The fight to fix my car's suspension
I finally got my car fixed and replaced the control arm.
It started off at the beginning of last week, when I spent a day buying the new part, and then drove around looking at tools at different places and finally buying tools for the job.
The Wednesday of last week I was going to start the job, but strong storms rolled in so I had to postpone it until Thurs. That day, I ended up being able to get two of the bolts off, but one of the two last ones was difficult to get off, and the other one refused to come off as well.
Friday I bought a cheap impact wrench. I was able to get the third bolt off with some difficulty and elbow grease, but the last one would loosen up and then stop and refuse to budge any more. I later returned the impact wrench for a refund, as it was shit.
I re-tightened everything and carefully drove the hour to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. I felt confident that despite the bushings being worn I could make it to the event and back.
Last Monday I made one last attempt to loosen the bolt, and then spent that day and Tuesday looking for a torch that I could use to heat the bolt up. I love that I drove up to a thrift shop right as they were closing and had to drive there again the next day (they didn't have one). I ended up spending $35 for a new torch.
But the torch worked. The last bolt came out. I had to buy a new nut for it, but it was worth it. The new control arm was a bit of a struggle to get onto the car, as the holes didn't line up without lots of wiggling and prying. I had to work into the dark. But I got it finished, and with a week of looking at parts, tools, and torches.
The job would have cost about $230 at a repair shop, maybe less if I supplied them with my own parts.
The control arm was $65. The tools: $30. The torch: $35. Rental tools, which I returned for my money back, were about $200.
So I saved about $100 or so.
It started off at the beginning of last week, when I spent a day buying the new part, and then drove around looking at tools at different places and finally buying tools for the job.
The Wednesday of last week I was going to start the job, but strong storms rolled in so I had to postpone it until Thurs. That day, I ended up being able to get two of the bolts off, but one of the two last ones was difficult to get off, and the other one refused to come off as well.
Friday I bought a cheap impact wrench. I was able to get the third bolt off with some difficulty and elbow grease, but the last one would loosen up and then stop and refuse to budge any more. I later returned the impact wrench for a refund, as it was shit.
I re-tightened everything and carefully drove the hour to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. I felt confident that despite the bushings being worn I could make it to the event and back.
Last Monday I made one last attempt to loosen the bolt, and then spent that day and Tuesday looking for a torch that I could use to heat the bolt up. I love that I drove up to a thrift shop right as they were closing and had to drive there again the next day (they didn't have one). I ended up spending $35 for a new torch.
But the torch worked. The last bolt came out. I had to buy a new nut for it, but it was worth it. The new control arm was a bit of a struggle to get onto the car, as the holes didn't line up without lots of wiggling and prying. I had to work into the dark. But I got it finished, and with a week of looking at parts, tools, and torches.
The job would have cost about $230 at a repair shop, maybe less if I supplied them with my own parts.
The control arm was $65. The tools: $30. The torch: $35. Rental tools, which I returned for my money back, were about $200.
So I saved about $100 or so.