Replacing lower control arm

[crawdad]

I knew that my new old truck (new to me) had to have some front end work done on it, but today I was crawling around underneath it and noticed the lower control arm on the passenger side is bent in right where the forward side bushing goes. In fact there isn't a bushing there anymore.
I wonder how much I'm looking at to have that replaced?

[Prerunner1982]

if you plan on doing the work yourself its not too bad. I pulled the whole front suspension and replaced the control arm bushing, tie rods, ball joints, idler arm and pitman arm. I dont remember what I paid for all the parts, but it wasnt horrible...$150-$200 maybe?

Then I paid a local shop to replace the control arm bushing with the new ones I purchased. $100 total for the labor. I just dropped off the arms. I fought the control bushings more than anything else and decided to let someone else with the proper tools do it.

The only I didnt have that I needed was the puller for the Pitman arm.

Might as well replace it all while you have it apart. Too bad you arent closer, after I rebuilt mine I put maybe 1k miles on it and had to retire the truck. I have all it all and nothing to do with it...

[piecesparts]

I purchased a set (pair) of lower control arms for my truck from a salvage yard for $50.00 and the local guy pressed new bushings into them for the same cost. I now have $100 invested in a pair of lower arms that are good---as you can see that is not that bad. If you are doing one, then it would be cheaper. I would be of the thought process that replacing both sets of bushings would be the best avenue.

[crawdad]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

I purchased a set (pair) of lower control arms for my truck from a salvage yard for $50.00 and the local guy pressed new bushings into them for the same cost. I now have $100 invested in a pair of lower arms that are good---as you can see that is not that bad. If you are doing one, then it would be cheaper. I would be of the thought process that replacing both sets of bushings would be the best avenue.

I found one today at the local salvage yard. Had to pay 30.00 for it. Still, that's better than 200. I do plan to replace both sets of bushings. Thanks.

[edflores]

you have to press the bushings in?

[crawdad]

BAD NEWS I went ahead and had the alignment shop put the lower control arm on for me and do an alignment. Got a call from them this afternoon and they told me that they were having a hard time getting the truck into specs or possibly wouldn't be able to at all. Seems that when the PO, or whoever, smacked that lower control arm on whatever it was they hit, it may have tweaked the frame to the point that they now can't get it aligned. I went up and talked to the guy at the shop and he showed me where the distance between the rear of the front tire and the fender was different from the other side. He said it was a lot worse before the new control arm went on. So, it looks as though I have a tweaked/bent frame. Can a good body shop correct this you reckon? I could kick myself for not noticing this before I bought it.

[piecesparts]

YEP a good shop can, talk to them and let them put the truck on the frame machine.

[crawdad]

Found a shop here in town that was willing to take a look at it. When I went by there this afternoon he had it up on the rack and was looking it over. He said he would be working on it later tonight when he wasn't bothered and interrupted so much with people stoping to talk and the relentless phone calls. He said if he could fix it, he'd probably finish it up tonight. Hopefully I'll have some good news from him tomorrow. I'll tell you one thing, I've learned a good lesson on this one. Not that I've had to put a whole lot of money in it or anything like that, I've just learned a lot more about how to check out a truck when looking one over to buy. Body lines, spacing behind the wheels, etc., and a whole lot more little things like that can reveal previous impacts, bent frames, etc. Oh well, live and learn, eh?

[edflores]

im the third owner of my truck and my godfather was the og owner and my truck used to be a stuning truck 10 years ago. the 2nd owner thrashed the control arms and just didnt take care of the truck. i cleaned it up a lot but they still did some damage. i didnt even notice when i bought the truck. but everything in the suspension had to be worked over.

[crawdad]

Body shop couldn't find anything bent on the frame. They suggested I take it to a shop that had one of the Genesis computer alignment machines for a better check. One of the men at the body shop also thought that since I had already replaced the control arm, that it might be the spindle that was bent. He said that would cause the out of caster spec problem that I'm having. I've found that most body shops don't even want to talk to you unless it is an insurance claim. Man what a racket, insurance companies rip off the people...body shops rip off the insurance companies.

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by crawdad

Body shop couldn't find anything bent on the frame. They suggested I take it to a shop that had one of the Genesis computer alignment machines for a better check. One of the men at the body shop also thought that since I had already replaced the control arm, that it might be the spindle that was bent. He said that would cause the out of caster spec problem that I'm having. I've found that most body shops don't even want to talk to you unless it is an insurance claim. Man what a racket, insurance companies rip off the people...body shops rip off the insurance companies.

The insurance companies CONTROL the body shops, by waving that item of "sending work to them" over their heads. If the body shop does not do it their way or use the parts that the Insurance compnay says to yse, then work is pulled form them and they go broke. So it is no longer the horse pulling the cart. You have to take time to make Body shop buddys and then you have an outlet for work and knowledge. The smaller towns seem to be easier to accomplish this.

[crawdad]

Well I've exhausted all of the body shop buddies I have. None want to mess with it. I called another town about getting it on one of the computer frame alignment machines (the Genesis machine), but was told the computer doesn't go back to 1986. I just don't know what else to do at this point. I've got a right front wheel that has -1.2 degrees negative camber (leaning in at top, out at bottom) and can't come up with any way to get it fixed. I've replaced the lower control arm, had a body shop look at it and they said they couldn't see any kind of bend in the frame. If any of you guys can think of anything that I might need to look at, please let me know. I don't want to drive the truck with the alignment out this far because it'll ruin the (new) tires I just had put on.

[piecesparts]

Did you replace only the one A-frame? If so, what did the lower A-frame come off of? Now for the obvious question, Did they actually put spacers on the upper control arm bolts and move it out. If so, then maybe you need an upper control arm too.

[crawdad]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Did you replace only the one A-frame? If so, what did the lower A-frame come off of? Now for the obvious question, Did they actually put spacers on the upper control arm bolts and move it out. If so, then maybe you need an upper control arm too.

I got the A-arm from the salvage yard. It came off of a late 70's early 80's C-10 pickup. I didn't actually see the truck up close. They took it off and I only saw the truck from a distance. It looked to be in good shape however. I think all of the A-arms from 73-87 are the same, however. As for spacers, yes they did put a lot of spacers on the upper in an effort to bring it within specs, but no go. Upper control arm is a possibility, I suppose it could have been bent or warped a little also, although you can't look at it and tell there is any damage. That's one thing I'm looking at right now though. How about the spindle? Could it possibly have been bent during the impact also? Appreciate your help, pieces.