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Model S Front Upper Control Arm DIY

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David.85D

Active Member
Oct 29, 2016
1,726
1,502
USA
I purchased the upper control arms (and fore links) from the service center and am getting ready to replace them, except I immediately ran into two hiccups. There is a bracket blocking me from removing the rear bolt on the UCA on the right side (where it attaches to the strut tower). I would like this mostly to be a DIY, and will post the steps if I can get past this, but interested to hear if anyone else has done this and how you got around 1) the bracket.

The front bolt also seems to hit the air spring but that is covered in the service manual (I have a copy of the service manual posted online) as you may have to remove the air spring module, but then that leads you to depressurizing the air spring using Toolbox, which I don't have. So, that was challenge #2 - Is it really neccesary to depressurize and remove the air spring module?

The car I'm working on is a 2014 P85D.

Here is the general process:

1) Position car, put it into jack mode but don't lift yet.
2) From inside Trunk, remove the underhood apron and lift up the rubber shock tower cover
3) Remove (disconnect?) the 12V auxillary battery
4) Lift the vehicle and safely support it (jack stands for me)
5) Remove the wheel and wheel arch liner
6) Disconnect the ride height sensor (air suspension) - two 10mm wrenches needed
7) Remove the air spring module if needed for access (really? hope not)
8) Remove the locknut and bolt that hold the upper control arm to the knuckle and seperate the arm- 15 mm wrench and torx T50 to counter-hold. Torque 60 N-m
9) Remove the rear bolt - 15 mm wrench - very confined space - I used a crowsfoot wrench on a breaker bar to get it started then a gearwrench ratcheting box end wrench. (bracket is in the way?)
10) Remove the front nut 15mm and 7mm wrench to counter-hold the bolt. The bolt went most of the way through, then hits the air spring...
11) Release the Upper Control Arm and remove it... I hope...

IMG_9473.jpg
 
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I purchased the upper control arms (and fore links) from the service center and am getting ready to replace them, except I immediately ran into two hiccups. There is a bracket blocking me from removing the rear bolt on the UCA on the right side (where it attaches to the strut tower). I would like this mostly to be a DIY, and will post the steps if I can get past this, but interested to hear if anyone else has done this and how you got around 1) the bracket.

The front bolt also seems to hit the air spring but that is covered in the service manual (I have a copy of the service manual posted online) as you may have to remove the air spring module, but then that leads you to depressurizing the air spring using Toolbox, which I don't have. So, that was challenge #2 - Is it really neccesary to depressurize and remove the air spring module?

The car I'm working on is a 2014 P85D.

Here is the general process:

1) Position car, put it into jack mode but don't lift yet.
2) From inside Trunk, remove the underhood apron and lift up the rubber shock tower cover
3) Remove (disconnect?) the 12V auxillary battery
4) Lift the vehicle and safely support it (jack stands for me)
5) Remove the wheel and wheel arch liner
6) Disconnect the ride height sensor (air suspension) - two 10mm wrenches needed
7) Remove the air spring module if needed for access (really? hope not)
8) Remove the locknut and bolt that hold the upper control arm to the knuckle and seperate the arm- 15 mm wrench and torx T50 to counter-hold. Torque 60 N-m
9) Remove the rear bolt - 15 mm wrench - very confined space - I used a crowsfoot wrench on a breaker bar to get it started then a gearwrench ratcheting box end wrench. (bracket is in the way?)
10) Remove the front nut 15mm and 7mm wrench to counter-hold the bolt. The bolt went most of the way through, then hits the air spring...
11) Release the Upper Control Arm and remove it... I hope...

View attachment 751287

I never remove the air struts for upper control arms. You have less space then with coil struts but it is certainly doable.

Getting the right rear bolt out is easy, just use a extension and a hammer to get it out, not much force is needed.

Back is a little trickier, normally I put the bolt in a few mm's and use a long screwdriver to push it further and manipulate the control arm a little but if you can't you can also put the bolt in from the other side I think but I never do that.

