In this video I bring you along as I swap out the front lower control arms on a customers Buick Encore. They were pretty easy so I bring you along as I swap out the an outer tie rod end too. Both were pretty easy jobs.
-Enjoy!
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South Main Auto Repair
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-Enjoy!
If an SMA Video has helped you out please consider giving using "Patreon" to help support us. The videos take real time to create and pull us away from real work that pays our bills. CLICK HERE: https://www.patreon.com/southmainauto
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Thank you for all the continuing support!
--Eric & Vanessa O.
Feel like sending some swag to SMA because you love the videos but don't know where to send it?
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South Main Auto Repair
47 S. Main St
PO Box 471
Avoca, NY 14809
Disclaimer:
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Hello Viewers! Welcome back to the self man! Our Channel it was a 2017. it's a Buick it's the Encore it's got the big one for and it needs a bunch of work. I think we had previously did a video on the blower motor. hopefully I did that video.
interesting and then uh customer had me look at some other things. It needs brakes all the way around. It's got bad lower ball joints uh which he choose to do the he chose to do the whole control because the bushings are starting to tear out of those and also has a bad tie rod ends. So in this video we're going to start by doing the lower control arms.
We'll start by grabbing a 3 8 again. I'll grab this for 15. we're going to start on the other side though because it's the nut in the bowl so we'll stick this on the nut side. It takes it right off.
I Grabbed the Sebastian punch and a hammer because I assumed that we're going to knock this thing through this pinch bolt here. Yes, Ma'am probably has knurled up and does not. She's not gnarly, just a straight bolt. Then we gotta do the same thing on the other side.
Now this next part, we have to remove one of the most deadly nuts in the world. the flag. Those things will cut your finger Plum Off we're going to take some of your favorite penetrating oil you started whipping out the dub d Give her a liberal inducing both bolts that go through the control arm. You're gonna count to three two one now that it's sufficiently penetrated.
We want a half inch. Augie Doggie And we're coming up in here with a swivel. I Need 18. wipe your teeth.
These things will get you. Do not put your fingers back here. I'm gonna tell you what if you do record it. Oh right there.
she would have gotcha Now you can put your finger there. We should get you. Those things are: leave the bolt in there. For the time being this time, we're going to need a wrench no flag nut here.
I Think anybody's worked on cars? probably has a story about a flat nut. If you don't, you haven't worked on cars long enough or you're not stupid, one of the other do the same thing on the other side. Now that you have them off both sides, we're going to want to Spritz down the ball joint here. This is coil so you only need a just a drop and then we'll wait for the ball joint to pop out.
Small joints junk. What's that mean? means you get to use the pickle. It's got a lot of space here I Don't know if it's going to be helpful or not. I'll be damn it.
Plus I Usually don't come up that easy. there's that one. we'll do the other side. Oh, bolts out.
they came out no problem. I Don't know if they're different or not. Keep them separate until we find out. And on the passenger side They are the same.
at least in my case. Let's pop that little guy out. Easy peasy! See the bushings in these things. they start to rip away I Don't know if you guys can see it or not, but it's got a tear spot there there on all four of them so they start to rip away. So when the ball joints go bad, you can buy just a ball joint. but make sure you're checking the bushings because you know if they're tearing away, just put the control arm on. It's really not that much more than than just the ball joint. Now, before we go slipping the new one in, we're going to give it a good old hole polish here.
Oh, that might be a little tight. Let's see she's a brand new Flappy Disc One time she's shining me got her new arm from Napper Uh, sponsor should be able to slip it right up in here. like so let me get a little flute on the Spritz on these bolts. We'll give her a shot right in the hole.
don't worry, make sure we have sufficient lubrication and then we'll flip these babies in from the inside. Here we go a little bit to get them lined up. Oh yeah, and then we'll grab one nut for the back side, one flag nut for the front side. That's where it can get a little tricky.
I'll do this where you can't see it. but I can't spin the bolt. Get it started. Okay I believe that started.
We're gonna grab the half inch. Okay Dougie don't tighten these things up yet. but we're just going to run them down to where the to where the nuts about ready to clamp her down. Okay, that one's still loosey-goosey We'll come around.
We'll get this little color here too. have to hold that one with the wrench. Remember all right and you're going to want to leave those loops. and I'm going to do the same thing on the other side.
but before we do that, we're gonna. we're gonna do that. We'll give this a little Spritz open our freshly cleaned hole. move.
