[Lumpy53]

My alignment was off so I took it in for a alignment. The shop said the right hand upper control arm and ball joint were worn. So I said how much to change it and the alignment? $400.00, I said, put it back together i'll pick it up and do it myself! Went to Advance rh upper control arm with ball joint, $71.00.
So I might be doing this tomorrow. Has anyone done one before? Any tips? I got the manual, it looks pretty straight forward.

 

[stick]

It's really straight forward. And, if you have a 90 or 91 upper control arm, you can replace the balljoint by itself (not welded to the arm like on the 88 and 89 versions). However, that's a bit of a more difficult job, so it might just be worth it to go with the whole arm.

To replace the upper arm, you'll need to first remove the spring/shock assembly. Undo the shock fork bottom bolt, and undo the pinch bolt at the top of the shock fork. Bang the shock fork off the shock with a hammer. Undo the top spring hat nuts (do not undo the center nut that holds the spring onto the shock) and lower the shock a bit. You will now have room to remove the upper arm.

Unbolt the dust cover on the front top of the steering knuckle. Remove the cotter pin from the castle nut on the balljoint. Undo the castle nut, and separate the balljoint with your preferred method. (pickle fork, puller, etc). Then undo the top nuts in for the upper arm, and remove. Reinstall the new one in the reverse order of removal.

 

[CeeAreEx90]

Now would be a great time to get some aftermarket control arms if you ever thought about doing it.

 

[Krix]

you dont have to take out the shocks.

first take the upper ball joint loose. then take off the nuts that hold it to the shock tower under the hood. lower the control arm down around the shock. On the back side there are 2 nuts and bolts, i think they are both 14mm. take them out and then the a-shaped piece will come right off. The straight piece you will have to work around the shock. I have done 3 sets like this. if you have any problems let me know and ill try to get some pics to show you what you mean.

 

[toxiclows]

If you have a digi cam. take some photos and post the writeup of the project

 

[Lumpy53]

If you have a digi cam. take some photos and post the writeup of the project

Opps! I was in a hurry to take it back to get the alignment done. I just finished it, peice of cake hardest part getting the ball joint off. Took about a hour, not counting running out to buy a pickle fork. Sorry I should have took pics .

 

[toxiclows]

No prob.... Glad to hear that you got it done.... and you saved a pile of money...

Chris

 

[stick]

You gotta love doing the work yourself! It definitely is an awesome feeling when it's all finished and done. I usually sit back in the shade with a cold bevy and periodically take glances at my car and mutter "Ohhhh yeah!" under my breath .

 

[Lumpy53]

Yep, shop just called she's all done will be driving nice and straight and not wearing tires out so soon!

 

[Krix]

who did the alignment?

I just had mine done a few months back, firestone lifetime alignment. smack a curb ( i dont usually drive that bad ) take it back and get it fixed.
The way the roads are around here it will come in handy

 

[Lumpy53]

I tend not to trust some of the larger chains with my Rex. It's a smaller local shop I go to, that is the only shop I trust with my car.

 

[akirarex]

Yeah it's hard to trust people with these types of cars. My friend had his crx aligned, it had a dohc zc in it at the time. The guys told him they got it aligned as good as they could but they couldn't get rid of the torque steer. He didn't think much of it at the moment figuring that the guy was refering to the zc's higher torque steer than stock. Then he gets in his car to leave and he noticed that there was a techinician mat (white plastic disposable floor mat) on both sides of the car, like someone else was riding with him at the time or taking turns.

Now (two years later) that it is all chipped and turbo'd I am going to program a chip for him that has a 4k rev limit and low launch control rpm. They will probably just pound on it more knowing that we are trying to stop them from pounding on it.

 

[jtkc]

wow newbie here again i was obviously searching the posts came across this i own an 88 si i purchased the SKUNK2 i believe they are the upper control arm camber correction kit do i need to purchase a ball joint or is it on the skunk arms already i have never done this before but from instructions it sounds less complicated than i thought it would be thanks for any info

 

[jfrolang]

The Skunk2 arms come with a ball joint. They are a bolt in job - and then you get an alignment, because changing the camber changes the toe.

 

[jtkc]

thanks familiar with camber and toe thanks to r/c cars how close should i be mileage wise to an alignment shop and or is there a way to eyeball the camber/toe degree's so i can drive it to a shop? only reason i ask is that only readily available place to install this kit is in my mom and step-dads place which is a good 30 minutes from any place that does alignments

 

[jfrolang]

The closer the better, but you can use toe plates, the string method or even just a measuring tape to get the toe close to zero.

 

[jtkc]

ok, thanks for the info. Now, one problem left.. To find the time to do it, lol. Sometimes working seven days a week really bites. :?