Lower control arm bolt wont come out.

[Tercel_jon]

Alright, Ive tried EVERYTHING short of a pickle fork thing to remove the balljoint from the lower control arm. My chiltons says to remove the lower control arm with the balljoint still attached and go from there. So we decided to try that, but ran into a problem.

The bolt holding the lower control arm to the body, doesnt want to come out. It unscrews 3/4s of a turn, and than POP! right back where you started. Any Idea how to get it out? Im not scared to cut the head off and get a new one if I have too. It just seams that if I cut the head off, theres not enough room on the other side to push it through.

[ARCHINSTL]

The nut on the "inside" of the body is captive and concealed; you do NOT want to booger this! From your description it seems like something is stripped, but I'm not exactly sure - hope not.
Did you disconnect the arm/ball joint from the steering knuckle? All tension on the arm must be released to successfully loosen the control arm bolt.
When you do get the arm out, if not already reviewed : http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... arm#p39933 and, if replacing the bushing, see http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... rm+bushing
I did not remove the arm to replace the ball joint - I used this to remove the ball joint (loaner from AutoZone or wherever):

[Tercel_jon]

Thanks again, I had forgotten about using a puller. Now if only I can find mine...

About the control arm bolt, everything was undone before attempting to undo the bolt. If I can get the puller on the balljoint, Im just gonna leave the control arm bolt alone.

See, the last time I pulled the balljoint out, I jacked up the car, took the wheel off and took the nut off the bottom of the balljoint. took the screw jack, and jacked up the front suspension via the balljoint bolt. Gave the swaybar a couple good whacks and the balljoint popped right out. Lets just say that after todays adventure, Im glad i got an extra swaybar. lol.

[ARCHINSTL]

OK...if you are going to tighten the control arm bolt again - before tightening to the FSM-recommended amount of 83 ft-lbs - I'd solicit the opinion of more seasoned hands here.
Additionally, whichever value to which you tighten it - mark by scribing and painting the bolt-to-body relationship.
And CHECK the marks periodically (like every 100 miles or so); the results if the bolt falls out (or even partway out) can be catastrophic.
Tom M.

[Petros]

There are two 12mm bolts on either side of the ball join that bolts the ball joint assembly to the bottom of the strut. If you remove these two bolts (on the fore and aft side of the ball joint, going into the bottom of the knuckle/hub assembly), you just lever the ball joint out of its position with a pry bar. You leave it attached to the lower control arm.

No puller, or whacking required.

[Tercel_jon]

Alright guys good news. I located some pickle forks and it popped right out.

Petros, I tried that. I had literally tried everything I could try without the pickles.


So in conclusion, invest in either a friend with pickle forks, or a set of em. lol. Im heading to the beach thursday morning, and Im gonna check that bolt every 50 miles. Its only 205 miles there. Full set of tools in the back and lots of duct and electrical tape.

[Tercel_jon]

Um bad news. Anyone order the OE balljoints from advanced auto to find out that the bolt on the ones they give you is slightly thicker than the original ones bolt you took off the car? Im just gonna ream out the hole a little bit,...