Hello, I am getting all the parts ready that I want to have blasted/painted so I can reuse for my first build. I would like to reuse the upper/lower control arms, but I noticed something that (after some thought) doesn't quite make sense to me. So (forgive my terminology) the control arms bolt into a long steel shaft that mounts directly to the front clip/frame. Each end is threaded. So far so good. The nuts (torque nuts I think) have grease ports on the end, and tighten nicely. When I removed the nuts, the inner (female) thread looks clean/solid (picture #1), as does the corresponding male threads on the end of the metal shaft that connects to the frame. However, on the outside of the torque nuts, there seems to be a very shallow threat pattern (picture #2). The same pattern is also on the inside of the control arm ring that the torque nut fits through to be bolted in place (picture #3) . At first I was worried that this "thread" looked stripped, but after some though, I don't see how a thread would work in this case, with the control arm moving up and down all the time. I have included some pictures for clarity. Are these just marks from wear that happen to look like threads? Thanks in advance. Jordan
Those grooves on the outside of the nut are likely grease grooves and there is probably supposed to be a bushing in the hole on the control arm. Tell me what you arw actually working on and I'll see if I can find you an exploded view of it.
Thanks for the quick reply. I was hoping that might be the case (a friend came up with the bushing idea). I'm working on a 1966 Chevy C10.
Here are the bits n pieces. You will note your control arm shaft and cap nuts and also the bushings that are supposed to be in the control arms.
Ah. Thanks so much. In hindsight, I pulled some completely destroyed and dry rotted rubber things like that. Brain fart. I'd rather look dumb though and ask as opposed to screwing something up and having to pay for it. Do you have any advice on whether I should just buy a whole new****embly, as opposed to just the torque nuts and bushings, or use the stock bar after cleanup and use some other aftermarket parts/bushings?
I replaced those parts on my 72 Suburban. Looked the same as yours. I bought the kit that had a new shaft as well as the end caps/nuts, and seals. If you have a shaft that isn't worn consider yourself one of the few. Buy the best quality parts you can find, not the cheap Chinese stuff from LMC.
That's how they are supposed to be. On the trucks the bushing/nuts thread together, the outer threads into the A arm at the same time the inner threads onto the shaft. the rubber boot is just a dust shield not a bushing, Just a metal on metal fit they need to be greased often. Last time I worked on one as I recall it was easier to****emble the shaft and A arm then bolt the shaft onto the tower. JJ p.s. FWIW all the ones I have worked on the outer threads look worn down like yours I think that's more or less the way they are made the inside is what's important. From your pics yours don't look in bad shape.
Those don't look bad, but you won't know if they are good until you****emble the shafts and bushings. There should be NO slop in the****embled system. Mine looked good, but there was some play in the control arm after the bushings were installed, so I had to replace the bushings. Hopefully you won't need new shafts, too. These systems don't use any compliant bushing elements; the rubber parts are only dust seals.
They look great.. As stated above--those rubber pieces are nothing more than boots to collect grease and keep it near that pivot point of your control arm. Same components on my '65 Suburban.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Excellent. Thanks for the added details. I've seen bushings for sale for this though, not sure how they would fit in between the torque nut and the control arm. It is a pretty tight fit (can't get the torque nut to go through the hole in the control arm by hand). Not sure if it actually threads though. Wouldn't that mean that when the arm moves up/down the threads on the outside would tighten or loosen?
To be honest, once the torque nuts were removed with a socket/bar from the shaft, the control arm was still loosely hanging on the shaft ends, and there was no bushing to see. Just the rubber boot. So short answer, I didn't see any bushings at all. Definitely didn't have to press anything out.
Yes just metal to metal. You turn the big nut in until you have a good fit on the shaft with no play and still be able to rotate the shaft.
If the crossbar isn't worn out just replace the bushings and run with it. That is probably what I would do. If I was putting it together and the cap nuts were loose as a goose I would replace them too. I have replaced all the parts at one time or another, and the only cap nuts that I have replaced were worn thin and cracked.
That is how they are made. The marks in the control arm are the threads that the outer nut threads into, think of a large rolled thread like on a kids play nuts and bolts kind of stuff, sort of a big self tapping bolt. While at the same time threading onto the control arm shaft. yes it is metal to metal, however the threads for the nut and on the control arm shaft are machined to allow grease to flow thru them and that is you actual pivot area. Thread the Torque nuts as you call them ( I don't know what they are called either ) and make sure that there is no play in them. as long as they are tight you can clean them up good and just put new seals in them. They work great and keep the front end way tighter than rubber bushings, but maintenance is important. They have got to stay well greased or they will wear out relatively quickly with daily use. I had the same ones in my 64 Skylark. Had those on the upper control arms and rubber bushings on the lower. I replaced the lower with urethane bushings and added a big fat sway bay and that thing handled like a slot car!
As the arm goes up and down it threads slightly forward and back on the shaft with those big nuts on the ends. So in reality the arm moves a fraction of an inch, but not enough to change the alignment significantly. In '73 Chevy changed the design to regular rubber bushings instead of the threaded shafts. I think if you wanted you could buy a whole '73 crossmember and suspension and it would probably bolt in place of your old one. Would get you disk brakes as well. Not sure if the steering lines up correctly though. There are plenty of Chevy truck websites that would have that info though.
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