Control arm swap - with pics - 'project Orange roadkill'

[bgoldstuff]

06T200..... I agree friend, I believe its called GREED !

I am all for the small business trying to provide a service to a small rural community, kind of hard to make it all happen when your surrounded by Sharks!

[Thud Slamrod]

Good to hear about the stands. The footprint of that jack is just way too narrow and the jacking pad is too small for doing any real work. The whole thing rolled over on me jacking my old RX7 from the side one time, luckily I hadn't started changing tires yet. Not too long after that the car slipped off that jack and punched a brand new radiator and bent the crankshaft snout in the process. Haven't used it since.

[06T200]

Thanks for the heads up Slam. Yes, in no way do I endorse using these lame 'racing jacks' as it takes WAY to much arm effort to lift even an Aveo. This jack was just for the house garage, I use my old trusty STEEL jack in my shop. I ALWAYS use stands, and would never advocate not using them, along with a real STEEL jack. DIY maintenance is no reason to risk death.

[Twisted-X]

Can anyone tell me the torque specs for the control arm bolts, ball joint, end links, and trans mount? And do you really have to remove the tie rod end to remove the control arm?
tia

[06T200]

Hey Twisted, sorry for late reply.

The control arm nuts=47 ft/lb
Ball joint knuckle nuts were 41 f/lb
and I think the trans mount 44 or so. Close enough anyway lol

Oh and no I don't think you need to undo the tie rod as the spindle stay put. Just free the ball joint and that whole rig stays on the car.

You have probably finished the job by now?

[06T200]

Almost 2 years later I am pretty impressed with these dorman arms. I just took my LS into the shop to have the alignment checked and corrected if needed, and to my surprise the control arms are fine. I was expecting to find damaged parts due to some major road hazards in a short amount of time.

Why this is a shock (to me) is late last year the town I live in decided to tear up a road that I travel frequently when I am on this side of town. During the road work there were giant size pot holes, thick steel plates in the road and dozens of nasty bumps and uneven road surfaces. It was quite a ride to make it through that section of road. I was convinced I tore up the new dorman arms over the course of a few months, as I would have suspected any driver would have sustained damage due to the intense stress put on the front suspension. I was amazed I did not bend a rim it was that violent.

So in the short time I have had them, they have definitely been put through a pretty hard test. Nothing like the roads of Southern California, but bad enough I would suspect some sort of damage to bushings. FYI for anyone needing a new set of lower arms.