Torquing Suspension Bolts

[miked]

Hello!

recently purchased 555 ball joints(MB176308 & 309) for my pickup. kyb shocks on the way plus bushings to be purchased on the day of the DIY.

As per my understanding, all suspension bolts must be torqued to specs with the car loaded, i.e. with the wheels installed and on the ground. Because if you torque all bolts (again from my understanding) prior to loading the suspension will reset the torque specs to zero.

Got some questions for some motorheads and mechanics in this forum:
1. How do your really torque the bolts especially the bolts joining the ball joints to the control arms, upper arms shaft-to-arm bolts, upper arm shaft-to-frame bolts and the balljoint-to-spindle bolts given the very little space???...my tools are not that good in contortions as well as the user. They say use your common sense but i really want to be specific on this.

2. Do the upper control arm bushing need to be flared or not?

TIA

[tip_tipid]

I think you will have to be concerned mainly with control arms or arms that have rubber bushings moulded or vulcanized on them. The bolts will have to be tightened/torqued with weight of the car on the wheels.
The ball joints, connecting rod joints have locating tapered pins to seat properly and need not be torqued very tight. they have cotter pins to keep the nuts from loosening out.

[oj88]

Ideally, you do it using a car lift that has the tires bearing the car's weight. That should give you all the room you need to work underneath the car. It may be a bit unorthodoxed but you can try paying for rent to use a car lift at a nearby gas station.

[miked]

Ideally, you do it using a car lift that has the tires bearing the car's weight. That should give you all the room you need to work underneath the car. It may be a bit unorthodoxed but you can try paying for rent to use a car lift at a nearby gas station.

aha!....got an idea....since i have access to lots of wood around my place, i plan to put the truck on top of DIY wood platforms....

[oj88]

aha!....got an idea....since i have access to lots of wood around my place, i plan to put the truck on top of DIY wood platforms....

That's one way to do it. Be careful though. Always safety first!

[jick.cejoco]

the thought of torquing the suspension parts while the weight of the car is imposed upon the tires is a myth. i have been to a couple of assembly plants and they install suspension and steering components and torque to specs while the car is on a jig without tires on them. it sure is cumbersome and almost if not impossible to tighten the components with the tires are installed let alone the tires supporting all the sprung weight. it sure would take a lot of time to do if at all possible and at the assembly plant, as with any shop, time is a very precious commodity.