Rear control arm replacement

[Abbby]

Bent the right rear control arm pretty bad so ordered a new one and plan to replace. Anybody done this and anything to look out for? Does this have some sort of pre-load on it so I will need to jack up the right side?

[redzmonte]

should be straight forward.... i would get some rust penitrating spray and put on the bolts and let soak for a bit, been on there a while might be a little stubborn. I assume its the lower one.. your spring is also in there so be carefull removing it so the spring doesnt fly out.. use a jack to lower the control arm slowly to relieve the pressure.

[nubuilder]

Who did you get new arms from (manufacturer and seller)?

I have to replace my rear springs yet. I didn't really look all that much at the lower arms, but if it is possible to get them out, you'll probably have to use a wrench on the bolts. Hopefully they are like the front and have a nut that has a tab welded to it so it can't spin and doesn't require you to have a wrench on it. When I took out my front arms, I didn't have any problems at all with the bolts. A breaker bar (think mine is 18") and an 18mm is all I used.

[Abbby]

Moog K660168 Control Arm from Amazon.com. $52.83 free delivery.

[Ken_W]

Note to readers -- poster is referring to the long, skinny black toe link and not the the large silver V-shaped control arm. Some places call them both control arms, which fuels confusion.

There is no pre-load or anything like that needed, but you will want to support the large silver V-shaped control arm while swapping this out.

You will probably need a rear end alignment after doing this, as this part controls the alignment (via the large cam bolt on the inboard side).

Ken_W

[nubuilder]

Yep, that part number is the toe link. I did those. They are a piece of cake to remove. I did removed them with the car in the air though. I marked the cam bolts/plates with a silver sharpie/paint pen and put them back in the same place. You will need an alignment. The Moog are drastically beefier than the factory ones. I wasn't able to compare the two to see how much of a length difference there is.

[Abbby]

Correct. Just the metal arm that goes from the center to the aluminum arm. Just replaced it. No pre-loa on it. Just put on the ramps and change it out. Not sure I understand the alignment. Seems adjustment is done with different washers. Also changed the fuel filter. Was rusted on pretty good but luckily broke loose without damage.

[nubuilder]

The adjustment is at the bolt at the center of the car. The hole in the washer is off-set. This allows the toe (I believe) to be adjusted from something like 1 degree + or - (out or in). You can get different camber bolt sets. There's one for 1 degree and another for 1.25 degree (I think).

If possible (and you want to keep your tires for a while yet), get a 4-wheel alignment.