You guys get this thing so it's kind of straight and then there's gingerly easy. Come on. Now look at this little Spritz up in there. we'll take our Bowl thank you.
We get the groove. Did we? Yes, ma'am we got the groove. We're grooving all right. What we'll do is I'm going to take and pop the control arm and the other side.
same process as this side. Then we're gonna stick a jack stand under here. set the car down, get this at ride height or we'll use the floor jack one or the other probably a four. Jack Then we'll tighten up the ball joint and then both of the inner bolts there so we'll Jack this up a little bit here.
I Usually do it until it starts picking up the weight of the car. We have it on the lift so it's a little bit different, but give her a second here to steady out and there she just about flat. So we're going to call that ride height. we're going to go through and torque the ball joint first.
All right, let's see. so your first pass door at 31 foot pounds, backer off 120. light, snug and dug it going forward for all the torque Nazis will grab ourselves a torque wrench. We're gonna go I think it's 26 foot pounds I'll have to go verify that I probably need to grab an extension anyways here.
so we're gonna go 26 foot pounds right there. and then we want to go another 35 degrees beyond that with our torque wrench Kelp right here and we're going to go an additional 35 degrees right there putting our total torque at 457 inch pounds on our rear bolt here. First of all, if you think anybody's actually twerking this in real life, you're out of your mind. but we're gonna go 60 foot pounds. we got that, and then now an additional 60 degrees. So that's a lot of torque wrench calibrate here. Oh, it's already calibrated so we're going to Bumper up to 60 degrees see if we can get her one click at a time or if you live in reality, just snug it up. Oh there it is.
We went 61 degrees and end up being 81.6 foot pounds. We're trying to get in here on this one. The moment you start adding swivels to your torquing, your torque is irrelevant. Anyways, you can do an extension, but if you add a swivel, forget about it.
You know, now you're you're out of it. So let's see if we can get this maybe torque to 60 foot pounds. We're on the way. One click at a time.
Thank you. We could make up a song I Torch It. One click at a time and it didn't cost me to die. You guys know what I'm saying.
This is ridiculous. We're almost there I Can feel it all. right There we go. We hit the 60 2.2 foot pounds on this one and then we're gonna switch over.
And now we need to take an additional 105 degrees. one click at a time. Imagine if you didn't have a tech angle torque wrench, how the heck you would get in here and with the angle gauge and put out 105 degrees? Are we there yet? Oh we are beat. Oh we hit 113.
Wow, that's a pretty short video I Think so we're gonna keep an eye on. Keep on keeping on. We're gonna Spritz down our tie rod end here. Liberal douching that's a coil.
We'll grab us a 21 now that we've given that time to penetrate. crack this Jam nut loose. looks like she's probably stuck to the inner, so we're going to leave that right with that for right now. and I grabbed 18 I Think that's what we got going on.
Yes sir, we could let the car down. It'll be a little easier. we'll try it like this. These lock nuts oftentimes will break the stud loose coming off.
Not this time, it didn't. Let's give us a hammer, a couple love taps. Yeah, okay and make sure I was doing the right. uh, tie rod end.
Let's count on our turns. one and two and the three and a four and a five and a six and a seven and a eight and a nine and a ten. eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen fifteen and it fell off. So this one's yeah, pretty clunky.
She's got some so you got some play. 15. 15 turns. Let's make sure again, that's loose wide because we love our alignment guy.
If you're doing this folks and you're taking in for an alignment A by the guy Donuts B You again not freed up if you just put a tie rod on it. I'm not saying you got to go through and free everything up under the whole car for the fellas. If you're awesome, you would, but you should put a tire. at least free up that jam. Okay, got your wire brushed over all the threads. all that stuff. Oh there you go. That's all you need to do.
Just like that. Crack it. Loose A little okay. now she's free.
You only gotta go in just a wee bit. It's not like this guy's you know, gonna go more than you know, a turn or two from where it was originally, but it makes a heck of a lot easier. We'll grab our new tie rod here. Got it from Napper.
What's the premium chassis part? They don't sponsor us so we can still talk crap about them. If you have to take this nut off right here, we'll go get some lube filler up. Spin it on 34 times. Just like the number he took it off.
One, two, three, four four. it's about one too many. It ain't going anywhere, so we're gonna take it over to the alignment machine. But see now my guy.
