<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2><TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 4px" vAlign=top colSpan=2>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]Front control arms<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 19 2000 at 10:50 PM[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<SCRIPT language=Javascript> <!-- var n54_em; n54_em = ""; n54_em = n54_em + "d";n54_em = n54_em + "g";n54_em = n54_em + "i";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "a";n54_em = n54_em + "n";n54_em = n54_em + "@";n54_em = n54_em + "T";n54_em = n54_em + "e";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "e";n54_em = n54_em + "p";n54_em = n54_em + "o";n54_em = n54_em + "r";n54_em = n54_em + "t";n54_em = n54_em + ".";n54_em = n54_em + "c";n54_em = n54_em + "o";n54_em = n54_em + "m"; document.write("David"); // --> </SCRIPT>David <NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT> [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom colSpan=3><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->Hello,
I crashed my 1980 Fiat X 1/9 a few months ago. I crashed it by missing a stop sign, and hitting the other side of the road. I mainly damaged the front end bumper styling, and radiator grille. When I crashed it I also found out that I broke the second radius arm bolt (the small one on the control arm). I tried to take the broken half out of the control arm but was unsuccessful. What I'm going to do is replace the control arm. But what I don't know is will I have to take off the strut to replace the control arm? If so I don't believe that I will be able to replace it myself. Does any know of anything else that I should look at that I may have damaged when I crashed my car? As far as I can see it doesn't look like there is any major damage other then styling, and the radius arm bolt. Also does any know if the rear wheel bearings need to be pressed in?
Thanks You
David<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial] [/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]Author[/FONT]</TD><TD>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]Reply[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap width="17.9%">[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]Ulix[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px" vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->Changing arms<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 20 2000, 9:13 AM [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px">
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->David,
The hard part in changing the control arm is separating the ball joint on the outer end of the arm from the upright. Everything else is easy.
You could buy a tool to get the ball joint off for fairly cheap. I don't like the pickle fork tool much myself. I have a tool such as pictured in the Bayless catalog. Mine is from JC Whitney.
You should ask yourself, how did the radius rod bolt get broken? Did the impact distort the front of your car so that the rod was pushed back?
If the bolt wasn't broken, would the rod still line up with the arm so that you could bolt it up?
Is the rod bent? Is the area where the control arm mounts to the body bent?
When you look from the side, is the wheel still centered in the wheel well, or is it pushed back?
If in doubt, you could have a frame shop measure the car.
The rear wheel bearings should be pressed in. They don't require much force as other cars do, but pressing them in will avoid a number of potential problems that you might run into when you hammer them in. If you want to DIY, you could disassemble everything, get the old bearing out, clean everything and deliver the upright, hub, new bearing and hardware to a shop. Won't cost you more then 10 bucks.
I would receommend buying a new bearing retaining ring and hub nut.
Ulix<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial] [/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap width="17.9%">[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]Mac[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px" vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->excellent advice!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 21 2000, 1:13 AM [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px">
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->This is good stuff! All I can think to pitch into the mix is to say that taking the strut assembly out of the car is really quite easy, 2 bolts at the bottom & 3 little nuts at the top. If I were you, I would not be concerned about having to take that out of the car, I'd be more worried about wether the pickle fork will toast the ball joint rubber!
Then again, if it's already screwed up, who cares if you rip the boot
-Mac.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
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[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 19 2000 at 10:50 PM[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<SCRIPT language=Javascript> <!-- var n54_em; n54_em = ""; n54_em = n54_em + "d";n54_em = n54_em + "g";n54_em = n54_em + "i";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "a";n54_em = n54_em + "n";n54_em = n54_em + "@";n54_em = n54_em + "T";n54_em = n54_em + "e";n54_em = n54_em + "l";n54_em = n54_em + "e";n54_em = n54_em + "p";n54_em = n54_em + "o";n54_em = n54_em + "r";n54_em = n54_em + "t";n54_em = n54_em + ".";n54_em = n54_em + "c";n54_em = n54_em + "o";n54_em = n54_em + "m"; document.write("David"); // --> </SCRIPT>David <NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT> [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom colSpan=3><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->Hello,
I crashed my 1980 Fiat X 1/9 a few months ago. I crashed it by missing a stop sign, and hitting the other side of the road. I mainly damaged the front end bumper styling, and radiator grille. When I crashed it I also found out that I broke the second radius arm bolt (the small one on the control arm). I tried to take the broken half out of the control arm but was unsuccessful. What I'm going to do is replace the control arm. But what I don't know is will I have to take off the strut to replace the control arm? If so I don't believe that I will be able to replace it myself. Does any know of anything else that I should look at that I may have damaged when I crashed my car? As far as I can see it doesn't look like there is any major damage other then styling, and the radius arm bolt. Also does any know if the rear wheel bearings need to be pressed in?
Thanks You
David<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial] [/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px" vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->Changing arms<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 20 2000, 9:13 AM [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px">
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->David,
The hard part in changing the control arm is separating the ball joint on the outer end of the arm from the upright. Everything else is easy.
You could buy a tool to get the ball joint off for fairly cheap. I don't like the pickle fork tool much myself. I have a tool such as pictured in the Bayless catalog. Mine is from JC Whitney.
You should ask yourself, how did the radius rod bolt get broken? Did the impact distort the front of your car so that the rod was pushed back?
If the bolt wasn't broken, would the rod still line up with the arm so that you could bolt it up?
Is the rod bent? Is the area where the control arm mounts to the body bent?
When you look from the side, is the wheel still centered in the wheel well, or is it pushed back?
If in doubt, you could have a frame shop measure the car.
The rear wheel bearings should be pressed in. They don't require much force as other cars do, but pressing them in will avoid a number of potential problems that you might run into when you hammer them in. If you want to DIY, you could disassemble everything, get the old bearing out, clean everything and deliver the upright, hub, new bearing and hardware to a shop. Won't cost you more then 10 bucks.
I would receommend buying a new bearing retaining ring and hub nut.
Ulix<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial] [/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px" vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->excellent advice!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
[/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial][/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]March 21 2000, 1:13 AM [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px">
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]<!-- google_ad_section_start -->This is good stuff! All I can think to pitch into the mix is to say that taking the strut assembly out of the car is really quite easy, 2 bolts at the bottom & 3 little nuts at the top. If I were you, I would not be concerned about having to take that out of the car, I'd be more worried about wether the pickle fork will toast the ball joint rubber!
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial] [/FONT]</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=right>[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial]