Upper & Lower Control Arms

[Melon]

I've seen posts and videos about changing the upper control arm, but what about the lower? Got it back from the rear diff rebuild and they said upper and lower balljoints need replaced. Since I'm not planning to get rid of it anytime soon, why not change the whole control arm? Not only replace balljoints, but replace other bushings along the way.

Am I crazy to change out the lower? Is it a bigger pain than it's worth? And I'm assuming stick with Motorcraft rather than anything otherwise?

 

[shane10]

When I did front UCA and LCA I did them as whole units as both the ball joints and bushings were shot, not to mention the UCA bushings are extremely hard (if not impossible?) to replace. The price as whole units didn't break the bank so for ease of installation it is what I opted for.
I would say for rear UCA go ahead and buy as a unit if cost isn't a factor, however from a quick search it seems the LCA units are selling for around $500 ea, even aftermarket? Not sure why that would be, but definitely just replace the ball joints on the lower arm.
Motorcraft is always your best bet, but I've had good luck with Moog in general, although I've heard they changed manufacturers I have no direct info on this.
Good luck!
PS: What did you have done on the rear diff/what did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Melon]

Was it difficult to do the bottom? Going off the pictures, it looks pretty reasonable. The hardest part looks to be getting the lower ball joint out without removing the halfshaft. Assuming 06-10 is similar to 02-05 anyway. I priced out Motorcraft parts via RockAuto and it's about $600. Moog came up to be about half that.

The rear diff was rebuilt and front wheel bearings were replaced. I'm kinda upset that they didn't tell me sooner about the balljoints because I would have said just do it all at one shot since the front end is kinda apart for the wheel bearing. That bill was shy of $2400 and the halfway estimate I got for rear wheel bearings and 4 front balljoints was another 2 grand.

I'm not at the rear bushings yet, though I'm sure the rear will follow soon.

 

[shane10]

Was it difficult to do the bottom? Going off the pictures, it looks pretty reasonable. The hardest part looks to be getting the lower ball joint out without removing the halfshaft. Assuming 06-10 is similar to 02-05 anyway. I priced out Motorcraft parts via RockAuto and it's about $600. Moog came up to be about half that.

The rear diff was rebuilt and front wheel bearings were replaced. I'm kinda upset that they didn't tell me sooner about the balljoints because I would have said just do it all at one shot since the front end is kinda apart for the wheel bearing. That bill was shy of $2400 and the halfway estimate I got for rear wheel bearings and 4 front balljoints was another 2 grand.

I'm not at the rear bushings yet, though I'm sure the rear will follow soon.

Ah I assumed you were talking about rear ball joints/control arms as you had mentioned getting the rear diff rebuilt, my apologies. I wouldn't say it was extremely difficult, but not an easy job by any means. I had my front end apart previously to doing the LCA, so all the rust/bolts were already loosened up, I'd say that is the most difficult part.
Will you be doing the work yourself or bringing it back to a mechanic?

 

[Melon]

No worries I'm planning to do the front LCAs and UCAs myself. Especially since I think I can do it myself for half the money. I just may need to purchase a few larger sockets.

However, the mechanic will do the rear wheel bearings.

 

[shane10]

I forget the exact sizes for the lower bolts but yes you will need some larger sockets outside of a standard tool set to do the job, other than that it's pretty standard, maybe a pickle fork to separate the ball joints from the sockets, I think I sufficed with a few nice hits on the knuckle to break mine free. I went motorcraft for both upper and lower as well, as I had gotten 150-200k miles out of the first set, can't go wrong.
Maybe someone can chime in on the quality of these, but it looks like Moog sells the rear wheel bearing/knuckle/backing plate as a single unit for about $200. Would allow you to do them yourself and save some money as a press wouldn't be needed, again not sure on the quality of the bearings so your call on that one.
Good luck

 

[2000co]

I'm planning to replace the front upper control arms. Do i need to torque the the bolts on the side of the control arm (not the mounting bolts) or they come pre torqued?

 

[shane10]

I'm planning to replace the front upper control arms. Do i need to torque the the bolts on the side of the control arm (not the mounting bolts) or they come pre torqued?

If you bought it as a unit, they should be torqued and ready to install as is. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put some torque on them and see first, I have had suspension parts delivered with parts missing/installed incorrectly before, although very rarely.

 

[2000co]

If you bought it as a unit, they should be torqued and ready to install as is. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put some torque on them and see first, I have had suspension parts delivered with parts missing/installed incorrectly before, although very rarely.

Do you know the tourque number?

 

[shane10]

Do you know the tourque number?

From what I could find it's 41 ft.lb. for the ball joint, and 111 ft.lb. for the frame bolts.
There are some pretty good write ups here as well as a video from 1aauto on replacement.

EDIT: I'm not sure of the torque spec of the bolts on the unit itself. When I replaced mine years ago, I checked if they were tight already. They were torqued to hell and seemed to have heavy thread lock on them. You should be good to go.