Joebrick

Moving along through my front suspension rebuild with a few questions. Front end is up on stands.

1) Does the car have to be on the ground to torque the control arm bushing end cap washers? My bushings are black ES poly. Is the torque 60 ft lbs.? (Using red loc tite)

2) Does the car have to be on the ground to torque the cross shaft bolts to frame? (where the alignment washers are located)

Lastly, any other components that need to be tightened on the ground? I am also replacing ball joints and tie rod ends.

Thanks

MelWff

1. Does the bushing or end caps have serated teeth like the stock set up, if they do the bolts have to be tightened with the car on the ground.
2. No the car does not have to be on the ground.
3. The stock control arm bushings and sway bar to frame are tightened on the ground.

MajD

Poly bushings come in three pieces: outer sleeve, bushing, and inner sleeve. When you torque the end cap down, it holds the inner sleeve in place, but the poly bushing is still free to rotate completely around the inner sleeve. This means that you do not have to have the car on the ground to tighten the end caps. This is also why you should use loc-tite, as the rotational movement of the bushing can also rotate the cap and back the bolt out. It happened to me.

The stock rubber bushing is integrated with the sleeves so that the whole thing is one piece. These should be tightened with the car on the ground.