Hello everyone!
I’m planning to replace my upper control arm on my 1999 Honda Accord but I don’t know how to get the new upper control arm to the correct spec so I don’t mess the alignment and destroy my tires. I watched few videos but none of them covered on how to get the new upper control arm to the correct spec. It wasn’t covered on the Honda repair manual either.
Few mechanics suggested that I can just leave everything loose and once the car is on the ground I can drive it backwards and forward a little bit so everything is on place and then I can tighten up everything but the problem is that there is no place to tighten up those two bolts because the two bolts that are holding the upper control arm are behind the strut.
My question is how can I get the upper control arm to the correct spec without putting the car on the ground?
Appreciate all of your help 🙂
I’ve done many control arms on Honda’s I’ve never had to lower it and drive and tighten it. I do torque the two upper bolts to spec as well as the ball joint but to spec. I don’t believe ther is any camber adjustment needed after a control arm on that car. Should just be pretty straight forward remove and replace and then take it in for alignment if your worried.
One thing I forgot to ask is that, is it ok if I start jacking from the lower ball joint to a point where the car is lifted a bit from the jack stand and then torque the bolts?
No, don’t lift from the ball joint you can damage it. You should be able to torque while on the stands.
Here's what I would do:
Book an appointment at an alignment shop ahead of time. You will need an alignment no matter what. No two control arms are identical.
Measure, and mark everything with paint or a scribe when you disassemble it. When you you re-assemble, use your marks and get everything as close as you can.
Then take it straight to the alignment shop. It won't matter for a few miles if the alignment is a little bit out of spec.
Yup, as @th3kr1s mentioned, take it to a reputed front end shop for an alignment after you’re done installing the new arms.
Alignment is best left to computers with pro technicians, who know what they’re doing.
