stuck lifter, trashed a-arm, lowered rear

[newin72]

All in a days work!

driving to work on Fri, I had planned on installing the rear half of my ECE 2/4 lowering kit on my 72 suburban. I have a full machine shop at my disposal so working at the shop after hours is much better than my driveway!

but about 4 miles before I get to the shop I hear a gawd awful clatter coming from under the hood... I pull over and the engine is idleing ROUGH! I think CRAP threw a ROD!?!? well, it is still running although rough, I was gonna put a new crate motor in anyway, just let me get it to the shop... about a mile later it smooths out.. WHEW stuck lifter I guess..

so about 4 o'clock I get one of the welders to torch the rivets holding the upper shock mounts for me. thinking "this should only take a couple hours" 8 HOURS later at Midnight we were ready to start cleaning up!

but wanted to do a quick test drive...

as I begin to pull forward, I hear and feel a loud *clunk* so I ask my buddy who is standing outside the vehicle to try to narrow down where it is coming from, thinking for sure we just missed tightening a bolt or something...

first time I hit the brakes *clunk* he jerks his head from the back to the front... "do that again..."

*CLUNK* oh sh!tzu! looks like your front wheel is about to come off!

he drags up the jack, and we give the tire a good wobble. the tire is able to wiggle up/down/side/side a good inch or more...

so we pull the tire and find the upper A-arm bushings are shot...

this is my daily driver and usually drive it about 90 for a 30 mile stretch of hwy each way to work...

so anyway, left the truck up there and will try to rebuild the front end on Sunday... This should just take a couple of hours right...

[Rally Nova]

It really depends on your resources, (ie tools & parts) to replace them that quickly! I rebuilt the upper & lower A-arms on my '69 GMC, while upgrading to power disc brakes. I took my time & cleaned, painted & replaced all the control arm shafts & ball joints. It took me a few days to complete, due to the new brake set up.