69 control arm bushings

[rjs53]

I remember reading hear that someone did this and had trouble getting the top control arm nuts tight, and centered. Can someone help with suggestions?

[rjs53]

Try this has anyone rebuilt their front end and delt with the lower control arm shaft

[FirstOwner69]

Have you looked a the factory Service Manual? I tore my '69 down to the bare frame and installed the entire front suspension using new wear parts without a problem. Here's a link to manuals. No '69 service Chevy manual is listed but use the 1970 Chevy or '69 GMC manual. Look at info in section 3.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=558016

[demian5]

Originally Posted by rjs53

Try this has anyone rebuilt their front end and delt with the lower control arm shaft

Yes, recently, and its a pain in the ass.

Grease the threads on the shaft.

Hold shaft in center and thread each nut on until they hit the arm, then crank a turns and each side - alternating and watching shaft stay center.

Bolt control arm on truck and get a long ratchet or breaker bar to tighten it very tight.

If it doesn't move freely after tightening, loosen the rear nut until it is out of the control arm, then tighten back up. Reason for the rear is that if the control arm shifts forward a little but, that is ok, our trucks can use a little more positive caster anyways.

[rjs53]

When I bolt the control arms to the frame, is it the U bolts that get tightened to something like 250flbs

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by rjs53

When I bolt the control arms to the frame, is it the U bolts that get tightened to something like 250flbs

According to the 1970 service manual I mentioned above, the "Lower Control Arm Shaft U-Bolts" should be torqued to 40 ft-lbs for 1/2 ton trucks and 110 for 3/4 and 1 tons. Most torque specs are listed by manual section near the back of the manual.

[demian5]

Originally Posted by rjs53

When I bolt the control arms to the frame, is it the U bolts that get tightened to something like 250flbs

That I believe are the lower shaft nuts, not the U-bolts.

[rjs53]

When I took this apart the cross shaft nuts weren't that tight, at least they didn't seem that tight. I've got one side pit back together, gonna have it aligned when I'm done so I might tell the guy to give it a once over. Usually this is a pretty simple deal. I've done this s few times on Abody cars but nothing with this type bushing. Thanks for the help everyone