What is up with this upper control arm?

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Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
90
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Location
Michigan
My Car
71 Base 6 cylinder, and 72 Base 351C
I was out taking some more of my project apart today, and this caught my eye...

It looks like something is "Unscrewing", I can see threads showing. The other side doesn't look like this.

I have done a lot with GM arms, but not Ford. Is this something that can be corrected, or need replaced? Thanks! Earl

2017-11-18 15.07.59.jpg

 
Yep, it has almost come totally out. Supposed to be threaded in. You can get new replacement a arm sets that include these parts and new ball joints, or you can repair these with shaft kits. Now I see why some people suggest tack welding these to a arm once refurbished and adjusted. There is a You Tube video on arm rebuilding .. Just pulled mine a couple days ago, but mine were not unscrewed like that.

 
yes, screw that puppy in now.... u ain't gonna like driving it if it comes out.. they get torqued on too and a lot of torque too.

if u decide to replace the upper get the spring compressor that goes down from the top. it's much easier to control the placement. u might look at the spring perch too if u decide to replace the A arm.

 
Depending on you budget and your intended use for the car, I think I'd be inclined to replace everything up-front. It's 40+ years old! Kits are affordable and if you doing that much work, it's not too much more to do both upper and lower control arms etc., then get it re-aligned by someone good. Better yet, save yourself the headache and pay for a good front end guy to do it for you. That's what I did and glad of it, well worth the dollars I spent. As for front springs, don't be fooled by the ones sold in the kits. Chances are they'll be way too high. If yours are shot ( mine weren't), spend a few extra bucks and buy the correct Eaton Springs springs for your  car. There have been many posts on this issue, so perhaps do a little research first.

Steering and suspension seem to be overlooked, but waaay more important than beefing up the engine!! All the power in the world won't get you around a corner in one piece!!

Just my personal experience on the subject.

Geoff.

 
Have never yet replaced one where you torque the caps down, that the shaft isn't binding. Center the shaft ,and if it binding back off both till the shaft is free and spot weld. End of problem

 
Agree.. Although I have not done a lot of these, I took one of my new upper arms apart to make sure it had a grease slot and because neither of them would pivot at all as delivered. Torqued up tight.. Wasn't sure how that was going to work even with all new parts.

Wonder how the factory did these?

To me it appears that just torquing the end caps down tight would result in both shaft ends jammed up solid against the end caps and could end up potentially loosening the rear cap on the passenger side and the front cap on the driver side (due to thread directions) when you hit a bump.

Once it has broken loose from torqued position, will it keep going like the one pictured? Suppose if the threads in a arm are tight enough it wouldn't go very far, but really not good if it continues to move.

I did as you suggested, centered caps until tight and backed each off just a little, so shaft was still snug, but could be moved by hand with some effort. Then tack welded both caps to arms as I had heard mentioned before, although I couldn't locate any threads on the topic for some reason...

I had already replaced idler arm and sway bar bushings, end links and swapped in a sway bar from a BB car previously ten years ago when engine was out and car has been sitting inside since then.

But, after deciding to finally install the BB springs too, that while I was at it I would replace all 4 arms and ball joints, both shafts and all caps, strut rod bushings, tie rod ends, then shocks and saddles, rotors, wheel bearings,brake hoses and pads. (The more I took apart, the more marginal components I found...).

Will probably end up with calipers replaced too. As those rubber bushings in them look tough on inspection and it appears rotor is wearing mostly on one side, which usually means caliper is not putting equal force on birth sides.

Only one side apart so far. Although I took both strut rods off to see if the very slight upward bend in the first side taken off was supposed to be there, or not (it wasn't..). Straightened on my cheapie 20 ton press.

Didn't find any apparently bad ball joints so far, but both lower ball joint boots torn, tie rod boot split, rust in both upper shaft end caps, lower control arm bushing fraying and one side of strut rod bushing splitting. Parts starting to add up, but hopefully shouldn't have any issues after its done.

BB springs I bought a decade ago and can't remember where they came from, or what brand. But they are at least an inch and a half free height shorter than the 351c springs that were in it. Hopefully it won't sit too high with new springs, but if it does I'll just have to pull them out again after car has settled and shorten them more.

Every time I have changed front coils in other cars in the past, it takes a while for the car to settle on the new springs and see what the permanent ride height is going to be. Hate the idea of taking them out again, if it does sit too high, but less than the prospect of having to buy another set of springs if they ended up too short.

And the suspension design is such that no a arm or ball joint removal is really necessary just to pull the spring out, so it shouldn't be too bad a job with just pulling the new shocks and sway bar end links to get the spring back out again.

Anyone know how much of a coil removed it takes for each inch of height reduction with the BB springs? Just in case I need to know later..

 
The caps are torqued down to the arm itself, not the pivot shaft. The shop manual shows a spacer that you fab up to do the installation. I've had mixed success, say 6 out of 10 torqued up without binding. Then again, I was dealing with original arms that may or may not have slight tweaks, Definitely recommend torqueing the caps, then adjust one cap if the shaft binds, then tack in place.

 
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