OK, replacing passenger side control arm with associated upper ball joint.

Got it off steering knuckle, got nuts off upper bolts, but ... the bolts that should slide out can't because the spring is in the way. This is my first foray into suspension so don't crush me too bad.

Any ideas on how to get them out? If I could get the spring up a half coil or down a half coil I might be able to do it. But I stopped because I don't want to do damage during a repair .

 

Well, I figured it out. Haynes book was way off. Opened hood and removed nuts and took whole arm off.

 

yes, you can only loosen/adjust the through bolts with it in the car.

 

sgraham, Do you know the adjusting procedure? I am changing both my upper control arms, struts and tie rods very soon. On a 94'EX coupe. I can't find any info on upper control arms other than the under hood mounting bolt torque specs.

 

You need to have the wheel off and a jack under the lower arm. with the thru bolts loose and the jack under the lower arm, you will have the suspension at ride height (cannot be touching a jack stand). you want the full weight supported by the jack. tighten the thru bolts with the suspension in this position. i do not see a torque spec in the factory manual for the thru bolts. Just get them fairly tight if you need to loosen them. usually the upper arm comes with the bolts already tight and the bushings at the correct angle. you may not have to make any adjustments.

 

Dude, thanks. I bought mine in a kit from Ebay. The through bolts were not tight at all. I figured I would just take the old ones out and match the new ones to them the best I could. Any idea how to know when they are tightened properly in the procedure you described?, also I hope I can get a wrench in there to tighten them after I install them.

 

I can't find a torque spec for the thru bolts. I would suggest that you run the nuts all the way down so that you don't have so far to go using a wrench, then install them competely with the thru bolts loose. bolt it to the knuckle, then, with the jack under the arm and suspension at ride height, tighten the thru bolts with wrenches. it's tight, but i think it was doable when I tried it a few years back. Since there's no torque spec (that i've ever seen), just get them good and snug. It's not super critical since it's just compressing the sleeve inside the bushing enough for the bushing to flex and keep the sleeve from rubbing the bolt. I don't remember if the nuts on the thru bolts are self-locking, but I would make sure yours are. if not, buy some and swap them out.