For those of you who who have swapped motors, and have tried unbolting the LCA to get the axles out, how the **** did you manage this? The first time I swapped in my ZC I used the lower ball joints which were a pain but got it done, after reading some more I heard about the LCA.

Looked at it and it seemed like it would work ok, but once I got it undone and pushed out on the caliper with my foot while wiggling out the axles with my hands I could get the axle 98% of the way out, another 1/4 inch and it would come out but no dice. I saw another bar type deal holding onto the LCA assembly that was holding it back but wasnt sure about undoing this, its not the tie rods it looks like some pos stabilizer bar, doesnt look like it does much. Must this part also be undone?

What a pain, everything else got done in about 4-5hrs by myself but this blows, any input is appreciated. And just fyi I'm not sure about doing the ball joints again, as when I was putting the motor in a year ago I had one joint spinning along with the nut so I know thats going to be a pain to get undone again...

 

im assuming ur talking about the bar that runs from the LCA to the front crossmember, just disconnect the 2 bolts that hold it to the LCA and push it out of the way.

 

Man Im gonna take some pictures next time I pull an axle. It takes me 6 miniutes to pull an axle. Takes me 11 miniutes to fill the tranny with fluid and put another one in. Ok so the LCA, the lowerball joint is a pain to undo. I dont have the patience to mess with it or the tools. SO, what I do first is take out the bolt that holds the shock fork to the LCA (this is a 17mm, you need a wrench on one side to hold the nut and I use a rachet on the other side. Then get a hammer and a screwdriver and hit the bolt out. I then take off the stabilizer screw that has all those littel rubber bushings on top of it and below it. Both top and bottom are 12mm. Watch out when the nut is about to come off cause that stabilizer is under some pressure. Then I undo 1 bolt that is in that part that runs to the front X member. There are 2 bolts and it can be easier to remove the axle if you take them both out. I dont, but I used to. These are 17mm bolts that are right next to eachother on top of the LCA and it is best to make sure that when you put them back in most of the way b4 you put in the axle, it can take forever to thread cause the axle gets in the way and I dont have a rachet wrench that is 17mm... So now all that should be holding the LCA is a 14mm bolt. Its kinda hard to get to cause the axle is right there, but you can get it out and back in, it takes some finessing of the LCA to get it back in. Dont use a socket to get it out, cause the bolt will start unscrewing and its so long that your rachet will be sung up against the axle/tranny (cant remember which) and you wont get it out. Gotta use a rachet wrench here or a regular wrench. You have to really pull the hub towards you to get the axle out of it (sometimes a hammer and a screwdriver should help the axle out of the hub), then pop the axle out with a screwdriver from the tranny and remove the axle. When your putting those 12mm bolts back on the stabilizer, your gonna have to push down on it a ways to get the nut threaded. In fact you have to put alot of pressure on it to push the thread through the rubber and get the nut on. But it can be done. Then put everything back in the reverse order. I dont know if that made any sense, but hopefully it did. Some people say this way is really complicated, but after doing 3 times in 1 weekend and about 6 times in 2 weeks, I've got it down.

Good luck

Blaze

 

You dont have to separate any ball joints to get the axles out.
i take the two 17mm bolts that hold the upper A arm off from inside the engine bay.
Once you have the A arm loose, just swing it towards you, turn the steering all the way with the caliper going towards the car and just slide the axle out of the hub.
The suspension holds itself, and you don't have to wrestle the whole damn hub assembly.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phatrick2332 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im assuming ur talking about the bar that runs from the LCA to the front crossmember, just disconnect the 2 bolts that hold it to the LCA and push it out of the way.</TD></TR></TABLE>

nope, I know what the radius rods are, I was just too lazy to look up the name in the Helms.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blaze45 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I then take off the stabilizer screw that has all those littel rubber bushings on top of it and below it. Both top and bottom are 12mm. Watch out when the nut is about to come off cause that stabilizer is under some pressure. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, thats what I was talking about <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blah13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its not the tie rods it looks like some pos stabilizer bar</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks a lot Blaze, I appreciate it. And yes I had to wrestle with the whole damn assembly, I got them out the hard way but now I'll know, thanks everyone.