Hello, the bushing is gone on the control arm so I have it all apart and am waiting on the part. I have a manual and watched a video and the instructions are different. The book says don't tighten the control arm until you get the car at ride height (or something like that) but this isn't in the video. Is this important? If Yes, how do I do this? My thought was jack up the suspension until the car starts to lift off the jack. Please advise.

 

Are you working on the ground or lift. If on the ground just jack that side up a little with a second jack and tighten. The reason for it so the ball joint doesn't spin while tightening. If you are tightening with an air/impact gun just tighten it

 

Yup. It's not that complicated. Like Sean mentioned, you're wanting to keep the ball joint from spinning.

 

Okay thanks for the 411. The book doesn't say that and I found another video that says you do this for proper adjustment.

 

The ball-joint spinning isn't the big reason for that.

The rubber bushings flex & twist as the suspension moves up & down. You want the rubber part of the bushing to be in it's relaxed position (not twisted one way or the other) when the car is resting on it's own wheels. I think the easiest way is to jack under the knuckle until the spring is just about supporting the weight. Then tighten the big bolts thru the rubber bushings. The ones that matter are the ones that look like they would spin or twist - inboard rear and the one for the shock-fork.

 

That sounds consistent with the book and the videos. Thanks.