Restoring Control Arms & Springs... - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

**COBALT** · 09-10-2002, 06:04 PM

Any suggestions? Now that I have them out I thought I'd scrub them down, and take them to get sand blasted and powder coated. Good idea or not? I could always just whip out the Hammerite after I clean them, but I want them to look extra good, mostly because they're HUGE parts.

Also, I'm concerned about flex obvously for the springs...any ideas would be cool.

DarkFox1 · 09-10-2002, 08:47 PM

I sandblasted my A-arms, just took em toa machine shop and had the ball joints pressd out, then sandblasted/painted.. and had them pressed back in.

I'd say they look about like new.. personally.. I didn't powdercoat tho.. probablly should have, I really feel bad about not doing things right.. I'll never be in a magazine like this

hobby67stepside · 09-10-2002, 11:42 PM

The hell with magazines, you've got some great wicker furniture there.

DarkFox1 · 09-11-2002, 06:02 AM

lol, thats all my moms stuff, I guess when the garage is as large as ours you gotta have her have something in there so she wont complain. heh

used to have a wicker couch too.. but the dog ate the back leg off. it wasn't as nice as that stuff tho. Otherwise the dog woulda been in trouble :P

HEAVY CHEVY · 09-11-2002, 10:25 PM

Not trying to sound stupid but what year frame is that? My 69 isn't like that with opening in the rear cross member.I've seen some on here but never asked what year they were.

DarkFox1 · 09-11-2002, 11:36 PM

its a '69 frame :P off a straight drive 6 cyl work truck. what part seems unusal? the driveshaft opening?

do you have a model with coils or leaves? I imagine the leaf spring frames dont look like that.. but if you have coils.. you gotta have somewhre for the control arms ot mount

tom hand · 09-12-2002, 12:03 AM

I wouldn't spend any money doing anything to used 30+ year old springs. Those things are way to prone to break. Half the springs I have taken out of these trucks were broken where the end of the spring meets the first coil. At least get some new ones if you are going to do anything fancy. My 2 cents.

wlee · 09-12-2002, 11:31 AM

I did mine recently - the springs were in good shape, just needed blasting. All control arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints were replaced.

BTW - the control arm job is NOT for the faint of heart . . . I broke a 1/2" breakover bar removing the lowers

DarkFox1 · 09-12-2002, 12:26 PM

I have to agree, I would get new springs, old springs probablly are worn and dont sit at the height they should.

btw Wlee, looks really nice, but, howd you break something? I mean, when we took my a-arm assdembly apart we were really rough on it and it seems fine (knock on wood)

wlee · 09-12-2002, 12:34 PM

Well . . . what can I say, You can see the condition of the "before" shot . . . pretty rusty. I was using a 1/2" bar with a "cheater" to get enough leverage to move the nuts on the lower arms. I had everything apart & the control arm clamped in my vise. I should have stopped when I pulled the vice off it's base & the whole thing ended up on my feet, but being from Missouri - I went for another round with the beast, & that's when the bar gave up on me. Craftsman replaced the bar with no questions asked . . . pretty good warranty if you ask me

DarkFox1 · 09-12-2002, 12:50 PM

lol, the vice story sounds familiar. we did the same thing when we were putting the new a-arm shaft ends in place.. thank god for a 5' metal pipe for leverage :P it pulled the vise right off the work bench.. but we did manage to get those things torqued down! :P

**COBALT** · 09-12-2002, 01:15 PM

The sockets I have for the control arms are 3/4" drive. I'm thinking about getting a 3/4" drive breaker bar as well, since I don't think my 1/2" will hold up (just a hunch). A little iron pipe action, and I'll be all set to pull the old ones!

Oh, and I don't want to buy new springs yet. The springs are actually in very good shape, and when I buy new ones they'll lower the front end. That's sort of a can 'o' worms I don't want to open just yet.

I think I've settled on having them sand blasted and coated. Thanks guys.

