I started a thread about replacing my ball joint dust covers on my front upper control arms thinking I had replaced these some time ago. I hadnt, I had actually replaced the rear upper control arms but as I got further into the job I realised that the bushings on my front upper control arms have seized. I have no movement at all on them. I am thinking I can loosen them off and/or remove them to get some grease in there but before I do, am I better to replace the whole control arm and solve all of my problems at one time and secondly, do the two bolts which secure the upper control arm adjust to set camber?
Steve

 

Front upper control arms do not adjust the camber.

They were shot on both mine when purchased.

Not a bad job as long as bottom shock bolt comes out easy.

If not you have a serious issue there.

 

Hi Wingrider, good to hear from you again. I managed to get the top control arm out though the17mm bolt under the cowl was a pig to get to. There is a painted metal bracket bracket whos sole purpose is to provide support to a cable loom and it gets in the way. Two 8mm hex heads got that out of the way and I could just get to it. The other 17mm bolt is easy - right next to the fuse box. I already have the strut out while I wait for a replacement.
I see in the manual that the bolts should be torqued down after the vehicle is on its wheels and level which implies the top control arm bushes dont have a lot of give in them. The original bushes look to be in great shape so I am inclined to maybe just change the ball joint out. It moves very freely and I can detect no free movement so it depends upon how much of a pig it is to get the old one out - any experience here? All of this started because the ball joint dust boot was shredded.....
Steve

 

Have not seen the replacement joints without the whole upper arm included.
Would not know how to remove or replace it from the arm if i did, sorry no answer here.
Ratchet wrenches, that swivel came in real handy for those upper nuts.

 

Guys, I replaced my front air struts with rebuilt ones and they are holding air! HOORAY!! However, the rubber in the upper arm ball joint on both left and right more or less shredded when I took the nut off. I left them as is to put the new struts in, and while everything seems fine (ride, etc.), I'm getting a bunch of metal banging noise. While I will double check again to make sure I did tighten everything (there are not that many bolts to remove/replace the struts), I'm thinking that maybe I've got metal to metal which is causing the noise.

Based on the above, it doesn't look like you can replace the joint; I have to get the whole upper arms for both sides. If so, who do you recommend? Autoparts.com? RockAuto? I'm targeting working on this in a week, so want to get whatever I need ordered ASAP so I get it in time.

I did screen shots of a Bilstein youtube video and circled where the rubber has torn apart on both control arms. This is not my car; I just used this to show the location. Thanks in advance. Gordon

 

i will tackle this job in a few weeks as my fronts are very worn. I've changed a similar setup in our 2006 Audi A8 so i'm hoping for no surprises. For parts, i'm leaning toward Moog from Rock Auto. I believe they are at a nice quality/price point. the OEM are super expensive.

 

outside of some stuff for domestics, moog is cheap chinese stuff. save your money and buy the $70 pair on ebay or get the OEM for the same price as the moogs (free shipping lifetime warranty)

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/jag...-type-xr852090

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/jag...-type-xr852091

 

Thanks for the links...at those prices, i can get the quality and feel better about my labor installing them ! Gonna order them next week.

 

Look at 2005 Ford Thunderbird. ROck Auto has Lemforder for 95.00 each. The front upper are the same for XJ, TBird, and LS.

 

The huge advantage of using FCP Euro is their lifetime warranty. So, for a few more dollars, you get the warranty. I've never tried to use the warranty, but read good things on it.

Here is their warranty info from the website:

FCP Euro Lifetime Replacement Guarantee

Every auto part you buy from FCP Euro is guaranteed for life, for as long as you own the vehicle. Our Lifetime Replacement Guarantee covers everything we sell, including wear-and-tear items like brake pads, gaskets, brake rotors, filters, and wiper blades!

Once the part purchased from FCP Euro wears out, simply purchase a replacement and then return the part you purchased to us within 90 days. We will issue you a refund against the replacement. No fine print, no restrictions, no time limit! Learn more.

 

just ordered the above control arms and supercharger belt from FCP Euro
ordered rear Akebono pads from rock . com
ordered supercharge oil from amazon

Should about bring Lady J back to baseline with 89k on the clock.