How do I remove lower control arm on a 67 barracuda
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rustycowll69
Well-Known Member
there has to be many archived threads about this. And you'll find many members have different methods.
For me, I support the front end of the car on jackstands under the frame rails in the vicinity of the firewall. remove the tie rod end from the lower ball joint. Back off the torsion bar adjusting bolt until there is no tension on the adjuster at all. remove the nut and washer from the front of the LCA pivot stud. remove the cotter pin and castellated nut from lower ball joint ball stud, and remove the ball joint ball stud from LCA with a hammer or press tool, or picklefork. remove the wire clip from the rear of the torsion bar socket. insert a pry bar of some sort (crowbar will work), between the rear of K- member and front of LCA, and force the LCA rearward. This will push the torsion bar back out of the rear anchor. Once that has happened, continue to push the LCA rearward until the front of the pivot stud clears the hole in the rear of the K-member, and it's free.
For me, I support the front end of the car on jackstands under the frame rails in the vicinity of the firewall. remove the tie rod end from the lower ball joint. Back off the torsion bar adjusting bolt until there is no tension on the adjuster at all. remove the nut and washer from the front of the LCA pivot stud. remove the cotter pin and castellated nut from lower ball joint ball stud, and remove the ball joint ball stud from LCA with a hammer or press tool, or picklefork. remove the wire clip from the rear of the torsion bar socket. insert a pry bar of some sort (crowbar will work), between the rear of K- member and front of LCA, and force the LCA rearward. This will push the torsion bar back out of the rear anchor. Once that has happened, continue to push the LCA rearward until the front of the pivot stud clears the hole in the rear of the K-member, and it's free.
The strut rod wasn't mentioned above. Must unbolt that too. Lower arm is easier said than done for sure. In some cases, assembly hanging way down, it will be impossible to get a tool on the lower ball joint nut.
You might need to remove the bump stop at upper arm and lower the assembly a little further to fully unload the torsion bar too. So to unbolt the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle might be the better route. Some of those are threaded into the knuckle ( the simpler, we'll hope that is yours), Others are bolted clear through ( need to hold the bolt head at brake side of those ). If I can take lower arm with lower ball joint to the workbench and separate there, I will.
Good luck any way you go at it.
You might need to remove the bump stop at upper arm and lower the assembly a little further to fully unload the torsion bar too. So to unbolt the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle might be the better route. Some of those are threaded into the knuckle ( the simpler, we'll hope that is yours), Others are bolted clear through ( need to hold the bolt head at brake side of those ). If I can take lower arm with lower ball joint to the workbench and separate there, I will.
Good luck any way you go at it.
wanta68cuda
Well-Known Member
YouTube! There's video of it being done.
The guys nailed all of it above. While I'm still not an experienced mechanic, this is one job that I've done four times now. All I can say is that there's no magic here. Everything that needs to come apart is visible. Just have the right tools on hand, make sure the car is fully supported. I always set the parking brake, chock the rear wheels, use jackstands (as suggested above) AND leave the jack under the K-Member, supporting some of the weight.
So I don't have much to add to what has already been said but perhaps I can add some detail?
The parts likely to give you some trouble will be getting the torsion bar to back out of the mounts (in particular, the one on the body of the car), especially if it's never been apart. As mentioned above, make damn certain that the adjuster bolt (underneath the arm) is backed out to the point where you can wiggle the adjuster. If you don't do this, the torsion bar will be preloaded...and even a slight amount of preload may make it impossible to get the bar to budge and if it does, it's going to go "bang" and possibly damage the car or your person. Don't forget the retaining clip at the tail end of the bar. It will come right out with pliers. It could be hidden by grime so it's worth mentioning again. ;)
Second, getting the lower ball joint off of the arm can be a pain without a ball joint tool...but it can be done, if you're lucky. The picklefork (as rustycowl mentioned) will be your best friend here. You'll absolutely want to install a new balljoint at this point (you'll probably wreck the boot when extracting it anyway) and I'd consider saving yourself some hassle and getting a new assembly with the joint already installed in the forging... Unless you're adventurous and want to press the new one in yourself.
Keep us posted. I got a lot of help from this form so I'm more than happy to try to answer any questions if you get stuck.
So I don't have much to add to what has already been said but perhaps I can add some detail?
The parts likely to give you some trouble will be getting the torsion bar to back out of the mounts (in particular, the one on the body of the car), especially if it's never been apart. As mentioned above, make damn certain that the adjuster bolt (underneath the arm) is backed out to the point where you can wiggle the adjuster. If you don't do this, the torsion bar will be preloaded...and even a slight amount of preload may make it impossible to get the bar to budge and if it does, it's going to go "bang" and possibly damage the car or your person. Don't forget the retaining clip at the tail end of the bar. It will come right out with pliers. It could be hidden by grime so it's worth mentioning again. ;)
Second, getting the lower ball joint off of the arm can be a pain without a ball joint tool...but it can be done, if you're lucky. The picklefork (as rustycowl mentioned) will be your best friend here. You'll absolutely want to install a new balljoint at this point (you'll probably wreck the boot when extracting it anyway) and I'd consider saving yourself some hassle and getting a new assembly with the joint already installed in the forging... Unless you're adventurous and want to press the new one in yourself.
Keep us posted. I got a lot of help from this form so I'm more than happy to try to answer any questions if you get stuck.
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