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just did my front bushings and cant get the dang control arms in to save my life . . .

if I put the body bolts in first there's no way to get the balljoint back on . . . if I put the ball joint on first there's too much pressure on the arm to line the holes up to get the bolts in . . . what am I doing wrong?

Is there some trick I don't know or I just need to pound the **** out of stuff? Thanks

 
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I think I did the control arm first, then I raised the knuckle up with a jack to ride height and the balljoint should slide in no problem. Don't forget you can physically move the ball joint itself quite a ways to help you out during this process. It might be a tad stiff though because it's a brand new joint. The trick here is to have the knuckle at or near regular ride height. Don't put any bolts in anything until you get all three pieces near where they should be... Yes, it is a PITA if your doing it for the first time. Whatever you do, don't put the jack on the rotor. Keep fighting with it and eventually you will get it. Ultimately you will need to fit all three in at once youll have the control arm near lined up with the balljoint in place then when you jack everything up it should fit properly.

Pounding the **** out of stuff is never a solution though it feels so damn good.

^ Pardon for the choppy *** writing but I think I got my point across.

 
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I think I get it, but anything I do to move the wheel assembly up no matter where I put the pressure it starts to swing outward away from the control arm. it's maddening.

 
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Thanks for the help . . . I ended up caving and paying the mechanic around the corner to come over and do it for me. Thank God he was willing. I feel defeated but at least my car is put back together.

 
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I had the same problem but it ended up working it's way in somehow. I did mine a long time ago and on my Ford Edge not civic so my advice may not have been 100% useful. Did you watch how he did it by chance? What did he do different that made it work?

 
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I've been tempted to call a mechanic myself.

Getting suspension components to line up is tricky, it really helps to not fully torque bolts until everything it fitted together so you have a bit of extra play and to have a second set of hands. Regardless, definite PITA.

 
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Well first off "he" was two people so it was like magic compared to just little old me. . . lol.

He did the two top bolts first and beat them in with a hammer to line them up while is buddy was underneath with an impact wrench driving them in (also a luxury I did not have which makes me proud I got the two bolts in on the one side).

Then his buddy stood on the control arm to force it down while he shoved the ball joint in.

It literally took them like 15 minutes to do both sides. It was def. worth the 70 bucks and two cups of coffee it cost me considering I had been monkeying with it for the past four hours. Just glad it's done . . . guess there's some jobs I just need to stay away from no matter how confident I feel . . . lol.

 
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Haha, it took me about 30 minutes just to line it up by myself on my Edge. I jacked the knuckle up instead of standing on the arm and forcing it down. Forcing those bushings past there they are supposed to go is not ideal. That being said I'm pretty crafty when it comes to suspension work, which probably makes it easier for me to do depending on how much experience you have yourself.

 
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My suspension experience is pretty much non existent. I've barely started doing my own oil changes w/in the past couple of years. I did the monroe pre-built shocks on my corolla and the rear camber arms on the civic (which was insanely easy) and that's about it as far as suspension gos . . . so yea . . . guess I should just pat myself on the back for getting as far as I did without help . . . lol.

I did try jacking up the knuckle like you said but it just made the whole thing swing back and away from the control arm . . . there's a good chance I wasn't doing it right, not to mention I had the damn jackstand on plywood on my front lawn which made working with the jack pretty difficult . . . lol.

Regardless I'm grateful for communities like these forums. Always nice to have support even when I fail

Thanks peeps!

 
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Haha no problem, yea now that I remember you can roll the jack around and it moves the entire strut/knuckle assembly around. So It's just a matter of lining it up! Try again next time I'm sure you will get it

 
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Dang . . . rolling the jack around . . . didn't even think of that. Makes a lot of sense now On top of all this is was pouring down rain today so I was literally doing all of this soaking wet sitting in mud puddles. I need a garage . . .

 
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^ I hear ya, I changed a head gasket in the snow