Josh You can turn that thing in and out pretty easily. You gonna be happy we ain't buying them? Donuts So oh okay. just a very slight snug up. We gotta go super tight.
We'll get this baby on or rammer home. I Mean torque It is back. This is the important part. Go get your yellow stand which you've never finished.
We're gonna leave her all the way down. I Left it open for jobs like this in particular. Not really. I just haven't finished it yet.
We're gonna set the old tie rod on there. It's gonna give it a push because that's a lock nut and it's going to make it a little easier than holding the center stud. If we can get a little more tension on the stud, that's going to get somebody's goat. I Just use the word tension in place of the word pressure.
Oh, somebody is slamming on their keyboard right now. That's okay. Tension pressure. Yeah, what's the difference? Somebody will explain it to you.
So now we're going to grab our turkey wrench. We're going to torque that baby down the factory specs which I think we've already gone too far. So I think it's like 22 foot pounds so we better back that off because that was more than 22. around the old X beam there we go get a socket.
Oh sorry fellas, there's 22 foot pounds and then we want to go about a 130 degree. So Winder up here to 130. purple and we pull again. Can we keep pulling? Basically, we're snugging it up till it's tight is what they're telling us.
Foreign Max spec is 135 degrees. ended up being 61 foot-pounds How do we know when we're turning that though that stud wasn't turning? Well, we're gonna have a look. We're going to get that extra five degrees and have a look with it turning. Nope.
and it feels tight so that's good. Make sure our Jam nut snug. Yes, uh, snug. enough snug enough.
We've got some Valvoline full synthetic grease here. We'll give it a couple squirts. Nobody ever complains if the grease soap base that I use is compatible with what's in the tie rod end though. that's a different level troll there. So that's it folks. Lower Control arms outer tie rod on your Buick Encore I Guess it is the Encore with the big one for Turbo and uh, that's it. Use common sense when you're doing things if you can't control yourself and you're not sure about fastening or torquing and tightness. And if it's going to hold or not, use a torque wrench and obviously it's with everything.
Use service data. you know? don't lubricate the bolts, replace them, you know? follow it step by step and it won't lead you in the wrong direction. obviously. So, but other than that, just use your noodle and don't be a ding dong.
That's the only place I Give this one. Tell my kids all the time don't be a ding dong. That's all I asked and all I'm going to ask you is go in that comment section. questions to comments and Steve the Facebook we're not on the tick tock though.
that's a posture and this might be I can do it. You can do it. Thanks for watching foreign.
A shop told me my lower control arm is bad. But I've been having a sound that's consist with driving straight . Not so much with bolts. Sounds like I have a flat spot on my tire but they said the tires are good. Would this also give that sound? Don't wanna replace something that's not necessary? Thanks in advance!
A commercial popped up just before TDā¦Hilarious! It was for Amazon.
…wait for the ball joint to fall out. Eric you are low key hilarious
Made it look easy, again!
At the end of the video, why did you say not to lubricate the bolts? The thread specifically, or at all?
I'm happy to have found your channel. It's 50/50 great personality and teaching technical car repair.
technical difficulties was absolutely hilarious. Perfectly placed!
Donāt give in to the torque nazis. If you give āem an inch pound theyāll take a mile pound.
Tension?, Tension! –we don't need no stinking tension! š Your vids are a hoot! I usually learn something, and they always give me a good chuckle. So –Thanks!
I got hit once by a miniature āflag nutā, you know those little 8mm nuts that hold on splash shields and what not, they have those little tabs that they screw in to, for some reason I reached up and held my fingers on that tab and hit the 8mm with my impact and that tab broke free and started spinning and that bad boy went through my fingers like a damn razor blade lol
Ill have to replace my control arms soon. Double wishbone suspension is nice but those compliance bushing seem. To not last as long.
Torque nazis I've heard of them but never actually seen one.
Honestly wish there was a good mechanic like you around my area that made videos so I could take my car to get on the youtubes. J/K J/K However always find your videos helpful and useful! Thanks Mr.O
Sick!!!!
The newer the vehicle, the shorter the lifespan of their components.
ugga dugga and snugga
rebadged Trax
Use your noodle, don't be a dingdong.
On a tile,
Thanks Eric
"After applying penetrating oil, we wait for the ball joint to drop out."š
Johnny Cash was amazing
These videos will come in handy some day. Wife's got a 19 encore but it's only at 14k miles. Hopefully I don't have to do any of this for awhile š¤ That blower motor is some BS!! Thanks again for your awesome videos and commentary!
