I'm trying to get the left upper control arm on my 72 cutlass off to replace the bushings. As everyone knows the steering shaft is in the way. What is the best way to remove the control arm. I know the control arm bolts are splined and pressed into the frame. So do you remove the bolts or move the steering shaft.

 

you should be able to get it out of there by knocking the bolts out.

 

Good luck if they are original bolts and rusted in. I could not bang the ones on my drivers side out... but I already had the steering arm off, so it did not matter. It was like they were welded in. Smack em hard, might have to heat them up at worst to bang them out.

 

As long as they are not welded in, you just knock the bolts out. There is only about 1/8" of splines that are pressed through the frame- so you don't have to move them much to get them out.

if you look in the chassis manual it shows removing them with a large(couple feet long) pry bar using a peice of wood against the engine/exhaust manifold as the pivot point. If you do it that way, be very careful to not "wiggle" the bolt out- it should be pressed straight out otherwise you'll bugger up those spines and the bolt won't press back in properly.

The way i do it.. I made a tool to do this.
I have a large C clamp bought at harbor freight(cheap!)- I had a friend tack weld a tall stack of washers onto the upper lip of the clamp so it will curve under the steering arm& reach the end of the bolt- then i set a large socket or BJcup over the bolt head under the control arm, then tighten the clamp down. couple turns and pop it comes right out.

To put it back in, slide the bolt in, put a couple washer on the inside, & tighten down the nut until the bolt presses itself back into the splines- then loosen the nut & insert your alignment shims.

 

I would just get new bolts in that case... GM pn # 381909. Suppliers sell them. ie. ILT, AMK (pg 18 of PDF cat). I don't like messing around with 40+yr old bolts myself.

 

Got the bolts out and control arm off. Thanks everyone for your help. I ended up following the service manual procedure, although it didnt go exactly as stated, but what ever does. I banged on the bolts to loosen them but they would'nt push out so I spun them a little and wiggled them out. I think when I reinstall them I will put a little red locktite on the splines to insure they are locked in.

 

These are often overstressed by gorilla alignment techs. When they break, your wheel will fall off. Been there, got the lousy t-shirt...
REPLACE them.

Never supposed to turn those...
Hopefully you took out the splines on the bolts and are replacing them.
If the frame splines were stripped, it may be a pain to do wheel alignments in the future. Not sure if locktite will help, but worth a try.

 

40 yr old bolts vs. under $20 and a couple days aren't worth a life or four, let alone the damage caused if they break/fall out, even at low speeds!!
I'd replace them, just for the 'worry factor'!!

 

Ben R. / Rambow Has the best way to do this. The C clamp is genius and super easy. I didnt have to tack weld anything. I found a socket that barely fit over the threaded end of the bolt that is closest to the fire wall, and this gave me enough extra length to get around the steering shaft. Slid the clamp through the gap of the control arm, around the steering shaft and pressed it against the wrench end of the socket that is on the bolt. I then slid a 3/4 socket over the other end of the bolt close to me, tightened the clamp, then used the ball joint fork i had to get leverage on the clamp. It came right out with a turn or two. The other bolt closest to the bumper is even easier because you don't need the socket over the threaded end to get length.

Thanks Ben. I was two seconds away from talking out the shaft.

Knowledge for those who need it... Me.

 

Happen to have an image of this home made upper control arm retaining bolt press out C clamp tool to remove the bolts or the size of the c-clamp used or a past post with details if there was one. This would help with locating a C camp size that worked well.
thanks

 

new bolts and a torch. or a 4" cutoff wheel

 

This thread is from 2011. Hopefully the OP has solved the problem by now.