Control arm bolts

[Simba]

So I replaced my control arms, ball joints, and tie rods. With this I replaced the bolts. 3 days later all the bolts on the control arm were extremely loose. I don't know why, I tightened all the bolt and if anything I may have over tightened them. What am I missing here? Should I have used threadlock on them? PLEASE HELP!

 

[turbocharged798]

No thread lock. They are TTY must be replaced every time.

The torque spec is 52ft/lbs +90* I believe. Sounds as if you didn't torque them correctly.

 

[Golfrunner]

A quick search on this forum will find the proper torque specs on the front suspension bolts - and they differ of course if you are tightening the 3 ball joint nuts - versus the bolts that hinge the control arm from the frame. I usually don't torque them but get them tight - but if you have them loosening I'd resort to the torque specs. I don't think you should use threadloc - there may me reasons not to.

 

[maxmoo]

.....also the two control arm bolts should be torqued to yield with the vehicle on the ground.

The bolt diameter is less than the hole in the rear bushing...thus occasionaly the larger bushing will be "cocked" when tightened with wheels off of the ground.
When you hit a bump in the road it "uncocks"...resulting in a loose bolt.
I have not seen this happen often but have seen it happen a couple of times over the years.
Hope I explained this well enough.

 

[Simba]

Thanks everyone. After hitting every hurdle I had to finally cut into the subframe and weld the nut back on. It was the last possible thing that could go wrong with this job.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

I didn't realize they were TTY bolts.....I think I have the front ones(got them for the B4),but I'll get the front and rear bolts.I can't believe dealer doesn't stock either one.Does anyone know if you can re-use the nut for the rear,as I see IDParts rear bolts come w/nut,not sure if they are separate item at dealer.