chaseincats

Good news, I was able to get the bolt in. We're all set, thanks so much everyone!!

I'm not following. Isn't the lower control arm bolted to the ball joint which is bolted to the strut?

bending the knuckle and using the jack to get everything lined up worked perfectly, thanks for the tips! I ended up getting one bolt in but the other bolt's threads got knackered so I will have to put a bolt and nut in it's place but definitely better than nothing.

Thanks for your reply, I'm glad to hear I don't have to mess with those springs/struts. Regarding bending the steering knuckle, that will be pretty tough because its still connected to the tie rod end and an hour of banging on the tie rod end screw/banging on a pickle fork to separate them didn't work. Your idea with the jack and the control arm is really solid, do you think it will work though even if I can't bend the knuckle?

Hi guys, (first post!), I changed the front driver lower-ball-joint but cannot get its housing (steering knuckle) to line up/bolt onto the strut. The problem is that the strut's screw mounts are angled inward, but the knuckle's aren't (see attached pic). Do I need to compress the strut to get the knuckle to line up, or is there a trick to this I am missing? I tried compressing the spring last night with some strut spring compressors, but the strut was still stuck in the down position. I came up with an idea last night but have yet to try it : Would it be possible to bolt all of the other suspension components back on and then thread an allen key (or just any bit of metal that will fit) through both the strut and knuckle mounting holes, then lower the car? Shouldn't that allow the holes to line up, or is this a bad/unsafe idea? I attached a picture of what I'm talking about with the issue boxed in red. Any ideas? -chase