Control arm on a mercury mystique?

Answer 1

*The early Mystique/Contour through 1997 and some 1998 models had 4 bolt control arms. The newer models had two bolt control arms. All control arms included an integrated lower ball joint. The ball joint rivets can be ground and the ball joint replaced independently, however the bushings are more likely to fail first so the arms are generally replaced as a unit. *The main difference - 4 bolt used horizontal bushings, the two bolt used verticle bushings. Both types posed some challenge on the driver side for removal and replacement as the transmission and other components interfere when removing the arm bolts. A common practice is to remove the front engine/transmission mount nuts, support the radiator, raise the engine slightly, remove the subframe bolts from the driver side of the car and lower that side of the subframe sufficiently to remove the control arm bolts. Actually easier than it sounds and things generally button up again with ease.