I just avoided a catastrophe

[forestb]

I am installing a hydroboost unit on my truck and I had my front driver side wheel off to remove the hoses from gear box and while I had the wheel off I thought I might look into the rattling sound I have been hearing. It sounds like change rattling in a can when I went over bumps. I found a large washer in the bottom cup for the coil spring in the lower control arm. I have a 77 front cross member. I looked for where it came off of and this is what I found. I am not sure if it would have ever completely fallen apart but I thank God. It didn’t. It was a complete upper control arm that I bought from CPP years ago. Now I just need to find a replacement bolt and find out what they should be torqued to.

[Steeveedee]

Wow, that's pretty unnerving! How's the front tire wear look?

[forestb]

I have not even noticed any unusual wear. A while back ago I was having trouble trying to figure out why my turn radius was messed up. The mechanic was able to mess with the alignment to get it to work right but I wonder if this was the problem. I have been hearing the rattling for probably over a year so it may have been like this for quite a while.

[Warrens69GMC]

That's scary.

[AcampoDave]

Call me compulsive if you like (I am) but I freak out about rattles and such and will not let it go. Sometimes, like in your case, it's warranted. My worst cases were shock studs, a loose rear brake shoe...stuff that wouldn't kill me.... No joke, I once tore my whole dash apart only to later discover the cowl was chirping on the back edge of the hood. Oh, and the time I got mad and pulled off the whole door to later discover the seat adjustment mechanisim was lacking a tension spring. But let's face it, rattles and squeaks are often a sign of a problem waiting to happen, and they can be hard to locate. Glad you found that one when you did.

[forestb]

I searched under the truck fairly well in the past but didn’t find anything. I have had bolts fall down into the collar in the past so I just figured that was the problem again. Who knows. I might get it all put back together just to find out that that wasn’t even the noise.

[Lost in the 60's]

I HOPE that arm wasn't hanging off the end of the shaft when it was aligned or the man was blind. I can see the shims in the pic...he HAD to have seen the arm if it wasn't in place while doing that.
I bought a front disc brake conversion from cpp several years ago and sold most of the parts at swap meets, as I considered them scrap. I will never will buy anything from them again. All chinese junk.
The original nut was a tension nut with crimped head to prevent backing off. IF the threads are imperial (USA), you can get original stye replacements and not worry about them coming off again.

[Getter-Done]

Some one was Looking out for you.

Please continue with info like this.

Thanks for Sharing

[forestb]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Some one was Looking out for you.

Please continue with info like this.

Thanks for Sharing

Yes he was.

[forestb]

Originally Posted by Lost in the 60's

I HOPE that arm wasn't hanging off the end of the shaft when it was aligned or the man was blind. I can see the shims in the pic...he HAD to have seen the arm if it wasn't in place while doing that.
I bought a front disc brake conversion from cpp several years ago and sold most of the parts at swap meets, as I considered them scrap. I will never will buy anything from them again. All chinese junk.
The original nut was a tension nut with crimped head to prevent backing off. IF the threads are imperial (USA), you can get original stye replacements and not worry about them coming off again.

I don’t really understand how they missed it either unless I am mistaken and the bolt backed out after they looked at it and the turn radios being off had nothing to do with it. All in all I have been pretty satisfied with cpp so far. I have had their drop spindles on the track for many years.

[87chevy.com]

Originally Posted by forestb

I am installing a hydroboost unit on my truck and I had my front driver side wheel off to remove the hoses from gear box and while I had the wheel off I thought I might look into the rattling sound I have been hearing. It sounds like change rattling in a can when I went over bumps. I found a large washer in the bottom cup for the coil spring in the lower control arm. I have a 77 front cross member. I looked for where it came off of and this is what I found. I am not sure if it would have ever completely fallen apart but I thank God. It didn’t. It was a complete upper control arm that I bought from CPP years ago. Now I just need to find a replacement bolt and find out what they should be torqued to.

please say you dont have a ground wire connected to the bolt on the rag joint bolt... (thats what it looks like though)

[raidmagic]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

please say you dont have a ground wire connected to the bolt on the rag joint bolt... (thats what it looks like though)

Doesn't go to ground, it connects the upper shaft to the lower for horn relay grounding.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Doesn't go to ground, it connects the upper shaft to the lower for horn relay grounding.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Sometimes, I get one right.

[MikeN]

Same thing happened on my 65 Impala last year. Scary, for sure. I got lucky, no damage to the car, just had to get parts and re-attach the upper control arm. A previous owner had put aftermarket control arm bushings on my Impala, which I think created the problem.

[Android04]

Someone was watching out for you for sure. Hope this helps!