Dumb question I suppose

[Dippydog]

I've got a worn balljoint[lower N/S front]so I've bought a pair of bottom arms-might as well change both while I'm under there,but not yet decided on that-anyway as I understand it once the new one is on the inner bolts/nuts should be tightened to the specified torque with the weight of the car on its wheels.Now I can jack it/support on axle stands etc to remove the old ones/refit the new but once it's down on its wheels I'd not be able to reach the inner bolts/nuts to tighten them.So if I drop it down then run the car up onto ramps to complete the job would that do?or would the fact that the car is at a nose high angle-front on the ramps rears on the floor-load the bushes up at an "unnatural" angle?

[DaveNP]

That's how I did mine but I have the advantage that my driveway slopes so with the ramps the car is about level. I think the issue is to avoid the bushes being tightened when they are twisted by the arm being lowered as it would be if the car were jacked up.

[green van man]

Angle of the car does not matter it's the weight of the car on the wishbones that matters.
If you support the car with blocks under the outer edge of the wishbones and remove all supports from under the body the weight will settle as if the car sat on its wheels.
Torque the bolts up, jack the car and fit the wheels lower and you are good to go.

What you need to avoid is the bushes being twisted at rest as this will cause them to wear quicker, to avoid this they need to be in their natural loaded position before tightening the bolts. If the weight of the car is on the wishbones then it's as it would normally sit.
Paul.

[huron]

And there's no such thing as a dumb question if it gives you information.

[Dancake]

If you have another jack, use it to jack up the hub until it reaches it's normal resting position. That way you can keep the car on axle stands and not have to worry about the wheel getting in the way. Measure from the 12 o'clock position of the wheel arch to the centre of the hub when the car is on the ground with the wheel on, then simply replicate this distance by jacking up the hub with the wheel off.

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by huron

And there's no such thing as a dumb question if it gives you information.

Sometimes dumb answers.. But not often

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by Dancake

If you have another jack, use it to jack up the hub until it reaches it's normal resting position. That way you can keep the car on axle stands and not have to worry about the wheel getting in the way. Measure from the 12 o'clock position of the wheel arch to the centre of the hub when the car is on the ground with the wheel on, then simply replicate this distance by jacking up the hub with the wheel off.

Or jack it up under the hub and keep lifting until it "just-just" off the stand.

[canis]

I'd NOT jack the hub, that sounds very dangerous to me. Hubs are designed to roll, and if it does it'll probabaly fall off.

Green Van Man says it right, jack the wishbones at their extreme ends so that the weight is being bourne by the suspension.

[Dippydog]

These responses show how good the forum is I knew that torqueing up the nuts/bolts while the suspension was "hanging" could/would damage the bushes,for some reason I got it into my head that running it onto ramps so putting the car at an angle would lead to the bushes "twisting" the other way if you see what I mean.I do in fact have 2 trolley jacks,3[??]axle stands and a pair of ramps,never thought of jacking the wishbone though-another tip learned there Thanks people.

[ThomasG]

Jacking up wishbone was the only way for me to get out old/push in new rear suspension shocks.
My lifting method didn't give enough clearance when the arms were hanging. So I lifter arms. Job done.

Re: lifting the hub. There's lifting the hub and lifting the hub.
One may think that it is achieved with applying jack to the spinning part..
With dire consequences..
Or one may think about applying jack to the lump of aluminum connected to the end of suspension arm..
Which is pretty much what I did yesterday (rear shocks, yes), and oh, gosh.. I still have all my fingers