Control Arm Bolts

[Great Offender]

I use this...
https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...MIjr6wtrbshAMVbXJHAR3jaQNDEAQYCSABEgIOrPD_BwE

Great, like a frugal (cheapskate) like me can afford another $22 after the impact wrench and sockets?

Looks interesting and I might do some more research on it. Thank you for that lead!

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[ShadowsPapa]

@ShadowsPapa - thank you for confirming my fever dream of using a jack to move the wrench/bar.
I imagine it will be Thursday when I tackle this project again (1.5 spacer) and I'm sure I'll have issues with torquing the bolts. Now I'm headed to the garage to make sure my wrench goes to 180. I used it on my motorcycle so ?

I love the Icon 250 lb/ft torque wrench I got from Harbor Freight. Good price and really pretty good reviews. It's long and goes high enough for a Jeep.
It BARELY goes high enough for the rear axle hub bolts on an AMC, but that's ok - I use math and physics to get there for those beasts.

When doing pinions in cars, especially since I don't yet have a lift, I've had to use tricks like jacks to get the crush sleeve started, and then make final torque and preload of the pinion.

 

[Great Offender]

Checking on the Icon wrenches now! Every time I hear you mention AMC and the Javelin it brings back memories of being a kid and thinking the AMX was the baddest car on the road. My fever dream now is to wish today's cars had the beauty and lines of those autos. Can't remember when I last saw a Javelin?

 

[NULL POINTER]

I use this...
https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...MIjr6wtrbshAMVbXJHAR3jaQNDEAQYCSABEgIOrPD_BwE

I have a set of those and they are very useful for many applications. Question is, how do you use them on the front bolts of the LCAs? Easy to use on the rear bolts, no room up front to use these to tighten from my experience. And to loosen on the passenger side front bolts for the LCAs, I have to use a wobbler if I can't loosen it with my breaker bar.

 

[NULL POINTER]

Checking on the Icon wrenches now! Every time I hear you mention AMC and the Javelin it brings back memories of being a kid and thinking the AMX was the baddest car on the road. My fever dream now is to wish today's cars had the beauty and lines of those autos. Can't remember when I last saw a Javelin?

This is the one I have. 1/2 in. Drive 50-250 ft. lb. Professional Flex Head Click Torque Wrench (harborfreight.com)
I have not seen an AMX in years. Buddy had a 390 4 spd back in the day. It was fast. My 340 Duster could not keep up. Love it when Shadow's Poppa posts pictures that include the Javelin.

 

[dayusmc]

I use them fromt the outside on the LCA and frome the inside on the UCA

 

[dayusmc]

I am a tool junkie... I had a lot of tools when I was young working at the body shop. I gave them all up when I joined the Corps. I started building my tools up again at my house in central Jersey when I cam home. When I first moved to the NJ shore I was renting on the water and the house only had a small garage. I had to give up the bigger tools like my lathe and flow bench. Now that I bought a house with an oversized 2 car garage I am building up my tools. So I have a lot of extras that aren't needed
Basically you don't need 1/2 regular sockets, just get the impact ones. Likewise you don't need 1/4 or 3/8 impact sockets. Most likely you don't need 12 point sockets either. A set of 1/2" impact sockets, a set of regular 3/3" and 1/4" sockets. Ratchets for them, impact gun and torque wrench, set of metric wrenches and also screwdrivers. Harbor freight is making better tools now, their Icon line is really nice. If there is a Harbor freight near you, that is the place to start building up the tools you need for the Jeep. Sabe the money over the more expensive tools..

 

[dayusmc]

An example...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Checking on the Icon wrenches now! Every time I hear you mention AMC and the Javelin it brings back memories of being a kid and thinking the AMX was the baddest car on the road. My fever dream now is to wish today's cars had the beauty and lines of those autos. Can't remember when I last saw a Javelin?

Oh, well, here ya go........ the 1970 Javelin SST I sold in 2019 to finance my first JT purchase.
Bought in 2005 with 24,000 miles, I rebuilt the engine and did a bunch of restoration - complete suspension, brakes, steering and differential rebuild, paint, carpet, headliner, etc. Sold at 30,000 miles.

 

[hjdca]

Torque Wrench. This is the one I use. It is a great one for the money, and dual beam rather than spring. $191 on Amazon, and most say it is the same as the Snap-on one for $400, and the same company, Precision Instruments makes them for Snap-On. Made in USA, and has a flex head - 50 to 250 ft/lbs, 25.5 inch length. I used it to torque the Control arm bolts but I still had to muster all I had. I used my air impact gun to loosen them, and the air impact gun set on low to tighten them, then, this Torque wrench to set them to the 190 ft/lbs.

Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F Silver 1/2" Drive Split Beam Torque Wrench with Flex Head

 

[Great Offender]

@hjdca - Thank you! Found it on Amazon and a flex head was something I had not considered.

@ShadowsPapa - an SST no less with, IMO, the sexy rear end with the single row of lights and the cleaner bumper and who doesn't love factory side pipes!

 

[AmishMike]

Loctite....... one of the Boozefighters MC members used to make sure his bike was parked outside for every rain storm. If it hadn't rained in a while he would go piss on it. Rusted the nuts and bolts tight enough to not rattle loose while racing...........

 

[hjdca]

@hjdca - Thank you! Found it on Amazon and a flex head was something I had not considered.

@ShadowsPapa - an SST no less with, IMO, the sexy rear end with the single row of lights and the cleaner bumper and who doesn't love factory side pipes!

If I remember right, the flex head came in handy on those LCA, & UCA bolts... I also think I had to use the torque wrench on the bolt side on a few, rather than the nut side, which is not ideal.... but, I think that was the best way to get the required leverage.... Make sure to mark them with a paint pen, that way you can tell with a glance if they have loosened up over time. Note: 40K miles an lots of 4wheeling and mine have not loosened up at all.

 

[Badunit]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, the impact is very handy for the final torque on the LCA bolts. The factory specs are torque + degrees. Below are the specs from the 2023 service manual. It is a whole lot easier to torque to these lower numbers then use the impact to turn it the additional degrees. Plus you don't need a high-torque torque wrench.

 

[NULL POINTER]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, the impact is very handy for the final torque on the LCA bolts. The factory specs are torque + degrees. Below are the specs from the 2023 service manual. It is a whole lot easier to torque to these lower numbers then use the impact to turn it the additional degrees. Plus you don't need a high-torque torque wrench.

That is what I did yesterday. Torqued all 4 LCA bolts to 103 ft. lbs, then marked 145 degrees. For some reason, my DeWalt DCF899H wouldn't move them to the mark, it got them to about 110-120 degrees. I then tried to move them with a 36 inch breaker bar, they did not budge, so I said good enough, marked the bolts and nuts, and will review in 30 days for any movement. I see these specs call for the torque on the nut, not the bolt. Hmmm....

EDIT:
The factory LCA bolt heads are 13/16 or 21mm, the nuts are 15/16 or 24mm. I was always taught to apply the torque to the bolt head and hold the nut when the bolt head is smaller than the nut diameter. So I wonder why the TechAuthority says to apply the torque on the nuts for the LCA's?

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