Hey everyone, first post, don't be too harsh!

Just got my first ford, a 2005 lariat 4x4 and am replacing the front end ball joints, tie rods, control arms and brakes. I've encountered a slight issue with the upper control arm mounting bolts and they don't seem to want to come out. They're blocked by the struts. I was just wondering if there's any way I could avoid removing the struts because I don't particularly want to do any strut work Is there any way around this, please?

 

Nope, the struts (coilovers) have to be removed to provide clearance for the bolts. Support the truck by the frame and remove the large bolt on the bottom and the three nuts on top of the tower and you should have room to slide the bottom of the assembly out and lower the top end to make room. You might make it by just removing the three top nuts and breaking the ball joint loose, depends. Bottom line: the top of the assembly must be moved down for the bolts to come out. No 'strut' work involved, they are one unit assembly.

 

agreed, if you pull upper and lower ball joints off, and sway bar end link, you can take the knuckle and set it aside on a bucket or something. Don't stretch the flexible brake line. And be careful the knuckle and brakes are very heavy!

Then the strut comes out real easy. I like to use a 13mm ratcheting wrench with a flex head.