For just a second, when you held your hand under the ball joint and said "Wait for the ball joint to drop out…" I waited, then I laughed like hell.
I often wonder about that…. The compatibility of the grease going in, with the tiny little bit of grease that's already in there….
That's a lot of work for just a 2017.
flag-nuts = locking pliers or large pry bar(both!), not sticking my fingers anywhere near them things and I routinely use woodworking tools with up to 12" blades spinning. š¤£
Wait,my noodle is my ding dong lol great video as always Mr O
the control arm bushing tearing out is pretty standard in my findings, cannot say I've changed only lower ball-joints on anything of recent make/model, only old "chevy thunder" vans/trucks from mid 190's back..
Tension is what I feel when you use the wrong word, pressure is not having NAPA as a sponsor LOL Love the channel.
I love that you constantly poke fun of the trolls… š¾ WD is my absolute fav š¤£
You ain't joking. Watched a young mechanic on a ford almost take a finger off. It was nasty
šEric I always love the slaming, banging and crunching of your tools, getting s%#@t done.
āIf you do, record it!ā
šš
UCA, LCA, SBL, SBB, TRE, LBJ, UBJ, CAB, ETC…
It's mind bending what you don't have to do to satisfy the "Torque Nazi's" LOL. Thanks for sharing. All the best always.
I took a fasteners course in Auto Tech. They said we were to lubricate bolts befor tightening to a toque spec. Some companies wanted Lubriplate, others wanted Molybdenum grease. For head bolts on the the GM Olds 5.7liter Diesels the service bulletin specified dipping the ENTIRE head bolt into 30wt motor oil, then torque it to 180 Nm or 130 lb/ft. Nice to see lubricant on those threaded fasteners. Most shops just ram it in with an impact wrench. Nice work Eric, ben/ michigan
Napa doesnāt sponsor you but your shop is a Napa authorized repair center (the sign)?
Iām an engineer (so Iām naturally prone to pedantry) but even I appreciate your anti-pedantry comments!
šā¤ļøš
Man that Kroil is FAST! š
One click at a time Sweet Jesus to me! A great Baptist repair method.
Having watched this video, I'm fighting the urge to go find someone with a Buick Encore and offer to change their lower control arms and tie rod ends…
It was more funnier when the girl's did 1 on the Malibu
G'day Eric, really enjoy your fault finding prowess, nice and logical. I have one question, I have moderate mechanical knowledge and need to install a seal kit in a Ford Falcon steering rack. In your opinion should I have a go or buy a new rack at $480? May God bless you, Vanessa and tribe. BTW don't be too hard on yourself, wish you lived here. Russell, Tasmania.
Nothing Eric O cant do. Awesome videos .
Great advice checking the bushings to make sure theyāre not tearing away. If your mechanic suggests a ball joint replacement, ask him about these bushings, too. š
I watched my old mechanic put heads on my Chevy 4.8 without a torque wrench. That was 100k ish miles ago and so far it's still good…
You make it look easy š
A couple of things Mr O!
1. That must be a Florida car! I'm not used to seeing anything in New York without rust! Every nut, bolt, and component came off like they were new. what a treat!
2. I bought both Astro right angle impacts, 3/8" and 1/2" from your site and they've for the most part replaced my conventional impacts because they work that well!
Thanks Eric!
"We'll let the car down." Well, it's already a Buick, so I'm not sure that would be necessary. No sense in kicking a car when it's down already. š
So, if you torque something to 59 ft lbs.. then 60Ā° and end up with a total of.. I don't know.. a 100 ft lbs… Why not just go to a 100 in the first place? I'm sure there's a reason..
Eric makes this job look easy! Sometimes you get one not rusted to the max!
"Somebody" is having a good day. I imagine most of us talk to ourselves while working under a car in the same manner. "Don't touch the sharp/pointy/hot/greasy item just yet (fill in name here)." You have to have a little fun while banging knuckles and having debris fall in your face. All the best!
Got a total front end overhaul on 04 f150 scheduled today, with brakes. Money Mr. Crabsš. Now I'm inspired to go to work. Thanks Mr. Crabs, huh, I mean Eric š
BIG 1.4 š
"Any mechanic has a flag nut story." Yup, i still have scars on one fingie from those damn things. Hopefully guys only have one story-after the first time laying on the ground in the fetal position you learn better
Easy oeasy weezie. Gravy work. Love it, gravybwork that is. We all deserv it.
