NEED HELP Upper control arm bolts coming loose ?

KEEBZ489

Original poster
Member
Jan 16, 2018
245
Howard Beach NY
2005 ext , did the whole front end over with Detroit axle , all good except the right side upper control arm rear bolt. Few days after I did the job I went to check and had an “I’m an idiot moment” because the bolt was half way out thinking I didn’t thread it all the way in. I tightened it down and all was good. Something made me check today and guess what. It’s backing itself out AGAIN ! Did I miss something ? Thread lock ? Driver side is fine.
 

Reprise

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 22, 2015
2,724
Not that it should matter, but is the bolt head toward the back and the nut to the 'inside'? (I forget whether or not that's a captive nut; if so, then the bolt only goes in one way, of course. Hope it's not, though, for your sake.)

As long as that's the case, either get some blue (or even red) locker, or order a new bolt. Either way, you want to keep a close eye on that until resolved. If the arm collapses, it'll likely take the upper ball joint out with it.
 

KEEBZ489

Original poster
Member
Jan 16, 2018
245
Howard Beach NY
The head of the head of the bolt faces the rear. There is no nut , it threads into the car itself. No other way to install it. On the lower you can turn it around so that if the nut came loose the bolt would stay in place.
 

Attachments

  • 124A77EB-7822-4C5E-93BC-9ED00B206569.jpeg
    124A77EB-7822-4C5E-93BC-9ED00B206569.jpeg
    319.5 KB · Views: 30
  • 23596200-CB5A-421F-B9D8-80912A7F0020.jpeg
    23596200-CB5A-421F-B9D8-80912A7F0020.jpeg
    207.3 KB · Views: 31

2001ZR2

Member
Jul 16, 2019
93
Kansas
There is a captive nut and it's something like a 32mm 8 sided one. On my recent front end rebuild the driver side front broke off and had to be tacked back in place.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
You are tightening that bolt, as well as all the others, with the weight on the truck on the tires and putting the A-arms at ride height? If not, I can see why the torque of the bushing when the arm comes up and turns that bolt loose. I'd add some blue Loctite too.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
Glad to see I am not the only one with this issue. Same position too. Passenger upper control arm, rear bolt.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
I'll jump into this thread as my '05 EXT starting making some noise when backing and turning. What is it with my truck, backing up, turning, and making noise?? Anyway, while putting the snow tires on yesterday, I was checking the suspension. Grab, pull, push, shake - the only thing that moved was the right upper control arm. So I guess I will be replacing it.

What am I looking at in the work? Just back the bolts out (ha ha!! Michigan rust bucket...), get the upper ball joint loose/out, and pull it out?

JespVKC.jpg


v0JNp26.jpg
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
Thats it actually, the right upper control arm mount is SUPER easy. The arm, with bushings can be had at Advance Auto Parts for 60-70 bucks. its about 30 mins of work. And your done. Should get an alignment done afterwards, but I didnt, but thats because I am planning to take my whole front end apart to replace a bunch of other things that will also require an alignment.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
Thanks. I guess I'll try to find a spot to start spraying some goober juice to loosen everything up. Hopefully that will make it easier to get the bolts out. I should probably get new bolts just in case.
 

2001ZR2

Member
Jul 16, 2019
93
Kansas
If the upper control arms are that bad the rest of front end can't be in great shape. I've rebuilt two of these so it can't be that hard 🤔. I would check the LCA, ball joints and tie rods. They can be pretty bad and the truck drives fine.
 

KEEBZ489

Original poster
Member
Jan 16, 2018
245
Howard Beach NY
21mm ratcheting wrench will save you a lot of time and headaches , driver side the body will need to be cut/rolled out of the way. not much , but its needed. do some searching , there are images. you cant tell when the fender liner is put back , i was lazy and also dont care , its a beater truck , i cut right through the liner also. apparently they didnt measure right and when they drop the body on the assembled chassis they never thought of repairs down the road
 
  • Like
Reactions: C-ya

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
apparently they didnt measure right and when they drop the body on the assembled chassis they never thought of repairs down the road

They did, they just didn't give a shit.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Beacon and C-ya

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
As a follow-up to my portion of this thread, I got the upper control arm changed out today. It started off easy, but the ratcheting wrench got mighty friendly with the bodywork with both bolts. I ended up taking the washer reservoir/airbox off, which added about 10 minutes total to the job, to get the front bolt out. Luckily there was enough room the get the rear bolt out far enough to go by hand. Surprised me as my truck is rather rusty.

The driver's side UCA will definitely need some "bodywork modifications" to replace it.

A few pics:

Rear bolt showing how far out it has to come. This still had about 1/4" or so to go. The bodywork is flexible/loose enough that it worked out OK.

YqUbKacl.jpg


Front bolt, with a bit more to go as well.

da9SwLFl.jpg


View from the top.

G8Ls3DNl.jpg


Old UCA. Those bushings were pretty tore up.

AxSBiJhl.jpg



I drove around the block and backed up a couple of times while turning and no more clunks. Hopefully the driver's side is OK for a while. Gotta get her dropped off for an alignment soon.
 
Last edited:

2001ZR2

Member
Jul 16, 2019
93
Kansas
C-Ya glad you got it repaired for a while. I suspect if you jack up the front end one or both of wheels will drop due to the LCA bushing being nearly as bad or worse than the top. Unless they've been done previously.

My so's truck drove a lot better after replacing the front end but it had an outer tie rod that had about 1/2" of movement in and out. My wife's truck wasn't that much different but the drive side wheel would drop when it was lifted on a jack. She was unimpressed but it does ride nice.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
@2001ZR2 , the last time I had it in for an alignment, they didn't note anything odd but the right UCA certainly went TU since then. The power steering rack and both tie rod ends have been replaced. Upper and lower ball joints have also been done. When I take it in, I'll see if they can align it or if they recommend some more parts.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,271
Posts
637,476
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher

Members Online