Control arm replacement

[gdawgs]

Hey guys. It's been a long time since I've been here. I blew out a ball joint a couple weeks ago. I've never had that happen to me before, but it's not a great experience. Luckily, I wasn't driving fast when it happened. That would be a bad deal if it happened at highway speeds.

Anyway, I have replaced the control arm for the side that failed without any major issues. I'm finally getting around to doing the other side today. While trying to remove the inner pivot bolt, I'm pretty sure that the nut that's welded to the frame has split. I'm guessing I could cut away part of the unibody to get to the nut so I can remove it, then just use a standard nut I suppose.

Has anyone else had this happen, and what did you do to repair?

Forgive me for saying this, but I think I'm ready to be done with Festivas. I'm not sure I even want to fix this thing anymore. This would be the end of a long era for me. I've been driving Festivas since 1993.

[gdawgs]

Well, the grinder made quick work of cutting back the frame a bit so I can see what's going on in there. It's just a regular square nut with a retainer welded to the frame. The nut is just spinning inside that retainer. Everything is so rusty. I'll see if I can get that stupid nut freed up somehow.

[ryanprins13]

Once the nut breaks loose thats typically the only way to fix it. If i recall correctly there are no acess holes big enough to fit a welding electrode through to reweld it or to put a wrench or flatbar through. Have you been having other troubles with your car? If its that rusty is selling it and buying a rust free one then spraying everything underneath with oil or fluid film an option?
I have only had a festiva for 9 years but it has been far, far more reliable for me than the other 6 vehicles my wife and i have owned.


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[denguy]

I think I used a 1'' hole saw to cut a hole in the frame so I could get a wrench and nut in there. Apparently I didn't hurt anything.

[gdawgs]

Once the nut breaks loose thats typically the only way to fix it. If i recall correctly there are no acess holes big enough to fit a welding electrode through to reweld it or to put a wrench or flatbar through. Have you been having other troubles with your car? If its that rusty is selling it and buying a rust free one then spraying everything underneath with oil or fluid film an option?
I have only had a festiva for 9 years but it has been far, far more reliable for me than the other 6 vehicles my wife and i have owned.

No I haven't had much for troubles with this one. This is the 3rd one I've owned and haven't had any issues with any of them, other than your standard wear items.
It's just getting old, and Minnesota salt takes its toll on vehicles. I'll get this fixed, but once this one dies, I won't be buying another Festiva. They've been great little cars, but I think I've had my fill. Who knows, this one may last another 10 years.

[gdawgs]

Ok, I finally got it apart and back together. I just kept cutting away a bit at a time until I could get to the nut with a wrench. The other ball joint was BAAAD too. Lots of play. The seal was out, grease was long gone, and it was fill with rust and lots of other unknown bits of something.

There sure seems to be a lot of camber to the wheels now, so I should probably do a wheel alignment. How do they adjust that? I don't know much about wheel alignment adjustments other than the tie rod ends.

I don't have a welder, so I think I'll have the shop that does the alignment weld a little plate on to the frame where I did the hack job.

[TominMO]

Ok, I finally got it apart and back together. I just kept cutting away a bit at a time until I could get to the nut with a wrench. The other ball joint was BAAAD too. Lots of play. The seal was out, grease was long gone, and it was fill with rust and lots of other unknown bits of something.

There sure seems to be a lot of camber to the wheels now, so I should probably do a wheel alignment. How do they adjust that? I don't know much about wheel alignment adjustments other than the tie rod ends.

I don't have a welder, so I think I'll have the shop that does the alignment weld a little plate on to the frame where I did the hack job.

Wheel alignment is very easy. It can be a little tedious depending on how precise you want to be. Basically it's just the difference between the width on the front of the tire and on the rear. Lots of threads on how to do it yourself. I like a difference between 0 - 1/8".

Instead of welding on a cover for where you had to chop away at the frame to get at that nut, how about a small removable aluminum cover, held on with stainless sheet metal screws? That way it will be very easy for you or the next owner to get at the nut next time. Cut cover to size, drill holes for screws, done. I would also suggest prepping the area with a little cleaning, light sanding to knock off loose rust, then spraying on Rustoleum Rust Reformer, just on general principles.

[WmWatt]

The camber on the Festiva is not adjustable except the top of the strut can be turned 180 deg. to see if that helps. (The Haynes manaul says to mark the oreintation when removing a strut so it can be put back the same). Some people have written here about buying shims so change the camber. A search of this site on "camber" might bring that up.

[needragr]

I had the same issue.
My car isnt rusty at all but have had these cage nuts break there and in the core support for the eng. cradle mnt. fortunately I do have a welder so all I had to do for the control arm was drill a hole on the side of the cage/nut & weld it to the wall filling the hole I drilled in the process so no water penetration.
On the core support I had to cut a 1.5" hole so I could get the MIG nozzle into the cavity so I could thoroughly weld the nut back down