Suspension & Steering Bolt Torque Specs by Year / Make / Model
Free OEM-referenced torque specs for the fasteners you touch on a suspension or steering job — control-arm bolts, lower and upper ball-joint nuts, tie-rod end castle nuts, sway-bar (stabilizer) end links, strut top-mount nuts, and shock bolts. Getting these right matters: a control-arm bolt torqued with the suspension hanging pre-loads the bushing and it fails early, and an under-torqued ball-joint or tie-rod nut is a loss-of-control risk.
What this page covers
Front and rear suspension plus steering-linkage torque values — control arms, ball joints, knuckles, struts, shocks, springs, sway-bar links, tie rods, and wheel-hub hardware where documented. Specs come from manufacturer service literature, cross-checked against community data.
Torque suspension bolts at ride height
Any fastener that clamps a rubber bushing (control-arm pivot bolts, sway-bar mounts, trailing arms) must be final-torqued with the wheels loaded at normal ride height. Tightening them with the arm drooping twists the bushing and it tears out within months. Ball-joint and tie-rod castle nuts take a fresh cotter pin — tighten to the next slot, never back off.
Common suspension torque ranges
Control-arm through-bolts: often 90–150 ft-lbs on cars, higher on trucks. Lower ball-joint nuts: 40–100 ft-lbs. Tie-rod end nuts: 30–60 ft-lbs. Sway-bar end links: 25–65 ft-lbs. Strut top-mount nuts: 20–45 ft-lbs. Always use the model-specific value — these ranges are guidance only.
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