Removing driver side upper control arm bolt

[djkid97]

So initially I thought I would have to do the same thing- and actually the engineers are brilliant. You can get it out without ANY force or messing with the fuel lines, you just have to rotate the camber flange (?) a few times to dodge the frame and the fuel lines. I'll post a video if anyone still wants to see it.

Is it too late to ask you to post that video? I'm totally stuck...

BTW, when you say "Camber Flange", do you mean the "fins" that are attached to the bolt itself?

 

[fastpakr]

Just tweak that line out of your way to get the bolt out.

 

[410Fortune]

"Be patient, the bolt will come out. You have to orient it a certain way, and likewise you have to put it back the same way."

Correct!!!

UCA replacement on drivers side (speed reader version):
Unclip the fuel vent lines from their plastic retainer.
Remove the rear camber shim/bolt first and note its position in the truck
Loosen front camber adjuster bolt
Note position of front bolt/camber shim. Position the control arm inside the brackets so that the front bolt can be removed easily, it should not take any force. You will have to twist the bolt as you remove it so that the camber shim will clear the vehicles many plumbing lines and plastic metal bits in this area.
Swap UCA with the new part, installing it into the brackets in the same position
Install front bolt /camber shim while it is still fresh in your head how it went into place
Install rear bolt/camber shim and bolt

DO NOT TIGHTEN The nuts yet
Just mash them down but do not torque.
UCA bushings have a pre load setting, to keep your new UCA bushings from twising inside themselves and making alot of noise/ripping
Put truck back on tires and let it sit under its own weight
Now torque down the UCA nuts
You have just set the preload / range of motion built into your UCA bushings.

Don't forget to force the EVAP lines back into their plastic clip and recycle the old UCA

 

[djkid97]

thanks, @401Fortune and @fastpakr! I'm going to try again.... wish me luck ;^)

 

[djkid97]

okay.. I put the front bolt back in and tried to start over, but feel like I'm losing my mind trying to do this. Although I've unclipped the fuel lines, I can't seem to move the line that's closer to the front of the truck (the "outer" one) enough. I can pull out the bolt enough so that the flange sits in between the inner and outer lines (please see picture, below, taken looking down from under the hood). I can't move either lines very much, however. There's some sort of flexible metal tubing that's resting on the outer line and seems to be making it even harder to move, but I suspect there's more holding it in place.

Got any other suggestions? Is there something somewhere that's clamping down the fuel lines that I can remove?

Should I cry uncle, try to cut the bolt, and install a camber kit?

thanks
Danny

 

[djkid97]

Thanks again for the help. I cried uncle, cut out the bolt with a hack saw, and ordered a camber bolt kit. From some of the other threads, it sounds like there might even be some advantages to this approach w/r/t alignment... but we'll see. Thanks again.

 

[410Fortune]

Heck no! Don't give up
Bend those evap lines out of your way
You also need to twist he bolt as you pull it back so the large camber shim (metal circle) will clear those lines instead of get stuck between them
Try wiggling the whole control arm in and out as you do this. Trust me it will come clear. I have done many of these and each time I have to do one I dread the same thing you are dreading right now.
Know this: IT DOES CLEAR if you keep turning and messing with the angle of the control arm itself

Okay cut that SOB! I have never had to cut one, but I feel your frustration!!

 

[djkid97]

Thank you very much. I ended up cutting it with a .hack saw... could only move the saw about 1", so that took some time. I eventually got it out that way. I then installed camber bolts

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C9MPIE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had to install the rear-most camber bolt backwards (nut towards the front of the car) because it would no sooner go in the other direction than the original would come out. I then took it to my mechanic who aligned it.. and assured me that the backwards bolt was okay (pheww).

I also installed three out of four new shocks (Monroe OESpectrums) replacing the old Automatic Ride Control (ARC) shocks which did not seem to be working. I'm never going to go off-road, tow, or haul anything heavy, so hopefully I'm okay.

Interestingly, I could not install the fourth shock myself because I could not get enough clearance to remove the final top but on the passenger side shock. Equipment from the ARC was in my way. The mechanic took care of that for me.

BTW, two big rookie mistakes I made were:

(1) I didn't mark the positions of the old control arms; and
(2) I didn't adequately tighten the various components

As a result, everything apparently wedged itself into odd positions that the mechanic had to undo when he did the alignment. But I still saved about $500 (thus valuing my time at a few dollars / hour) and had the satisfaction and fun of doing most of this.

W/r/t (1), I didn't see in any videos that I should mark anything other than the torsion bar, so I was a little surprised to learn I'd blown this.

Now on to other (electrical) problems.

Thanks again, everyone!!

 

[djkid97]

image of final handiwork. (Hey, I impressed myself, so that's worth something ;^) )

 

[koda2000]

As long as you got an alignment afterwards, marking the position of stuff is not important and even if you had the alignment guy would still be loosening and moving everything around during the alignment process. That's probably why it wasn't shown in any of the videos you watched.

 

[410Fortune]

I should have mentioned:
Drivers side one piece upper, I use a scribe to mark the location of the upper control arm inside its bracket both front and rear...that way when you put all the shims and spacers back in you can confirm you retained the alignment.
The way the factory camber bolts work is as long as you put them back in same direction they came out, the control arm will go right back to its old spot, there is no adjustment here unless you swap to aftermarket shims/bolts

 

[Turdle]

image of final handiwork. (Hey, I impressed myself, so that's worth something ;^) )

You installed the bolt backwards.

 

[410Fortune]

and the UBJ pinch bolt nut is not tight
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[djkid97]

Thanks, @Koda. That makes a lot of sense.

@Turdle, w/r/t the bolt being backwards, that's correct. As mentioned above, I could not get it to go in the other way, just like I could not get the original to come out and had to but it. The mechanic who did the alignment said it didn't matter. The part appears to be symmetrical, so it seems reasonable... assuming the nut doesn't fall off and the bolt works itself out backwards ...

@410Fortune, I took the pic before tightening

Thanks again, everyone

 

[koda2000]

and the UBJ pinch bolt nut is not tight
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!

That mistake could make for a very bad day if/when the bolt falls out. Always install bolts in the direction where gravity has a chance of leaving them in place (pinch bolts, sway bar end-link bolts). We live and learn.

 

[djkid97]

Yup... makes total sense.

Since I'm not able to get it in the other way, is there any logic in putting locktite or something else on the threads beyond the nut?

 

[koda2000]

Yup... makes total sense.

Since I'm not able to get it in the other way, is there any logic in putting locktite or something else on the threads beyond the nut?

As long as it's properly torqued locktite is not necessary. IIRC the pinch bolt nut is a made in such a way it wont loosen once tightened anyway.

There should be no reason (other than it's alignment with the notch in the ball joint stem) that the bolt would go in from one direction and not the other.

 

[fastpakr]

Koda - I believe he's referring to the camber bolt, not the pinch bolt regarding inserting it reversed.

 

[koda2000]

Koda - I believe he's referring to the camber bolt, not the pinch bolt regarding inserting it reversed.

Oh, I thought we were still talking about the UCA pinch bolt. Locktite never hurts (unless you're taking about using it on brass inserts in plastic).

OP - There are different types of Locktite. Green is for already assembled parts, Blue is medium strength to be used during assembly and Red is considered permanent (also used during assembly and requiring heat to disassemble in the future).

 

[swshawaii]

Or use M14x1.50 jam nuts.
Alignment printout help