How tight should the suspension arms be torqued?

Question

My rear lower control arms has 3 bushes. 1 at both ends of the arm and 1 in the middle 0==0====0
One is for the Wheel assembly, middle is for the shock absorber and the end is for the chasis.

Logic tells me this arm is going to move ... well i know it because it has to, the issue is when i torque up the bolts they basically clamp the arm tight so that it wont move.

Any help on how it should be fitted ? I think idealy we want the 3 bushes to be able to rotate freely around the bolt that goes through it...but its pointless if the complete bush gets clamped on the sides.... so natrually u can loosen the nut so that it wont clamp it but then its out of torque spec and it might possible come loose... any help thanks?

Answer 1

the service manual has a note that the bolts need to be tightened with the vehicle on the ground so that the suspension is loaded with the vehicle weight. If you have the car up in the air when you tighten the bolts the probability is that loading the bolts with the weight on them when the car is lowered changes the tension and the torque of the bolts.

the suspension bolts use self locking nuts that the service manual recommends replacing when you take them off.

hope that helps