Tubular control arms

[csa daddy]

Does anyone in here know if tubular control arms for a square body chevy are the same for a 1/2-1 ton And only difference being the ball joint itself ?

[old Rusty C10]

the control arms would be different they would be bigger the heavier you go

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by csa daddy

Does anyone in here know if tubular control arms for a square body chevy are the same for a 1/2-1 ton And only difference being the ball joint itself ?

Originally Posted by old Rusty C10

the control arms would be different they would be bigger the heavier you go

Not necessarily. 'Tubular' indicates aftermarket. The answer would be dependent on the arm manufacturer.


As for factory GM stamped-steel a-arms (pre-88 body style excluding Burbs?Blazers/CC's)....

GM 1/2 ton control arms for earlier (pre-73) trucks will swap over to later (post-73) x-members.

The post-72 HD trucks continued use of the earlier style bushings.
Post-72 1/2 ton trucks got the car style bushings. Different OE bushings require the different/appropriate arms.

Lower BJ's are larger on the HD apps but the arms themselves will still swap over.

Upper BJ's for 1/2 ton & larger have the same footprint as far as mounting to the arm so they will interchange.

*The BJ mounting 'footprint' changed w/the introduction of the OBS/GMT400 series trucks so the upper arms are either 1/2 ton spec or 3/4 ton/up spec.


In summary, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

[csa daddy]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Not necessarily. 'Tubular' indicates aftermarket. The answer would be dependent on the arm manufacturer.


As for factory GM stamped-steel a-arms (pre-88 body style excluding Burbs?Blazers/CC's)....

GM 1/2 ton control arms for earlier (pre-73) trucks will swap over to later (post-73) x-members.

The post-72 HD trucks continued use of the earlier style bushings.
Post-72 1/2 ton trucks got the car style bushings. Different OE bushings require the different/appropriate arms.

Lower BJ's are larger on the HD apps but the arms themselves will still swap over.

Upper BJ's for 1/2 ton & larger have the same footprint as far as mounting to the arm so they will interchange.

*The BJ mounting 'footprint' changed w/the introduction of the OBS/GMT400 series trucks so the upper arms are either 1/2 ton spec or 3/4 ton/up spec.


In summary, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

Thank you sir that's exactly what I was thinking but wanted some other opinions on on it