How to Index Control Arm Bolts on Trucks

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Nate McCullough on behalf of Expert Village. In the following clips, we're going to talk about the correct procedure for replacing your upper and lower ball joints on a two wheel drive full size vehicle. In this clip, we're going to talk about indexing of our upper control arm bolts. This is a step you're going to want to perform; it will avoid you having to pay for a front end alignment after your front end service. These upper control arm bolts have what they call eccentrics on them. If you take a look at the end of the bolt, it's at the bottom of a very large washer. You can rotate this washer and it will apply cam style leverage to a block here and push that control arm in or out. That sets your alignment angle called camber. What we're going to do, to put it right back to the way is was from the factory, is take a marker and mark it. We're going to mark the bolt, mark the top of it, and mark a permanent part on the vehicle, the control arm mounting service. When we reinstall it, we're going to line our two marks back up and that will insure that our alignment integrity is maintained and that you don't have to go and see your service mechanic and pay for a front end alignment. Alignments range between $35 and $80 dollars depending on the particular make and model of your vehicle. What we did right there with our little marker is save some money. It's the proper way to index your control arm bolts."