Shop Honda Control Arms

I have a 2006 Honda Accord EX 4 door Sedan 4cyl motor automatic trans 155,000 miles. I replaced the front suspension parts: struts, upper and lower control arms, lower ball joint, cv joint axles both sides, stabilizer bar end links, outside tie rod ends and new bearings.


I just want to make sure I have everything tightened right to avoid any issues. Can anyone give me the torx specs for the front end or more specifically the specs for the bolts at the top of the strut tower and the lower fork assembly the strut goes into. The upper control arm bolts, The lower control arm bolts, the stabilizer end links, the outside tie rod ends and the axle bolts?

What on earth have you done to this poor car to need all that and why do you think you do? Seems like it was dropped off a cliff.


It's spelled "torque" -- Torx is a brand name of a type of fastener just FYI. Most of what you mentioned if you don't have a feel for the right or appropriate torque you probably shouldn't be messing with it sorry to say.


I don't have easy listing for exact suggested specs for each item you mentioned one by one. I also can't just say "tight enough" as that doesn't give you a # to follow.


Perhaps you should buy the AllData.com DIY manual for this car if you are doing this much stuff but still wonder why you need all that at once!


Some items you only tighten when weight is on wheels or pointing steering direct ahead, other's with cotter pins this way and simple stabilizer pins you watch the rubber compress. You should just know that or IMO not be doing this stuff or have proper help with you. I couldn't explain what takes years of experience after training/schools.


When torque is critical most times the part comes with that information,
T

Ummmmm after 4 front end collisions and 155,000 hard miles yes the front end you could say resembled something dropped off a cliff. The lower control arms bushings were shot and the ball joints were very loose and hand some clicking in them. The other rubber boots were dry rotted and starting to go and very loose as you can expert with 155,000 miles but thank your for the spell check and correction on torque versus torx ....completely an oversight on my part however an answer to the question would have been greatly appreciated.


Now the reason I want the specs was because most bolts have TORQUE specs as I am sure you are aware and after I ran into some trouble a while back with going through bearings on a NISSAN bc the axle bolts were not TORQUED right it was new to me as that was something I have never come across in the years I have of messing with cars but by far an expert such as yourself. So after changing everything just as a precaution before I take it in to have it aligned I figured I would torque it all down as it should be so a car genius like yourself could double recheck some of it when they play with the alignment. It my limited experience it seems that the suspensions on the newer cars require a little more precision then the old it feels right to me that was good enough for older cars.
So I guess I will ask at a Honda forum where the torque specs of the front end are often posted by the younger kids who upgrade the suspensions of Honda's as rice burners and don't mind providing information and participating in discussion opposed to the apparent cocky retired has beens know it all types that run this forum and ridicule those who dare ask a question from others who should know a little more about a topic.

Relax. It's still a lot of stuff all at once to be noticing now with apparently no checking along the way of these items ALL of which are total safety items. Neglect of these or checking has resulted in mandatory vehicle inspections to include all safety items are in good shape for you, your passengers and for anyone else you share roads with such that an accident doesn't occur over something that could or should have been known long before. Stuff still happens.


Torque on fasteners anywhere is known and put to #s and tools to show you have reached that #. Many items of marginal importance are not going to specify without looking them up one by one. I could find a page of torque specs for front end steering and suspension parts all at once to post for you. I'm sure one exists somewhere for this car but probably a subscription for a year for just this car. One common one I mentioned and link to its home page is..... http://www.alldatadiy.com/


Once there you can select a sample what you can expect. Here's one for just what marked bolts can take not specific to each item but rather a rating for just bolts...............

