I'm trying to replace my upper control arm and I can't get my strut out to remove the bolts holding the control arm in. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a 2010 f150 xlt if that helps any.

 

I'm looking at this and it looks like I'm going to have to remove a lot more than I planned.

 

Everyone I've seen online didn't have all this metal around the base of the strut. I'm guessing I'm going to have to drop the entire bottom piece, not sure what it's called but it had two huge bolts that are larger than an inche maybe an inches and one-sixteenth.

 

disconnect your axle, it should be a small 3/8" nut holding your axle into your hub. once you remove that nut you can push your axle inward allowing your lower control arm to drop far enough out of the way that you can slide your strut out. I found all of this out when I put my leveling kit in. It had me disconnecting my lower control arm to make room(I didnt' have the correct size socket or air tools). I found that disconnecting my axle gave me just enough room to slide the strut out.

If you go this route be very careful when you go to reinstall your axle. Make sure that the teeth on your axle shaft are fully engaged with the teeth on your Individual Wheel End (IWE), also know as your 4 wheel drive actuator before you tighten your axle nut.

Hope this helps,
Q.

 

The pocket on my LCA looks the same as yours. Make sure your suspension is fully dropped. I used a pry bar and pried it up and out. If you think it is hard getting it out, you may want to second guess doing it yourself. Going back in is not much fun.

 

I loosen the axle nut and was able to pry from the bottom of the strut and the top of the lower control arm further than before. The strut just keeps extending making it impossible to move it. Should I place a Jack or Jack stand under the lower control arm to restrict it's movement?

 

I did this recently and took about 45 min each arm. Just loosen the sway bar to get the LCA to drop down. You don't need to remove the axel. I did this with the quick lift level struts so I know you can easily do this with the stock struts.

 

Good call. I forgot that I had the sway bar disconnected while doing this as well!

 

Yes, disconnect the sway bar links (plural), the tie rod end, and pry the strut up and out. Make sure to leave in the most outboard top nut on the strut (put the new one in the same way - install the other 2 nuts after you get the strut in). No need to undo the axle/IWE.

To aid in installation, take a heavy hammer to both edges of the hole in the LCA to flair the edges a bit. Then file the sharp edges off the edge of the holes. Then put some moly grease on the inside of the hole. This will help a lot when you go to pry the strut back in.

Now, this is the step that almost NO (as in very very few) DIYers do: properly torque the lower strut bolt to the factory specifications of *406 ft lbs* (only special application torque wrenches go above 250 ft lbs) By obtaining the proper torque value you won't be endangering your suspension. And you WILL feel the difference. Ford techs use what's called a torque-multiplier to obtain the 406 ft lbs.

 

I got it done thanks for all the help. I'm going to post a YouTube video so no one else has to go through this.