Upper Control Arm Installation

[c10boob]

I am replacing the ball joints and bushings to the upper control arms on my 71. Obviously the shaft can be set either to the left or right dependent on how many turns are given to each bushing bolt (which to my understanding needs to be torqued to 140 ft. lbs.)



My question is: should I do my best to center the shaft within the control arm by giving each bushing bolt an equal amount of turns or am I messing with the alignment somehow?

All suggestions on how to properly do this are appreciated!

[1972SUPERSB]

Originally Posted by c10boob

I am replacing the ball joints and bushings to the upper control arms on my 71. Obviously the shaft can be set either to the left or right dependent on how many turns are given to each bushing bolt (which to my understanding needs to be torqued to 140 ft. lbs.)



My question is: should I do my best to center the shaft within the control arm by giving each bushing bolt an equal amount of turns or am I messing with the alignment somehow?

All suggestions on how to properly do this are appreciated!

I just did mine about a week ago. What I did was start the bushing on each end and give them equal amount of turns with my impact. Then once I was close to Completly tightned, I measured from center of hole on shaft to the edge of the inner part of control arm where bushing is. Just make sure the measurement is the same on both ends. I will be getting mine aligned soon at the alignment shop
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[no moa]

subscribed.
I put mine together but haven't got the motor in yet to get the weight on the front end. But i'll be darned if i can get them even on both sides. It was a pain to say the least.

[1972SUPERSB]

Yeah it is not an easy task. I was using wrenches at first. It worked but was pretty tough. If you have an impact it will work much better not sure of the size of the socket. You will need a big set of channels locks also to old shaft from spinning. I know the lower bushings was a 1 5/8
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[c10boob]

Ok.. so I marked one side of each bolt and began giving them one turn at a time, then tightened up the rest with a quarter turn from the wrench (going back and forth each time). I then tightened them up to 140 ft. lbs. once I installed the control arm into the truck and it turned out centered (though I'm sure it's not perfect).

My thought is that any slight imperfections in the alignment can probably be adjusted by the tie rod.