64 C10 2WD Front Control Arms

[MikeN]

I'm going to tackle replacing the shafts in all four of my front control arms. Any special tools required for this? I have access to a pretty good selection of hand tools as well as a compressor and impact wrench.

[65truckowner]

Be careful taking it apart because of the springs.

[jdl71]

Hope you've got a good impact. The torque setting on the bushings is somewhere around 150-200ft lbs. I used a 3/4" drive ratchet and big piece of pipe on the end of it for a cheater. I also had to partially park the wifes Yukon on the control arm to hold it down while I broke the nuts loose.



I'm interested to see how this works out for you as this is as far as I've got. I pulled the arms off a spare frame I had and am going to sandblast, do ball joints and shafts then just swap to minimize my down time.

[MikeN]

Thanks for the tips. I'm gonna tackle it this weekend. We'll see what happens. I've already got the control arms off the truck, so I'm not afraid to take them to a shop if my uncle and I can't manage it.

[Chad215]

I got my upper's off with a crescent wrench while the x member was still bolted on. I couldn't budge the lowers without giving myself a hernia, so I took them to a shop. Took the guy a while to find a socket that big, and his impact struggled, but he got them off. I threw him $20 for that and pressing the ball joints out for me.

[dantimdad]

jdl71,

I had to do the same thing. I literally had to put the ebrake on because I was moving the truck I was using as weight.

Steven

[tincan1966]

Normally I try to break the bushings loose before I remove the arm from the truck. It's a lot easier to hold and no risk of bending a control arm with parking another vehicle on it.

Also I was once told that the final torque on the bushings should be done after installed on vehicle, with the weight on it.

[dantimdad]

Good info! Thanks!

Steven

[dantimdad]

quick question: My bushings were disintegrated when I took the arms off. What direction do the new bushings go in?

Logic says they go small diameter side to the outside. I just want to make sure.

Steven

[MikeN]

I can report back that disassembly went pretty easy on my truck. After removing all four control arms from the truck, the uppers came apart quite easily with a 1-7/16" socket and my Craftsman impact wrench. On the lowers, I didn't have a socket that size (1-3/4") but I do have an adjustable wrench that large. I put the lowers in a vise, put a 3-ft cheater bar on the wrench, and my uncle held onto the control arms as back up to the vise while I pulled on the wrench with cheater bar. They came apart pretty easily.

On the lowers, I just knocked the ball joints out with a brass hammer while I still had the control arm in the bench vise.

The upper control arms still had the original, riveted ball joints in place. I cut the heads off the rivets with a cutoff wheel mounted in my die grinder, then drove the rivets out with a hammer and punch. I spent the rest of the day cleaning and degreasing all four control arms is preparation for paint and new ball joints/control arm shafts.

Will be a week or so before I can work on it again, but I'll repost back on how well reassembly goes.