Can you get the bolts out from the frame on both the left and right control arms without having to lift the engine? The Haynes manual says that the engine has to be lifted in order to access the bolts. I have looked at both left and right control arms from under the car and I can get a box wrench on the bolts on both control arms but don't know if the bolts have to come straight out of the frame or can they be tilted to drop the head down to get by the engine without haveing to go through the trouble of lifting the engine. If the engine does have to be lifted where are the engine mounts located and how do you get to them, from the top or the underside of the engine?

Thanks

 

Some have reported being able to access the bolts with an offset head box wrench. If you can turn the bolt you can get the A-arm off. The bolts don't have to come out completely.

 

 

I changed mine on my 2002 s80 with a 6'' sock extension on the inside, but i unbolted the front motor mount to jack the engine/trans a couple of inches

 

My 17 year old did this on the driveway with a couple of jack stands and hand tools- without raising the engine.

I had seen an S80 on the rack in a shop recently that had the sub-frame and trans dropped out from the bottom, and I realized the problem was the lip around the sub-frame keeps you from reaching the bolt heads that are inside the frame- mostly on the drivers side. I had recently purchased a "go through" socket set* at Harbor Freight (Item # 67974) and found it to be most useful in reaching inside the lip of the frame, without being too tall and interfering with the trans just opposite the bolt. An offset box end wrench would do the same, but would be slower.

To be clear, since the engine was not lifted the bolts were left in the frame. Locktite was used on them when it was re-assembled. We did pull the brakes/rotors as we were chaining them at the same time. We did pull the right drive shaft as it was being changed since we discovered it had a torn boot. We did not pull the left drive shaft.

We only pulled the strut/knuckle bolts AFTER the new control arms were in, to facilitate ball joint to knuckle assembly. It was easier to then jack the control arm/knuckle assembly up to reach the strut and install the two bolts.

*This particular tool is also very helpful when it comes to the sway bar link and the ball joint, allowing you to put a torx or allen wrench on the stud while turning the nut.

I recommend you soak all bolts/nuts with PB Blaster (or some other quality penetrant) prior to doing the job. Most have locktite on them from the factory. Having them clean and lubed helps things go faster. And having two people will help significantly when it comes to dealing with the two bolts in the front of the arm.

 

This is an old post, but thought I would add my experience to possibly help others.
I just replace my control arms today on a 2004 Volvo S80 2.9 NA. I did not jack up the engine but it may not have been too much more work and it would have allowed me to replace the bolts, which I did not do. On the passenger side I was able to utilize the above mentioned pass through socket set to remove the bolts; however, on the driver's side they would not fit and I had to use an offset wrench.

I did not use a ratchet strap to pull down the LCA. I took off the wheel as I also replaced the ball joints. I still did have to pull down the LCA to reinstall the wheel and reconnect the strut, but I did this by prying down with a large pipe wrench as a lever.

At 110K miles my ball joints seemed OK, but I replaced them anyway while everything was apart and it wasn't too hard. I did not use any special tools, just a hammer and punch.

Hopefully replacing the LCA will help my steering as it still appears to have a mind of its own and has highly noticeable torque steer. I replace my inner and outer tie rods earlier and this seem to help; however, I should have done the LCA's at the same time as one was definitely bad and I could see how it could steering meandering.

Good luck.

 

On my 2005 V 70 D5 I have managed to damage the head on one of the front control arm bolts and need to repcace it. PULLEY SIDE
I need to raise the engine about 2 inches to allow me to finish uncrewing the very tight bolt and replace it.
Can anyone tell me how to do this? Which engine mounts do I need to remove? Thanks