As the title states...I am starting to look at refreshing my front suspension. I am chasing a mild knock in the front right (right now it is a modest thunk) and I see the rubber is coming apart slightly. I am approaching the r/r of the upper control arm as a pretty basic job...but after reading several other posts, I am starting to worry I may run into issues.

I see I need to remove the strut. Is it enough to remove the lower bolt and the upper three to free it up enough for me to access the upper control arm bolts? Or, will I need to remove the lower suspension as well (I hope not?)

 

What's an r/r?

If you are talking the front control arm I think all you need to do is jack up the lower arm mount to take the tension off the upper arm.

 

T60 can be a turd if it’s rusted sometimes you need an induction heater and an impact.

to get the upper arm just take the stabilizer links and shock top nuts off then you can move it around to take the upper arm bolts out

 

r/r = remove and replace

 

I'm wondering if anyone has done this by using a spring expander to make space for the upper bolts to slide
between the shock springs without removing the shock?

This potentially could be a big time saver.

 

just tilt the whole coilover unit

 

What needs to be unbolted to tilt the coilover unit?

 

Okay, the right side is done. Coolant tank was an interesting burn of 2 hours. I am now of the opinion that the hose clamps that come OEM are too big a pain to deal with. I kept them...for now.

Tomorrow I do the left side. Hope that is smoother. Biggest issue thus far is finding the correct torque settings. I think everything in the front suspension is 70nm.

Thanks all for your responses.

 

Are these the values that you're looking for?

Front Suspension Torque Values from Workshop Manual

 

Thank you for this. Much appreciated.