Control arm swap - with pics - 'project Orange roadkill'

Upon reviving our Orange LS I quickly noticed it had some major handling issues, variable alignment (depending on if braking, or if accelerating) and a host of odd 'clunking' noises up front. It had a noticeable pull to the left under normal driving, until the brakes were applied then it would pull hard to the right. So it was messed up, a quick check of the wheels and it was obvious it needed new ball joints, and bushings. New Dorman arms with the BJ's and bushings installed came to less than $60 with shipping.

What I found was well worn out bushings on the drivers side, so much the arm just slopped around in the rear bushing. The passengers side was redone at some point, but was installed incorrectly, the bolts were just more than hand tight! So the bushings looked ok, but the arm was moving around causing just as many problems.

This job took all of about 20 minutes to swap the arms following the GM tis document, so I really don't have any enlightening tips. What worked for me was lining up the rear bushing, and installing the rear bolt and nut, then lining up the front bushing bolt. I needed to raise the trans about 3/4" on the driver side to get the bolt out.

The car now handles and drives like new, very solid up front with no noises of any kind. The brake pads were new looking so I did not need to touch the brakes.

All in all this is a very easy job when swapping the whole arms, and takes a bunch less time as it's just remove and replace. I normally press my own bushings, but since these were so cheap, I just did the whole arms. The time saved is worth the extra few bucks.

Awesome post with great pics ! Where did you buy your parts?

Rockauto.com for just about everything.

I also use Rock Auto for a lot of my bigger repair projects, they seem to be very competitive with my local auto parts stores. I don't like it if and when they have to split my order and then add the extra shipping to it, so I try to watch for that. Other then that...... I like the cool fridge magnets they send out with my order. LOL

Jesus H Christ buy some jackstands. That very Harbor Freight jack nearly got me killed once.

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Originally Posted by Thud Slamrod

Jesus H Christ buy some jackstands. That very Harbor Freight jack nearly got me killed once.

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To Funny ! Did you have it right side up? HF likes to place the decals on the bottom side of things! LMAO :p

Nice, thanks for sharing the pics.

@ Bg, Yeah it got old finding nothing in stock local, only to wait a week and a half for 'special order's, pay the store's shipping costs, and three times the price. When I can just order them myself and get them faster, for less money. If it's in stock I do get MANY parts local.

@ Thud - no worries, got six sets of them, this shot was taken (after I had test drove the car) just to show the new arms installed, since I forgot to get the camera out while I was actually doing the job. But good observation!

I like to keep my business local, but at the same time we have this Oil Boom thing going on in the western to central part of the state. So you can guess what that does to the price of things.:(

I do try to be a staunch supporter of local businesses (since I have been one myself) - but when all they (parts stores) do is act as 'broker' then mark the price up two times, pile on shipping costs - just for having a store front, I see no value in that really. Then over half of them I was supporting all shut down (or sold out to chains) in the past seven years due to the economy tanking, so seems like a lost cause anymore when they bail anyway. At some point you have to give up and just get it done already lol

Over the last few years I have built up quite an inventory, I stock most all filters, plugs, gaskets, brake pads, shoes, nuts/bolts, and some hard parts just so I can bypass the hassle of hunting them down when I need them.

I think you hit the nail right on the head with your comment about the 'auto industry' making it harder for the DIY'er to repair these cars. But that is a whole other topic, and one I hope to bypass as well in time.

06T200..... I agree friend, I believe its called GREED !

I am all for the small business trying to provide a service to a small rural community, kind of hard to make it all happen when your surrounded by Sharks!

Good to hear about the stands. The footprint of that jack is just way too narrow and the jacking pad is too small for doing any real work. The whole thing rolled over on me jacking my old RX7 from the side one time, luckily I hadn't started changing tires yet. Not too long after that the car slipped off that jack and punched a brand new radiator and bent the crankshaft snout in the process. Haven't used it since.

Thanks for the heads up Slam. Yes, in no way do I endorse using these lame 'racing jacks' as it takes WAY to much arm effort to lift even an Aveo. This jack was just for the house garage, I use my old trusty STEEL jack in my shop. I ALWAYS use stands, and would never advocate not using them, along with a real STEEL jack. DIY maintenance is no reason to risk death.

Can anyone tell me the torque specs for the control arm bolts, ball joint, end links, and trans mount? And do you really have to remove the tie rod end to remove the control arm?
tia

Hey Twisted, sorry for late reply.

The control arm nuts=47 ft/lb
Ball joint knuckle nuts were 41 f/lb
and I think the trans mount 44 or so. Close enough anyway lol

Oh and no I don't think you need to undo the tie rod as the spindle stay put. Just free the ball joint and that whole rig stays on the car.

You have probably finished the job by now?

Almost 2 years later I am pretty impressed with these dorman arms. I just took my LS into the shop to have the alignment checked and corrected if needed, and to my surprise the control arms are fine. I was expecting to find damaged parts due to some major road hazards in a short amount of time.

Why this is a shock (to me) is late last year the town I live in decided to tear up a road that I travel frequently when I am on this side of town. During the road work there were giant size pot holes, thick steel plates in the road and dozens of nasty bumps and uneven road surfaces. It was quite a ride to make it through that section of road. I was convinced I tore up the new dorman arms over the course of a few months, as I would have suspected any driver would have sustained damage due to the intense stress put on the front suspension. I was amazed I did not bend a rim it was that violent.

So in the short time I have had them, they have definitely been put through a pretty hard test. Nothing like the roads of Southern California, but bad enough I would suspect some sort of damage to bushings. FYI for anyone needing a new set of lower arms.