ŠŃŠŗŠ»Š°Š“ŃŠ²Š°Š¹ŃŠµ Š²ŠøŠ“ŠµŠ¾ ŃŠ°ŃŠµ
Be careful you might accidentally fold that control arm with your hands
Flag nut equals 6 stitches, and I still had to finish the job when I got back.
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
PLEASE STAND BY
ššššššššš
Vehicle is six years old and is already a basket case.
Pressure is the wife yelling at you to finish a project.
Tension is the resulting headache.
Funny you bring up the grease in the tie rod end. Was recently looking at info on putting marine grease in my regular trailer bearings as I only have marine grease and dont feel like buying regular, everything said its fine but you HAVE to clean out all the other grease so it doesnt cause issues, never mix marine and regular grease.
Haha. YouTubes captions are hilarious to read. Self man auto channel. Always a classic
Just did a turbocharger replacement on one of these. Have control arms, tie rods, and brakes to look forward to.
Ok, I admit it, when that Technical Difficulties screen popped up, I laughed. That was hilarious!
Superlube's regular NLGI#2 grease base is silica, which being unreactive is compatible with any other base. Probably not going to matter in a chassis lube what you use though! Maybe something that doesn't wash away easily?
Great Job š
Nah, rubbish. Torque wrench not required here in Orstraya mate! Just do it up till it strips, then back it off 1/4 turn and she is all good.š
The torque Natzis need to understand just how inaccurate torque measurements with a friction -clutch type torque wrench are.
Eric What ever happen to that lower control arm home made tool you used to use to bend them down?
Thatās my favorite penetrating oil too.
āIf you think anyone is torquing these in real life, youāre out of your mind.ā ššššŗšøšŗšøšŗšø Man I love this channel! Youāre one liners are spot on Eric O!
The bad part about watching your videos is you show new tools . Yup that means I go out and buy more tools haaa . Love new tools š®š®š® š .
You know it all the time those technical difficulties happen bed with it it's just experience
Settle the argument. Tighten bushing fasteners with the suspension loaded or unloaded…
Thanks for all you do Eric!!!
Watching your videos makes me feel like I can do my own repairs, until I try. Aināt so easy. š³
i never torque those nuts or bolts
Eric where do get the Kroil penetrating oil. Need some to lubricate my steering shaft u joints. Save me from replacing it. I know only one place that sells it. That is Grainger. That is the best rust buster. Thanks
In the real world nothing gets torqued.listen to him people.torqued is tap the impact trigger 3 times once tight.
You know Eric, I do not remember if I ever blasted you for something you did or didn't do while working on a car to make a YouTube video. But if I did, it was probably because you did something that I did back when I was working on car's that I thought was improper. However, I have since come to see that you are actually a pretty good Mechanic, but I also wanna say thank you for that last comment about the use of a torque wrench. Using a torque wrench to insure that things are at spec is never a bad thing and may actually save you money down the road, instead of having to go back and pay someone to fix something you did not get right or to redo your work for a customer because you didn't use a torque wrench. As a mechanic I hate to have to redo work, because I missed something like using a torque wrench, as my time is money. So thank you.
š my arm šŖ clicks! Flat rate style š!
Thanks Mr. O
Tension? Tension!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
I am pretty much anti penetrating oil. But I have been using mouse milk as of recent, just because. Literally 5.3l direct injectors came right out, hub bearing pulled off with a couple whacks, and I used it on something else that I was surprised came off easily. š. Now Kroil, no way I am spending close to $20 on a can.
Whereās those new glasses Eric? We promise we wonāt call you ā4 eyesā or any other childish namesā¦.
Appreciated the walk through. It brings confidence in later DIY!
I love how your roast the commenters in like every video. So fricken funny.
Your hilarious ššš
Buick Encore is a Baby Enclave. Not sure Why Buick felt the need to make a Poor Manās Model because it really Cheapens the Buick Brand. š¤Ŗš
You need to make a āadult language in progressā version of the technical difficulties card.
Fine work Mister šššš š š š š š
I feel like we need to get donuts for Josh.
i just bought one of those fancy snap on digital torque wrenches and i can say this yours prob sees much more action than mine!
I had to laugh at your ā ā¦ thatās a different level (of) troll.ā snark. That wit is one of the many reasons we come here again and again. Thanks for the video and the chuckle.
Awesome video