65 lower control arm u bolt BROKE!!!

[65shortbox]

Originally Posted by 64fleetside

I'm guessing this is a 'lowered truck with big wheels problem' ?




Not really woog-my buddy had it happen on his '64 some 20 yrs ago-it had normal stock wheels/etc. There is a reason GM went bigger in 73. The HELP kit comes w/lock nuts. Get a good half-inch drill w/a side handle to drill out those holes, and hang on! You need a 9/16" hole.

Agree, I actually thought it had to do with my truck's lowered stance, strain on suspension, suspension geometry etc. but then I found others on this site that had this happen to their stock height/stock wheels trucks. Must be a "Disk Brake conversion/Old worn u-bolts" thing

[Captainfab]

The front suspension on my Suburban is bone stock, but I do run wider tires and wheels. I originally thought that it was a combination of the added weight of the big block and the wider tires (275/60R15's). I have since come to the conclusion that it is more of a matter of fatigued under sized U-bolts.

[dougf]

I am doing my suspension during my holiday leave from work. What parts would you recommend using to replace the u-bolts with? For a stock replacement would something from autozone or similar work? Just curious as to what other people out there are using. Going to do my U bolts holding my rear diff to my control arms as well, so maybe ordering online would be a cheaper option perhaps? Thanks!

[65shortbox]

Hey Doug, I have been meaning to provide an update on this for a couple weeks. I barely got around to fixing mine about three weeks ago. Job took the good part of a day to complete. Parts Were relatively inexpensive. Give me a sec and I will post a couple of pics with part numbers.
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[jimmydean]

This happened on my first car ('72 Grand Prix) at low speed and pushed the wheel into the fender and fender into the door. Good times.

Looks like you had no damage as a result.

[dougf]

Originally Posted by 65shortbox

Hey Doug, I have been meaning to provide an update on this for a couple weeks. I barely got around to fixing mine about three weeks ago. Job took the good part of a day to complete. Parts Were relatively inexpensive. Give me a sec and I will post a couple of pics with part numbers.
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That would be too cool!

[65shortbox]

okay here is the deal. I started on this around 10AM and finished the job around 7PM. I had to make a run to the hardware store for a larger drill bit during that time. This time includes enlarging holes on both lower control arms and reassembling everything. I had to remove the shock from the lower control arm and the swaybar endlink in order for the arm to drop out of the way for access to drill the holes. ALSO, very important is that I had to place the new ubolts in a vice and squeeze them closer so that they lined up with the holes correctly. I used a micrometer to measure (I think 1.58 inches was the magic number). Here are a few pics:

Here is the bottom of the truck with new bolts fitted










Here are the ubolts (Napa part numbers are earlier in this thread):





All said, these new u-bolts are WAY bigger than the original one's I had. I HIGHLY recommend this upgrade to anyone driving these older trucks. It is NOT too expensive and the piece of mind is great. With the disk brakes I can see how that puts more strain on those thinner u-bolts, plus they are 48 years old!. I feel much more secure with these new one's in place. Please note that the new nut is VERY close to the crossmember and you must use an open ended wrench. I just torqued everything as tight as I could with a breaker bar and pipe as necessary:-) Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions.

[lil_sahara450r]

You can get the 73-87 u-bolts at napa for under 20 bucks. here is the link http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...065_0269168843

I just did this on mine and I just drilled the old holes out larger to accept the new, thicker u bolts. absolutely no reason not to do this, it is an easy mod and a safety concern

[dougf]

Thanks for the update guys. When I tackle this over the next few days I will post some pics to help others as well. I finally have some time to work on my '66! When I was younger I had the time but not the money, now I have the money but NO time! Weird how that works!

[kieth]

Since some folks are going to be removing their lower control shaft you might find this thread interesting in the make it handle section. It shows how to relocate the lower control arm farther forward which lets your truck have more negative caster which helps with bump steer.....Kieth

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ter+mod&page=2

[Clyde65]

I did this exact upgrade when I rebuilt my front suspension. I was fearful that what happened to this guy would happen to me at 70MPH.

[niterider65]

MMMM guess I'll be going to add this little upgrade to my stepper too.

[dougf]

It couldnt hurt. I just came back from Oreilly, my order will be ready Wednesday for a grand total of $244, blech! At least I will be getting inner and outer tie rod ends, all ball joints and upper/lower A Arm bushings done. Ill post some pics when I complete it.

[65shortbox]

Originally Posted by dougf

It couldnt hurt. I just came back from Oreilly, my order will be ready Wednesday for a grand total of $244, blech! At least I will be getting inner and outer tie rod ends, all ball joints and upper/lower A Arm bushings done. Ill post some pics when I complete it.

Very cool! I am happy to see this thread help a few folks out. Looking forward to seeing some pics...
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[stsalvage]

on any old bolts bigger is better.Here in Calif we have a lot of people that put 24 inch rims on stock brakes.Was at a local discount tire's and a guy came is yelling about his 1997 Impala about his brakes making noise He said the shop just redone his brakes a week ago.Well he said that everything was changed rotors calipers pads shocks or struts cus the car was making a banging sound every time he turned.All the work was done and no more noise.At the time it had the 16 stock SS alum rims on it.The day the guy came in yelling it had 24 inch rims on it.He's saying something is wrong and you guys are going to Fix it.they put his car on the lift raise it up impacted the lug nuts off.when the tire was removed the caliper was in batted into the rotor.the rotor was in 3 colors brown some purple and dark Blue deep groves in it as well.took the other side off the rotor fell on to the floor in 2 peace.Guys is screaming that we messed up his car.And demanding the mechanic to fix it for free.

