I am about to change the left front upper arm but I would just as soon not have to remove the air spring assembly as the manual states. CAN the upper arm be changed without removing the spring strut? Will the mounting bolts be prevented from sliding all the way out with the air bag in place?

Yes it will be in the way. You will have to remove the air spring solenoid to relieve the air pressure before you unbolt the upper control arm anyway. Removing the air spring won't affect the alignment so I can't see a reason for not removing it.

Neil

'Preciate the input...

Welp, got the upper arm out...the problem was not the air spring, you can just remove the 3 upper end nuts and compress it enough to clear your work space. The problem was the rear UCA nut...had to unbolt and wrestle the M/C outta the way to get a wrench on that freakin' nut.

I always found the access hole behind the fender liner to be the best way to get at that bolt. Remove wheel, liner, and there's a hole there that you can use with an extension and a universal joint to put a socket over the nut.

Calvin Louie
1989 Porsche 928 S4 - Linen Metallic / Linen

I considered doing that as well but I didn't know if I could tighten that nut with the weight on the left front...I could have simply set the left front at ride height using a jack I suppose, but I've already R & R'ed the splash shield during a previous operation and I didn't want to go thru that again...too many push pins to deal with/replace.