Strut mount, control arm, ball joint and bushings

[Cressida]

I have a badly cracked and partially separated upper strut mount on a 83 Toyota Cressida and I've just ordered a Gabriel brand aftermarket replacement. The top portion of the mount is actually touching the underside of the hood pad now.

I replaced the struts about 4 years ago so I've worked on this area of the car before. However, I've read that on other cars people have been able to undo the the single bolt holding the mount to the strut and the 3 bolts that hold the mount to the car frame and have been able to jack up the car and reach up under the fender and remove and replace the mount without having to take the strut off of the control arm/ball joint. I may give it a try as it would save some time and I would not have to remove the brake caliper and mounting plate, etc.

OTOH, if I take the entire strut out I would have access to the control arm and I could replace the ball joint and maybe the bushing. However, despite 20+ years and almost 200K miles, I don't seem to see any symptoms of ball joint wear yet even though I've read that there is often wear long before you start hearing noise or noticing verticle movement in the joint.

Would you replace the ball joint and control arm bushing if you were this far into the front suspension and plan to keep the car for another 5 years?

I can get a complete Dorman control arm with a new ball joint and bushing for around $100. Or, I can buy a new ball joint and bushing for around $30 and try to replace on the old control arm. I don't know how much trouble it is to replace these two items on the control arm so is it worth the effort and ~$70 savings vs. just bolting in a new control arm ?

 

[mechtech2]

I'd replace the ball joints at this point. If the ball joints are bolted in - no problem. If they are riveted in, the whole control arm may be worthwhile.
Take the strut out to do the job. Check everything.
I'm coming from the perspective that the job has to be right, with no comebacks - years of trouble free service.

 

[Merkava_4]

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However, I've read that on other cars people have been able to undo the the single bolt holding the mount to the strut and the 3 bolts that hold the mount to the car frame and have been able to jack up the car and reach up under the fender and remove and replace the mount without having to take the strut off of the control arm/ball joint.

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You should try to forget about that idea. How are you going to remove the center nut with the force of the spring pressure up against it? If you were able to do that, the strut mount would fly across the room or possibly at yourself.

The best way is to remove the strut and compress the spring with a strut spring compressor; that way the center nut will loosen up real easy while the coil spring is under restraint. Not to mention it might be a little safer that way too.

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OTOH, if I take the entire strut out I would have access to the control arm and I could replace the ball joint and maybe the bushing.

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You should be able to access the lower control arm without removing the strut. Say like if you wanted to replace the lower ball joint by itself, you could without having to remove the strut.

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I can get a complete Dorman control arm with a new ball joint and bushing for around $100.

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That would certainly be the most convenient way to go about it; otherwise, you would have to drill out the rivets of the ball joint AND find yourself an air chisel to force out the control arm bushings; that's if you were wanting to replace them too.

This here is the exact kind of strut spring compressor I rented from Autozone. It's a very good one and makes doing the job easy.