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Front lower control arms ??

947 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  cartmanea 
#1 ·
How hard is it to change the front lower control arms? I have a heated garage with air tools, so let me know if I should attempt it and about how long or if any special tools are needed. A shop gave me a price of $144 per side parts/labor. Murrays/Autozone the control arms are $39-49 side, so I could save $200. Side note, the car is a 93 intrepid and another shop replaced the arms about 5 years ago, so the bolts dont have 13 years of rust.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
Just a word of advice, don't mess with the cheap ones. Moogs are like 70 bux and are worth it in my opinion. As for dificulty, the hardest part is breaking the bolts loose. If they were done 5 years ago they may not be too bad. I know my 93 that had the original ones on were terible to get off. The air wrench didn't have enough power to break the bolts loose. It all depends on how rusted out they are. Just my opinion.
-Taaf-
 
#5 ·
No problem - as long as you can remove the bolt the bushing will relax to slip it out easily. I replaced mine earlier this year (95 138k miles). You just have to break free the lock bolt that traps the ball joint stud loose, also remove the bolt at the frame and the support link that goes to the front frame. Loosen all nuts before removing any one. Its hard to keep the link from rotating but it has flat spots to use an open end wrench to keep it from rotating. I cleaned off all the old paint and repainted the parts. If the control arm is not painted, clean up with mineral spirits and let dry. Spray with flat black paint and this will keep them from rusting.
 
#9 ·
5 years ago the car had 100000 and the ball joints were loose, changed the arms. today the car has 170000 and the drivers is a little loose but the pass side is so bad you can move the tire in/out about 3/4" on the bottom. I think thats about average for replacement. Couldnt try yesterday, will be giving it a go today.
 
#10 ·
At 129k, I'm starting to feel a tiny bit of slack in my wheel bearing, but not the ball joint. Grip tire at top and bottom and it wiggles in and out slightly. I looked at the back while my dad did this and the rotor moved, but the caliper didn't, so its the wheel bearing. Nothing bad enough to replace yet, I'll just keep an eye on it. My dad's '96 Intrepid lost its tranny at 196k and it has all original suspension and steering parts, I haven't checked it for slack though.
 
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