09-10-2002, 06:04 PM	#1
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	Restoring Control Arms & Springs... Any suggestions? Now that I have them out I thought I'd scrub them down, and take them to get sand blasted and powder coated. Good idea or not? I could always just whip out the Hammerite after I clean them, but I want them to look extra good, mostly because they're HUGE parts. Also, I'm concerned about flex obvously for the springs...any ideas would be cool. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

09-11-2002, 10:25 PM	#5
HEAVY CHEVY BOWTIE FOREVER Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Sanford,N.C. 23770 Posts: 273	Not trying to sound stupid but what year frame is that? My 69 isn't like that with opening in the rear cross member.I've seen some on here but never asked what year they were. __________________ 69 C-10 SHORT FLEET BED 350 4-BOLT/400 turbo upper & lower molding 65 IMPALA 2-DR 283/POWERGLIDE 66 IMPALA 2-DR hopefully 283/350 ~ CAMELTOE ROCKS ~

09-12-2002, 12:03 AM	#7
tom hand CCRider Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Olive Branch,MS,USA Posts: 2,232	I wouldn't spend any money doing anything to used 30+ year old springs. Those things are way to prone to break. Half the springs I have taken out of these trucks were broken where the end of the spring meets the first coil. At least get some new ones if you are going to do anything fancy. My 2 cents. __________________ 72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail Olive Branch MS

09-12-2002, 11:31 AM	#8
wlee Just an Old Mr Goodwrench Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Green Ridge, MO USA Posts: 259	I did mine recently - the springs were in good shape, just needed blasting. All control arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints were replaced. BTW - the control arm job is NOT for the faint of heart . . . I broke a 1/2" breakover bar removing the lowers Attached Images __________________ 1969 CST 20 Longhorn 1970 CST 20 Fleetside 1991 Jaguar Sovereign 1992 Mazda Miata

09-12-2002, 12:34 PM	#10
wlee Just an Old Mr Goodwrench Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Green Ridge, MO USA Posts: 259	Well . . . what can I say, You can see the condition of the "before" shot . . . pretty rusty. I was using a 1/2" bar with a "cheater" to get enough leverage to move the nuts on the lower arms. I had everything apart & the control arm clamped in my vise. I should have stopped when I pulled the vice off it's base & the whole thing ended up on my feet, but being from Missouri - I went for another round with the beast, & that's when the bar gave up on me. Craftsman replaced the bar with no questions asked . . . pretty good warranty if you ask me __________________ 1969 CST 20 Longhorn 1970 CST 20 Fleetside 1991 Jaguar Sovereign 1992 Mazda Miata

09-10-2002, 08:47 PM	#2
DarkFox1 in WAY over my head Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Douglasville GA Posts: 923	I sandblasted my A-arms, just took em toa machine shop and had the ball joints pressd out, then sandblasted/painted.. and had them pressed back in. I'd say they look about like new.. personally.. I didn't powdercoat tho.. probablly should have, I really feel bad about not doing things right.. I'll never be in a magazine like this

09-10-2002, 11:42 PM	#3
hobby67stepside Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 952	The hell with magazines, you've got some great wicker furniture there.

09-11-2002, 06:02 AM	#4
DarkFox1 in WAY over my head Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Douglasville GA Posts: 923	lol, thats all my moms stuff, I guess when the garage is as large as ours you gotta have her have something in there so she wont complain. heh used to have a wicker couch too.. but the dog ate the back leg off. it wasn't as nice as that stuff tho. Otherwise the dog woulda been in trouble :P

09-11-2002, 11:36 PM	#6
DarkFox1 in WAY over my head Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Douglasville GA Posts: 923	its a '69 frame :P off a straight drive 6 cyl work truck. what part seems unusal? the driveshaft opening? do you have a model with coils or leaves? I imagine the leaf spring frames dont look like that.. but if you have coils.. you gotta have somewhre for the control arms ot mount

09-12-2002, 12:26 PM	#9
DarkFox1 in WAY over my head Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Douglasville GA Posts: 923	I have to agree, I would get new springs, old springs probablly are worn and dont sit at the height they should. btw Wlee, looks really nice, but, howd you break something? I mean, when we took my a-arm assdembly apart we were really rough on it and it seems fine (knock on wood)

09-12-2002, 12:50 PM	#11
DarkFox1 in WAY over my head Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Douglasville GA Posts: 923	lol, the vice story sounds familiar. we did the same thing when we were putting the new a-arm shaft ends in place.. thank god for a 5' metal pipe for leverage :P it pulled the vise right off the work bench.. but we did manage to get those things torqued down! :P

09-12-2002, 01:15 PM	#12
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	The sockets I have for the control arms are 3/4" drive. I'm thinking about getting a 3/4" drive breaker bar as well, since I don't think my 1/2" will hold up (just a hunch). A little iron pipe action, and I'll be all set to pull the old ones! Oh, and I don't want to buy new springs yet. The springs are actually in very good shape, and when I buy new ones they'll lower the front end. That's sort of a can 'o' worms I don't want to open just yet. I think I've settled on having them sand blasted and coated. Thanks guys. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.



Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.