Lower Control Arms and Control Arm Shafts?

[terd ferguson]

What am I missing? How do I get the lower control arm shaft out of the control arm? I tried putting the shaft in a vise and putting a pipe wrench on the shaft's cap. No turnie. I tried cutting the shaft and drving it out. No movey. Please help with any tips and hints. Thanks and thanks for this great forum.

Oh, and for the record and some background info, I got a set of lower control arms from a buddy with the bumpstop bracket shaved off. These have the old shafts and are beat up. He also gave me a set of new shafts. I'm trying to get the old shafts loose to install the new ones. These will then go on my truck to get a little more travel up front (I'm on the bumpstops now). Thanks again.

[protrash64]

Soak them with penetrating oil. They could be rusted on there pretty well. I had to use a 3/4'' drive rachet. The caps are definitely threaded on. Once they break loose they will come off and you will be able to snake the cross shaft out of the a-arm.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by protrash64

Soak them with penetrating oil. They could be rusted on there pretty well. I had to use a 3/4'' drive rachet. The caps are definitely threaded on. Once they break loose they will come off and you will be able to snake the cross shaft out of the a-arm.

I can turn the shaft. I cannot turn the caps. It's all coated with POR15 if that makes any difference. But the caps do not want to break loose. I figured if I cut a space out of the middle of the shafts, I could screw the halves out and then know the caps out. But I figure there's got to be an easier way.

[Alan's Classic]

If yours look like this, they definately screw out. I know you said they have POR15 on it so you might not want to use heat, but it is an option. Just warm the A arm up a little. Just my .02

[Captainfab]

Those are usually a real B***h to get loose. It may require a 3/4 drive socket....1 5/8" IIRC, 3/4 breaker bar (or 3/4 impact) and some heat. Be careful as to not get the control are too hot or you could weaken it. You could try as you mentioned and cut the shaft out, but then you still have to get the caps out of the control arm. Either way you're most likely going to have to touch up the POR

[terd ferguson]

I cut a link out of the shaft so I could screw out what was left of the shaft. But the caps will not budge from the control arm. I'm working on cutting the other shaft out. I don't know how I'm going to get the caps out though.

[Captainfab]

Originally Posted by terd ferguson

I cut a link out of the shaft so I could screw out what was left of the shaft. But the caps will not budge from the control arm. I'm working on cutting the other shaft out. I don't know how I'm going to get the caps out though.

See my post from yesterday.......

The caps are threaded into the control arms as well as onto the shafts.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

See my post from yesterday.......

The caps are threaded into the control arms as well as onto the shafts.

That's what I was missing. I saw the ridges on the new caps, but they weren't quite like threads so I never considered them being threaded. Thanks a bunch.

I guess I'll get them in a vise with a big ratchet and a big breaker bar. It's a good thing you posted before I took them to my buddy's to press them out.

[protrash64]

Heads up..when you install your new pieces, they need to be 'clocked' into a position where the a-arms rotate to allow for suspension movement. You will see when it goes together.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by protrash64

Heads up..when you install your new pieces, they need to be 'clocked' into a position where the a-arms rotate to allow for suspension movement. You will see when it goes together.

Thanks for the tip.

[terd ferguson]

OK, here's how I got them out. I put the control arm in a big vice and heated the area the caps screw into with a torch. Once they got nice and hot, they came right out with a big crescent wrench.

Thanks for all the help. No maybe my kidneys and teeth will get some relief when I get these in and get some more travel up front.

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by terd ferguson

OK, here's how I got them out. I put the control arm in a big vice and heated the area the caps screw into with a torch. Once they got nice and hot, they came right out with a big crescent wrench.

Thanks for all the help. No maybe my kidneys and teeth will get some relief when I get these in and get some more travel up front.

Thats why we take them to a local shop. We used to do them but they charge us $18.00 to do both sides. Too cheap for us to do it in our shop