Changing lower control arm on 1999 Dodge Stratus

Tiny
JAZMO1
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  • 1999 DODGE STRATUS
  • 120,000 MILES
On a 1999 dodge Stratus, I'm changing the driver's side lower control arm (ball joint let go). I got all the bolts out accept the one from the front that goes horizontally through the unibody frame. There is a small oval access hole to the back side of the nut & bolt. How can you access this nut end. I need to get a socket on it to stop it from turning while turning the bolt head on the front, What size is the nut? The bolt head is a 18mm.I have tried all the way to a 22mm and it still doesn't fit. A 7/8 standard is a little to small and a 15/16 is slightly to big. What metric or standard size is this nut. Any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS! Gary
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 3:37 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
That works out to 19mm which is 3/4.
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 3:57 AM
Tiny
JAZMO1
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I have tried 18mm-22mm on this nut & it is still bigger then these. And the standard sizes I tried were 7/8 (too small) and 15/16 (slightly to big). The problem is they don't give much room to get a socket in and also, the bolt is about 2" beyond the nut. So you need a deeper socket. I'm mainly trying to find out what size that nut is. Like I said, the outer bolt head is 18mm. It's weird the way Dodge used different sizes on the same bolts. One of the other bolts I removed had a 15mm head but the nuts were 17mm. Anyway, any help is greatly appreciated!
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 4:14 AM
Tiny
FIXITMR
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Have you actually looked at nut to see if something is funny with it?
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 4:30 AM
Tiny
JAZMO1
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It is a normal 6 sided nut (it is rusty a bit).I'm able to get the bolt to turn from the front but the inside nut turns with it. I'm going to go to Sears Tuesday and see if they sell a 23mm mid-deep socket.I checked a conversion chart and that is the size that falls in between 7/8" & 15/16". If this fails, I may have to take a sawzall and open up the oval area a bit so I can get some vice-grips on it.
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 4:52 AM
Tiny
FIXITMR
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7/8 = 22mm so I would try pound that on the rust is probably making it seem to small.
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 AT 5:49 PM

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