About the left rear bolt with the bracket, Can't you just unscrew the bracket? :)

Don't forget to torq the control arm in ride height.

Good luck
 
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I've not looked under mine to see if there is space. but what about doing the method that N2itive gives for the rear toe arm? Basically the bolt is too long to take out the way its installed without dropping the whole subframe, and you just cut it out and when you reassemble you put the bolt in the opposite side where there is more room and torque it down as per the instructions.
 
I didn’t replace them in the end. I looked carefully and they seemed fine. Sorry if this turned into click bait.

Selling the brand new Tesla parts here:

 
Ok, I did these today on my 2015 Model S 85D without air suspension. 108,000 miles and original upper control arms.

First, I did not go with the OEM upper control arms, but bought Mevotech ones from carid.com:


Tools I used:

Jack
22mm deep well socket for wheel stud bolts.
15mm sockets for control arm bolts/nuts. T50 for ball joint bolt head.
Impact gun, 15mm wrench with ratcheting head, drill driver.
Various pry bars and a couple hammers. Metal punches.
8 and 13mm sockets for removing tub bolts.
10mm socket for wheel liner, small screwdriver and plastic trim pop rivet removal tool.
Lights and adjustable mirror.
Woodworking adjustable clamp.
Angle grinder (optional but useful for the passenger side).

Here are the steps I took:

1. Remove frunk side and back trim and tub.

Driver's side:

2. Jack-up car and remove driver side wheel. There are no good secondary jack stand locations, so I did this all while the car was only supported by the hydraulic jack. Not recommended, but that's how it had to go for me.
3. Peel-back the rubber trim piece in the frunk covering the front bolt on the control arm. Put a 15mm wrench on the head of the bolt in the wheel well behind the shock and I used my impact gun and 15mm socket to remove the nut from the frunk area. Would be easier with 2 people but not bad.
4. Drive the bolt out of the control arm bushing. There is a ridge in the shock area the bolt gets a little stuck on, but a metal punch will drive it past it.
5. Next, I removed the bolt at the ball joint. Tie the arm to the shock with something so it doesn't flop-about. T50 torx to hold the bolt in place and a 15mm on the impact again to remove the nut. Put the nut back on the bolt a couple threads and use a hammer to drive the bolt as far into the housing as you can. Remove the nut and hammer it in some more. Take a punch and hammer and drive the bolt out.
6. A small pry bar is useful to wedge the sides apart a bit and get the ball joint out. A few light hits with the hammer helps.
7. Remove the 10mm bolt and plastic pop rivets holding the rear wheel wll liner in place. Pry it forward and out of the way.
8. The rear control arm bolt threads directly into the body. I loosened the 15mm bolt with a breaker bar then used a ratcheting 15mm wrench to remove the bolt. On the driver side there is room to remove it, at least on my car without the air suspension.
9. The control arm requires some persuasion to get out. The rear part has a space above where it mounts that you need to move the knuckle into to get it to come out. Some prying and a few hammer hits and you should be able to get it out.
10. The new control arm bushings were TIGHT!. I had to take them down to my belt sander and take a bit off the metal washers to get the new part back in. I measured the old and new and they were exactly the same dimensions. The slight material removal made all the difference for me.
11. Wrestle the new control arm roughly into place. Line-up the hole on the front bushing and temporarily put the bolt in the opposite way from the front until it pokes-out into the shock area.
12. Using a mirror get the rear control arm bushing hole lined-up. This would also be easier with 2 people, but was doable. Got to get the light shining on the mirror to see the hole and then pry the control arm around to get it lined-up. Put the bolt in the hole and lightly hit it with a hammer until it stops.
13. Tighten the rear bolt. Again I used the ratcheting wrench for this. Just get it snug at this point.
14. Remove the front bolt and put it in correctly from the rear. Again, the ridge back there will stop the bolt head. A pry bar will help you get it past the ridge. This may be more of a pain with the air suspension, I don't know. Put the 15mm nut back on and tighten.
15. At this point I torqued both the rear bolts down to 68nm before putting the ball joint back in place. It was fine, but maybe leaving them looser would make the next part easier.
16. Put the ball joint in roughly the same angle as the hole and push the arm up enough the get the ball joint above and into the hole in the knuckle. Took me a couple tries to get it aligned properly, and I use a woodworking clamp to press the knuckle back against the shock to make it easier. Once properly aligned a few hammer hits on the knuckle will get it to drop into place. Put the bolt back in and tighten the nut to 60nm.
17. Put the wheel liner back. Be carful with the 10mm nut, the bolt is poorly welded to the chassis and broke-off on the driver's side for me.
18. Put the wheel back on and torque the lug nuts down.

