Install BYC Upper Control Arms

This HowTo will basically cover the install of a Barnyard Customs upper control arm for an s10. However many of the practices are the same with other control arms from other manufactures so it may be a good reference for you.

To start off, there is no left and right control arms out of the box, either one can be used for either side. However one leg of the control arm is longer than the other, and that longer leg needs to be towards the rear of the vehicle.

The first thing you need to do is take off your factory upper control arms. They are held on with two 18mm bolts on the back side. Once those are off, take the alignment shims up off the stud and keep track of how many went where! They are vehicle specific and altho the truck will need an alignment once the install is done, its good practice to put back what you took out. You may run into problems taking the control arms off, they might slide back and hit the motor or steering shaft. At that point youll need to knock the stud out of the frame with a c-clamp.

Now you can either send the control arms out to have the bushings pressed but its not that bad if you have some good tools. Set the arm in a vise, and remove the nuts and washers from each side with a 24mm socket.

This is the fun part, getting the bushings out. You can use an air chisel and work the bushing out from the outside lip, this will cause the least amount of damage tot he arm. You can go from the inside but if the sleeve gets messed up it won't push thru the control arm well. You can also use the air hammer or a sledge hammer to just push on the outside of the arm, this will push the arm out of one bushing while the other just slides off with it (2nd pic). However the easier and most destructive way is to just cut the control arms ear off down the dotted line. Then you dont have to press anything out, just knock the ear right off. I threw my old control arms out so it didn't matter how I got the shaft out, but some people like to save things.

Once one side is off, the arm will slide over the shaft and youll be able to take it off; you don't need to do both sides.

Now to assemble the new BYC arms, slap a little bit of urethane grease (not bearing grease!) on the middle ledge of the bushing so help them go in easier. Even those Im just putting these together for mock up, the grease will allow me to remove the bushings for paint much much easier. Then put the sleeve in the bushing and hammer one side in with a mallet.

Since I'm working on the passenger side control arm, I put the longer leg towards the rear of the vehicle, which is the left side of the assembly. Slip the end that doesn't have a bushing in it over the shaft first, then slide on the other side.

Once thats in, reinstall the washer and 24mm nut on the bushing side to keep the arm from sliding. You dont have to crank them down but make them snug. Then press the other bushing in; start off with a mallet then set a large socket on the bushing and continue to work it in with the mallet. If its giving you trouble you can tighten it down using the washer and nut. TIP: Snug both bushings down but don't fully tighten until they're installed on the truck. This will allow you to swing the control arm smoother and make for easier manuvering. However the nuts need to be tighten down fully until they stop before driving.



Now for the ball joint, pretty simple. Push the rubber boot thru the metal cup until its all the way out.

Slide the ball joint in from the top, and the boot and cup from the bottom, sandwiching the control arms. insert the 7/16" nuts and bolts and tighten in a cross pattern. Then install the zerk fitting on top with a 5/16" wrench or socket. Don't force the zerk to go all the way down or it may strip out. TIP: Paint the ball joints! That nice shiny metal is just raw steel, it WILL rust and look horrible in about 2-3 days of being on your truck.

(It is also acceptable to bolt the balljoint to the bottom of the control arm, this may be uselful in some situations to help solve clearance issues.)

IMPORTANT!

Most aftermarket upper ball joints come with a number of washers and most people have no idea what they're for. The ball joint is tapered, and the taper between the spindle and ball joint may differ from the factory, so the washers are used to set the castle nut at the correct height. They go between the nut and the spindle, and when you tighten the nut down fully, the bottom edge of the cotter pin hole in the ball joint should be close to the bottom edge of a groove in the castle nut. I took this picture to show what the hole should NOT look like, there shouldn't be a space between the two. Use the washers to line everything up.

So here's everything put back together, the new control arms will bolt in much easier than the stock arms because theyre slimmer and will clear the engine components easier with the studs in the frame.

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