Torque specs for front LCAs, ball joints, strut? Topic is solved

[gnalan]

I have finally been able to get new LCAs (Meyle HD) for the front of my 2001 S60, non-turbo, automatic, and new ball joints (Meyle). I also got new hardware to replace all the bolts/nuts (Volvo), and steering stops (Volvo). All parts are from FCPEuro, and their customer service has been great!

I chose Meyle over Lemforder, since their parts seem to be made in China, and, from what I've read on the forum here, don't last very long. Hopefully the Meyle parts will last year's rather than months. This doesn't seem to be a job that I want to do more times than needed.

I guess I have quite a few questions:
1.) What are the LCA torque specs for front and rear bushing, and ball joint nut?
2.) What are the torque specs for the two ball joint bolts?
3.) What are the torque specs for the strut bolts?
4.) I'm sure there's other parts that need removed. Can you please list those for me with their respective torque specs too?
5.) How do you lift the engine/transmission to replace the bolts for the front bushings, or can this be done without doing any lifting?
6.) Does the car need to be on its wheels before tightening all of the bolts, or can they be tightened before putting the wheels on and dropping the car back down off of the jack stands?
7.) Is there a way to set the camber with the car lifted? I don't know if the lower two strut bolts can be loosened and tightened again.
8.) What are the torque specs for the steering stops?
9.) What are the torque specs for the axle bolts?
10.) Can the bolts in the strut bearing plates be replaced safely, along with new nuts?
11.) How much (more) hair loss will I have from the stress of tackling such a big task?
12.) I'm assuming that I can use the radiator support to both lift and lower the front end, as well as use it with jack stands so they're out of the way. Is this ok or should I put the jack stands elsewhere, and/or lift the entire front end elsewhere?

I think that's all of my questions, or at least all that I can think of at the moment. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jonesg]

I used an offset box end wrench to get at the bolts in the frame U channel, a block of wood under the oil pan, lift just enough for access.
"tight as you can" was my precision torque 3 yrs ago.

[gnalan]

I used an offset box end wrench to get at the bolts in the frame U channel, a block of wood under the oil pan, lift just enough for access.
"tight as you can" was my precision torque 3 yrs ago.

Do I need to undo any engine mounts before lifting the engine?

[jonesg]

Nope, just lift it , you only need an inch or so.

[xHeart]

I have finally been able to get new LCAs (Meyle HD) for the front of my 2001 S60, non-turbo, automatic, and new ball joints (Meyle).

I believe, Meyle HD comes with 4-yr manufacturer's warranty. Good choice, I have then on our cars.

[gnalan]

I saw the 4 year warranty when I found them for a lower price on another website, but with the cyber sale FCPEuro has going on, plus their lifetime guarantee, I went with FCPEuro. At least that way, when I need to do the job again, I won't have to pay the full price for new ones.

[gnalan]

I just finished the passenger side control arm replacement, which took me 2 days to do. I reused all of the bolts/nuts that were on it before, except the vertical bolt/nut on the control arm. I have all new bolts, but until I can afford to replace the struts I'll just keep them for later. I also left the ball joint alone since it's still in good condition. I had planned on replacing the axle bolt, but the one that came with the Meyle ball joint was both too long and too skinny for the bolt hole in the axle. I don't know if if a previous owner swapped out the wrong axles, or drilled and tapped the original axle for the other bolt, or if Volvo changed bolts at some point and I was just sent the wrong one. Has anyone else run into this problem?

I plan on doing the driver's side tomorrow, since it'll be the last day in the 70s before it gets cold again, as long as I don't have the same problems as I did on the passenger side. It took the longest pry bar I have, which I used between the ear on the strut and the top of the knuckle, just to get the strut and knuckle holes to line up. Not as easy to do as I was hoping it would be. I just hope I didn't pull too hard downward to ruin the bushings.

Is there an easier way when I do the driver's side to bolt the strut back up to the knuckle? I didn't remove the sway bar end link, since I didn't want to mess with the sway bar, so I don't know if that's why it was so hard to do or if it's just the way the new bushings are. The old arm I could easily move up and down about 6 inches with one finger, and the new one took a lot of force with my palm to move maybe an inch and a half. Hopefully that'll make the car handle a lot better, and be safer to drive, assuming I didn't mess anything up. Since I didn't have a way to measure the camber before taking everything apart, when I put it back together I just pushed the knuckle as close to the strut as I could. I figure negative camber is better than positive, at least until I'm completely finished and can have an alignment done.

The website was down this morning, but a quick email to Matt had it back up and running. Thank you Matt! I was trying to use the link from here as my reference for my torque specs https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forum ... =9&t=83606.

[jonesg]

I used a ratchet strap to pull the CA down to get the balljoint lined up.
Then a small trolley jack under the brake disc to lift it and pop balljoint in place.

[gnalan]

Did you bolt the strut and axle up before putting the ball joint into the control arm? My problem, once the ball joint is bolted back in place, plus the control arm, is getting the stut bolts realigned and bolted back up and the axle bolted back into the hub without over stressing anything.

[gnalan]

This is the driver's side rear bushing. Instead of the rubber tearing off of the center metal piece like the passenger side did, the driver's side ripped the rubber off of the outer edge of the bushing.