http://www.alldatadiy.com/alldatadiy/DIY~G~C45827~R0~OB0~P4R0H~N/0/138181779/138629620/138629625/138629629/34853741/34869961/34869963/165252571/156082788/153621061
That is one of their sample pages of mega 100s. I can't purchase the one (I think $27.50US) for just your car and do things here for free for you and others.
First - does anything on that chart even make any sense to you? That's the easy version or DIY (do it yourself) data.
Do you have the tools that tell you when you reach a specification if one is important enough to be exact? Many things you just know by feel for assorted things.
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You would select one item at a time and it would list it out especially drivetrain anything and anything that hold or suspends a vehicle.
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It's a valid question there's no one stop way for me anyway to answer all at once. Would be easier to just go to you or you come to me and do it than find all that all at once. 90% of which with a little experience you don't need to look up at all.
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Silly example of life things would be how tight measured in a # would you say you tighten the cap on a screw top container of milk for example? See if you can find that. Too tight you would wreck a cap and too lose it could leak and that's just MILK!
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A lot of learning comes from breaking something once then you pay attention the next time or get hands on help as becoming experienced by yourself and alone would be near impossible or at least impractical. You go to tech schools when you want to do tons more on a vehicle THEN go do it for yourself or for a job if you wanted to do that.
***************************That process never changed for learning things in general. Ex: See something done, get help doing that done, then when you can show another person how to get it done you have learned how to do it.
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The initial problem as I already mentioned is how did all those things get bad without noticing them along the way. That was neglect by you or for those who fixed accidents were not checking that the vehicle was ready to be back on the road but something failed out of the gate.
I did find one important torque specification for you and could be incorrect too. How tight do you make the lug nuts when you put a wheel back on? If anything is important that is too and bet that info isn't posted on the nuts to the wheel.
BTW it showed "final torque of 80 ft/lbs. That already isn't clear as it suggests you know when it's final and didn't say what that meant.
I see tire places just go all crazy to be fast and never look up or set wheel's fastener's to spec yet they make tools for that too.
Fortunately most even using air tools without a spec just get them right or right enough. It's hard to know or explain each part of everything on everything.
Such is life. You get help and taught many things,
T

Hi there,
My car (2002 Honda civic with 70K miles on it) has been making a rattling noise when I go over bumps. I took it to the local honda dealer who said that the control arm bushing was torn and that I needed a new control arm bushing. He said that replacing just the bushing would cost $700 and replacing the entire control arm would be $800. This sounds pretty expensive for a small rattling noise and was hoping to find out if this problem and price were accurate. Thanks so much for your help. Ari
aripolish@yahoo.com

$700 to $800 is a bit high. I would say around $300 to $400 is more like it. The lower control arm has to be removed, then the bushing has to be pressed out and new one in. So this is not a quick easy job for a small noise. That said the dealer is always going to be higher than a local repair shop. In some cases the quality of work is no different from local to dealer. Infact the local shop I work for dose all the diagnostic and electrical work for the dealership in our town. Shop around, ask your friends where they take their cars. Good Luck

My turn signals aren't working. we already replaced the control arm and all the fuses and bulbs are good, But the hazards are still working...Anyone out there have any advice??? Please........

I agree with Guest #2. Have you checked yoru flasher cans? Do your hazard lights work? The flasher cans are situated under the hood of the car, in the fuse box there. Check the lid of the box for a map of what does what.

anybody check the turn signal flasher?
also could be the multifunction switch.

The only thing that you didn't mention as being OK was the wiring. Could be your foot got tangled up with the wiring under the dash. Hope it's under the dash anyway. If it's in the column with the airbag, it'll be expensive to repair. Better practice your arm signals.

Howdy-
I have a 2000 Honda Accord LX with a 2.3L engine and about 90,000 miles. Recently, in wet or icy conditions, the car seems to "jump" to a slightly different direction when I'm driving. Obviously, this is pretty alarming . It especially happens when I am turning to the left - my car tries to keep going straight or to the right (only in inclement weather). I drew a crude picture, because it's hard to explain. It only seems to pull to the right. I took it in to the shop, where the mechanics checked the alignment and adjusted it slightly. They also replaced the tires and rotated them. The mechanics didn't seem to understand the problem, and seemed to think I was imagining things. Unfortunately, it's very real, and I drifted into a snowbank last year while rounding a turn (luckily it didn't do any damage). The problem is still happening, and when I drove in the rain this past week, I still felt it pulling to the right on turns. Any advice as to what could be wrong? I'm extremely nervous to drive, especially with the impending snow.

Thanks!

Have you driven in the conditions you mentioned since the new tires & was there any difference? If you have a printout of the alignment angles it would help if you could post it.

This problem is hard to diagnose online, you really need to be able to drive the car and inspect the frt end. Hondas do have a problem with the lower control arm bushing breaking, of course you would also have a clunk from the frt on brking if they were broken.

Also has the car ever been in a wreck?

My son is looking buying buy a 1990 Honda Accord EX with 210,000 miles. The right ball joint needs to be replaced. The car shakes when driving at 50 MPH. The car is inspected. I am wondering how much the bill will be for the ball joint to be replaced. Should I ask the present owner to fix it first.

Bolt joint in Honda is one of the item item you will be replacing again.

I won't buy it, unless the shaking at highway speed problem is restolved.

Check the tire wear, exhaust under the hood/body for leaks. You never know whether any control arms is bent! Only alignment would tell the true story. Without it, you will be spending a lot more money on tires than on alignment.