Upper Control Arm Spindle spins freely

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txcatsailor01
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:48 pm
Location: The Lone Star State

Upper Control Arm Spindle spins freely

Postby txcatsailor01 » Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:01 pm

I am changing my front struts. Being relatively new to this I started to disassemble the front suspension. I backed the nut most of the way off the upper control arm spindle bolt and tapped with a hammer to break the seal between the control arm and upper suspension arm. I left the nut on a few threads not knowing how far the whole suspension would drop. Well, now the spindle spins freely and I can neither back the nut off the remaining threads or tighten it back up.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how I move forward?


1armyguy
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Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:42 am
Location: Massachusetts

Postby 1armyguy » Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:36 pm

I know that some people don't like to do this but, in this situation if you don't have an impact gun that I would use a set of vise grips.

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doctahjones
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Postby doctahjones » Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:11 pm

i somewhat had the same thing happen to me, but i have a cordless impact i use and it spun it quick enough for it to grab.

i also have a very similar problem when disconnecting my front sway bars on my jeep when offroading. apparently those bolts need a little bit of pressure on them in order to stop them from free spinning. so, with these UCA try getting the bolt threaded and then lower the UCA some (i assume you have the wheel supported by a jack or something) to get some pressure on the UCA and see if it helps.

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txcatsailor01
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:48 pm
Location: The Lone Star State

Upper Control Arm Spindle Spinning

Postby txcatsailor01 » Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:37 am

I appreciate the input. After a frustrating couple of hours of messing with it, a friend suggested that the spindle was tapered and just needed prussure holding the two components together. I ended up using a ratchet strap to cinch them together, and sure enough, I was able to loosen the nut and also put it back together that way.

Thanks for the help, guys......


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