such as 6xx, 7xx and share. the springs codes for the front are like 6ux for left, and 7ux for right or similar. You should NOT mix spring rates or your car will handle like a turd. p.s. thanks John LOL!!! Edited October 9, 2011 by Crazy K Quote
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