1998 - 2012 Crown Victoria 4.6L Torque Specs

Here you can find information regarding the assembly of the Crown Vic front end. In this guide we will cover the essential repairs for the front end of this vehicle. Included within these repairs is the inner and outer tie rod removal and change, the front wheel hubs installation, ball joint removal and installation, the upper and lower control arms, and the front shock installation. Along with the repair procedures we also include the corresponding bolt torque specs for each fastener involved. These guides are intended to assist in each procedure to help diyers with the job.

To install a new tie rod on a crown victoria you must first remove the old one from the vehicle. This can be done by raising the vehicle up by either the use of a floor jack or a vehicle hoist. Once the vehicle is in the air you can remove the corresponding tire for the side that you want to change the tie rod on. Once the tire is off you can now access the old tie rod and remove it for replacement. The inner part of the tie rod uses an 18mm nut that will need to be removed, this nut may spin depending on how rusty it is. I suggest using a pair of vice grips to hold the portion of the bolt to prevent it from spinning. You may also use a wire brush to clean off the threads prior to removal and or use penatrating oil to aid in the removal. Once removed you can now tap out the tie rod from the spindle and start to remove it completely. If you want to replace just the outer portion of the tie rod you can use a wrench to hold the inner tie rod and spin off the outer tie rod. I usually count how many turns it takes to come off so that I can then use the same number when installing the new part. This helps to avoid alignment costs and hassles, although you may still want to get your vehicle realigned. Once the outer tie rod is off you can now screw on the new part and reinstall it the same way it had been removed. Once you get the 18mm nut back in place you can torque it to 60 ft-lbs. Be sure to tighten back up the nut on the middle of the tie rod to ensure it does not move your alignment. If you happen to be installing the inner tie rod as well you will need a special tool to loosen and tighten the inner part. The torque specs for the inner tie rod are 75 ft-lbs.

To install the new wheel hub you must first remove the old hub from the vehicle. To do this you must first jack up the vehicle and remove the lugnuts from the side of the vehicle that you want to replace the part on. Once the tire is off you will need to remove the bolts from the brake bracket on the steering knuckle. These bolts are 18mm and will be rather tight so you may want to use an impact or find some leverage. Once removed you can move the brake assembly out of the way and move the brake rotor from the vehicle. Now you will have access to the wheel hub bolts from the rear of the part. The best way to remove these is to move the steering to allow yourself more room. Once the four bolts are removed the hub should be able to move out of the car. You may need to use some penetrating oil to assist in the removal as occasionally corrosion builds up and causes it to become stuck. Once the hub has been removed you can install the new hub in reverse order from which it had been removed. Start by placing the hub into the knuckle and then fastening the 4 bolts into it from the back. Once in place these bolts will need to be torqued to 75 ft-lbs. The next step is to reinstall the brake rotor and bracket. The bracket bolts torque to 120 ft-lbs. Now with everything back in place you can install your tire and torque your lugnuts to 95 ft-lbs.

The crown victoria has two sets of front ball joints being the upper and lower ball joints. The most common one for replacement is the lower ball joint which is apart of the lower control arm. For reference on how to install the lower control arm please seek out the portion covering that part. The lower ball joint nut can be torqued to 110 ft-lbs. The upper ball joint is similar to the lower but is easier to install. To find out more info on that and the upper control arm please see the section below. The upper ball joint nut can be torqued to the same as the lower being 110 ft-lbs.

The front control arms consist of two portions per side, these are the upper and lower control arms. I'm going to start from the lower control arm and then move to the upper one. There are four main fasteners that hold in the lower control arm. The first one being the largest is in the back and consists of a bolt that goes through the rear or most inwards part of the arm. The bolt hole will need to be lined up with the hole in the frame and then you can fit the bolt through and install the nut. The nut torques to 166 ft-lbs and can be secured further by using blue loctite when installing. The next fastener that is also positioned further into the vehicle is the 3 15mm bolts that hold up the other end of the control arm. These bolts can be torqued to 66 ft-lbs and the single bolt that holds the rubber mount to the control arm can be torqued to 129 ft-lbs if it is a 21mm nut and 150 ft-lbs if it is a 24mm nut. The next main fastener is the bolt that holds the shock to the control arm. This bolt can be installed using blue loctite and will need to be torqued to 166 ft-lbs. The final step is installing the lower ball joint into the spindle, this nut can be torqued to 110 ft-lbs.

Upper Control Arm

The next control arm is refered to the upper control arm. The role of this part is to hold the spindle and wheel assembly aligned properly. The part consists of 3 fasteners, two being bolts in the back of the part and one being a ball joint in the front or closest area of the part. The two bolts in the back will need to be torqued to 110 ft-lbs. The last fastener is the nut that holds the upper ball joint onto the spindle. This nut will also need to be torqued to 110 ft-lbs. All bolts can be installed with some blue loctite to ensure that none of them come loose while driving the vehicle.

To replace the front shocks on a crown victoria you will first need to remove the nuts on the top of the shock. This can be accessed from under the hood of the vehicle or by the side with a wrench. The next bolt to remove is the lower bolt that runs through the lower control arm. Once removed the shock can then be removed from the vehicle. The new shock can then be moved back into the vehicle the same way the old one came out. Once the new shock is installed you can then start installing the bolts and nuts. The upper nut can be installed the same way that it had been removed and should be torqued to 37 ft-lbs. The lower bolt may need to be aligned and pounded back into place. If you must hammer on the bolt be sure not to ruin the threads, once the bolt is through it can be torqued to 166 ft-lbs.

The front swaybar on the crown victoria consists of a series of brackets that hold it to the frame of the vehicle and a couple of endlink nuts that fasten it the the outer side of the car. To remove the swaybar you will need to jack up the front of the vehicle and remove both the endlink nuts as well as the brackets. To install the new swaybar you will need to move it back into the place as the old one and torque the endlink nuts to 46 ft-lbs and then torque the bracket bolts to 46 ft-lbs as well.

The steering gear box on the crown victoria is fastened by a series of nuts that screw into studs located on the crossmember of the vehicle. To remove the gear you will need to remove these nuts first. Once the old part has been removed the new part can be installed in its place. The studs that go into the crossmember should be torqued to 13 ft-lbs and the nuts that hold the part into place should be torqued to 75 ft-lbs.