Long story short had to call the cops file a report manager called His district manager had him come out took pics told the guy will not replace to to abuse.

He was informed that he needs to run Nascar race duel piston calipers and a bigger rotor to use them big tires and rims.he was told as well to Beef up the front end with racing parts for the use of such Big tires and rims.Guy still try to sue Discount tires case is still pending


On any of these old trucks the bigger the tire or rim means more where and tear will happen to stock parts.

Most guys Hone out the Spindle to put the 3/4 ton ball joint in and run bigger brakes to run any thing over a 18 inch rim.Never run a 1/2 ton Ball joint with a 22 inch rim they just can't take the pressure or the beating that them bigger rim put on that front end.use the bigger Tie rods from a 3/4 ton I say use every thing from a 3/4 ton front end but the 8 lug rotor best off use the Bear dual piston calipers only way to stop you at speeds of 60 Plus.

Big rims look nice But you have to upgrade brakes to stop you

[dougf]

Alright, so heres where im at now.

Bought the upper and lower control arm shafts with bushings, upper and lower ball joints.


On Fort Leonard Wood theres an Auto Craft shop with tools you can use. Fees are not bad, about $15 a day to use a bench and all the tools you need. Took my upper and lowers there today. With an impact I had no issues taking off the old bushings, upper and lower. If you dont have an impact, find a way to use one, it made the job SO much easier.

At this point I had the new shaft and boots installed with the bushings threaded in equally as much as I could by hand.


From advice I read in other threads it was important to keep the shaft centered. When you turn the threaded bushings in the shaft has a tendency to move, so to stop that I put a screwdriver here so I could maintain orientation and keep the shaft from coming off center.



Using an impact I hit each end slowly while checking for binding. Which leads me to my next question. I was able to get the uppers and lowers done on both sides in this manner, but I am unable to find any information as to how tight they should be? The bushings are fully seated against the control arm, I can loosen and tighten them a little either way without pulling in the control arm. I am able to move the shafts barely by hand, should I not be able to, how much friction should be felt? Someone told me to tighten them as much as I could with the impact, but that doesnt sound right.

I ordered these from NAPA, will be in the store on Wednesday.
Item: Control Arm U-Bolt - Front Susp
Product Number: BK 6504065
Quantity: 2
Price: $6.69
Item Total: $13.38

Upper and Lower Ball Joints will be replaced also, got those already. Oreilly tried to sell me missmatched inner and out tie rod ends, telling me they were the same specs. They were different lengths, colors, made in different countries, so I told them I wasnt going to pay for them. Buyer be ware. I DID accept two different lower cross shafts though. One was made in Turkey, the other in U.S.A. The U.S.A. made part was only slightly different in the inside next to the control arm, and it spins a little easier, so thats erking me slightly, but its not that much different.


So how tight would you have the control arms shafts?

Anyway, sorry for the long drawn out, poorly written post (lol). A few beers will do that to you. Anyway, thanks for the help, ill edit this post and clean it up with better pictures when I havent had anything to drink and have it all together. Thanks!

[jdl71]

subscribed

[MusicMan70]

Great info for All here, Thanks!

[dougf]

So, a little more research from the help of another Chevy truck site, found this .pdf of a scanned manual for fontrol arm bushing and ball joint replacement: http://www.64moneypit.pages.qpg.com/...eplacement.pdf

So, the manual states the upper bushings are to be torqued to 140-160lbs, the bottom bushings 200-220lbs, then they are to be checked for "free rotation". I guess free rotation is what I have, stiff enough but can be rotated by hand with enough effort. Im probably over thinking this. I just dont want them to be too tight or loose and prematurely wear out. I am certainly not rich, and dont want to do this again any time soon. Once I get it all together ill update my post and bring the whole process together.

[contagious102]

Upgraded my u bolts today,while building the truck.$17.00 why wouldn't you do it.!!!

[dougf]

Love how clean your suspension is! Did you get the kit that comes with a pair from NAPA?

[rustyrodknocker]

This has me motivated. I was just thinking about this today since I have a complete 3/4 ton front end . I want to put new springs in my sub. So it is coming apart anyway. I would like to use the 3/4 lca's because they already have the big sway bar. What is the deal with the ball joints? I am installing aftermarket spindles with 6 lug rotors and some drop. Can I get a ball joint that fits both?
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[Captainfab]

What year 3/4 ton suspension are you talking?

Originally Posted by rustyrodknocker

This has me motivated. I was just thinking about this today since I have a complete 3/4 ton front end . I want to put new springs in my sub. So it is coming apart anyway. I would like to use the 3/4 lca's because they already have the big sway bar. What is the deal with the ball joints? I am installing aftermarket spindles with 6 lug rotors and some drop. Can I get a ball joint that fits both?
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[rustyrodknocker]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

What year 3/4 ton suspension are you talking?

82' or 84' can't remember know
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[contagious102]

Love how clean your suspension is! Did you get the kit that comes with a pair from NAPA?

Just bought two of the napa #BK 6504065.Building the truck from the frame up,just had it blasted,then shot it with two part epoxy primer,then shot it with a chassis enamel paint. Took the cross member off and upper and lower control arms.Painted them all before reinstalling on the frame.