Passenger side:

The passeneger side is exactly the same with one BIG exception, the bracket that is in the way of removing the rear bolt. I could see two 10mm bolts at the rear, so I tried removing them and moving the bracket but it was secured elsewhere. I couldn't get to the rest of the bracket without tearing a ton of additional stuff apart, so I made an executive decision.

The bracket part that is in the way of the bolt is open at the top. I took an angle grinder and cut the front part, and was able to bend the piece out of the way towards the rear. If you choose to go this route be VERY careful. There is a wire in the area and you need to make sure it's out of the way so you don't cut it.

PXL_20220725_132037332.jpg


Other than the bracket it's exactly the same as the driver's side. Once you have the wheel back on put the tub back in and the frunk trim pieces and you are done.

Total time for me was 3 hours. Knowing what I know now I could do it closer to 2 hours. Good news is I got it all done and nothing major broke and I saved a bunch of money. Bad news is I still have a clunck sound when turning sharply, so may need to do the tie rod ends or lower control arms next.
 
y'all are making it harder than it needs to be

first if you're going to install aftermarket suspension parts get adjustable ones for what should be obvious reasons i have the hardrace front UCA on mine.

second i installed my UCA on both sides without cutting a damn thing, it just takes a little percussive maintenance, or you can do it by simply removing the air strut from the tower with 4 nuts and its out of the way enough to slide the bolt in or out. If you do it while leaving the strut in place you just need to get a long leverage bar, i happened to have a 36" one lying around you get that back there and smack the bolt out or in with some leverage and it'll pop out. There is a mark on the aluminum part of the frame but big woop nothing is broken and its a lot faster than the 50 step things y'all suggested.
 
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y'all are making it harder than it needs to be

first if you're going to install aftermarket suspension parts get adjustable ones for what should be obvious reasons i have the hardrace front UCA on mine.

second i installed my UCA on both sides without cutting a damn thing, it just takes a little percussive maintenance, or you can do it by simply removing the air strut from the tower with 4 nuts and its out of the way enough to slide the bolt in or out. If you do it while leaving the strut in place you just need to get a long leverage bar, i happened to have a 36" one lying around you get that back there and smack the bolt out or in with some leverage and it'll pop out. There is a mark on the aluminum part of the frame but big woop nothing is broken and its a lot faster than the 50 step things y'all suggested.
Service manual says to decompress the air strut. Did you have to do that?
 
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Just did this on the passenger side on mine. Fairly easy. Reinstalling the bolt with nut in can be difficult. I was able to do it with skinny hands.
Did not touch air strut at all.

Also, at least on my car the bracket that was in the way for the bolt was held in place with 4 bolts and was easy to lift up to have the bolt clear. Didn't have to cut anything.

I did use an angle grinder to shave off a tiny bit for the control arm to fit. No idea how it would fit without doing so.

Also make sure to tighten the bolts when there is load on the assembly. I did this with a secondary jack. This also makes it easier to insert the arm into the knuckle.

EQ4SgwR.jpeg
 
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Take a hammer and hammer it out from the opposite end of the torx head. You probably have to use a short metal rod or drill bit to hammer on. Having a jack or jackstand on the knuckle assembly to relieve stress is also recommended. I hope you understand what I mean. The bolt is not screwed into the knuckle so it will just spin. Give it a few good wacks with a hammer and it will come right out.