• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

are there any good stock upper control arms?

magvan

Well-Known Member
Local time
12:39 AM
Joined
Aug 3, 2012
Messages
180
Reaction score
71
Location
near disneyland
replacing the ball joints in my 1967 coronet rt and the previous guys that did it must have pressed the ball joints in & out because there are no threads in the arms.
i am in a hurry because new years weekend i got to use the shop at my work (while they are closed) so i find a pair of original arms off of a 69k mile car that have about 3/4" of grease on them, so i drive 1hr45min each way to go and get them. come to the shop the next day and hot tank them only to find rusty junk under all that grease. so i cant find any other originals so i finally break down and order some new chinese ones from our forum sponsor in NJ. wait a week for them to show up (im in CA). get a break in my regular work today so i figure ill get the coronet done and out of the way so i can stop hearing the bitching. open the box to find china junk ball joints & bushings that will last a year until they will need to be replaced so i pull the ball joint out of the first arm to install good moog ones and wouldnt you know there are virtually no threads (about half way around) in the new chinese arms. i would bet these are the same arms that i could get from cpp for 1/2 the price and only 10 miles away from me. i swear there are no good parts made anymore. any recommendations?
 
The control arms don't have threads it's just a punched hole that is rolled
out and when you screw the ball joint in it just forces it's way down because of the thin thread that the ball joint has.
 
not in any of the other 4 cars (65 valiant, 67 dart, 72 van, 74 truck)ive done. they have all had threads that i started & screwed the ball joints most of the way in by hand and tightened up the rest of the way. and all 4 of the above cars were virgin 1 owner cars except the valiant was 3 owners all in the same family (family friends) and had never been done
 
We use to buy bare control arms from Chrysler no bushings no ball joint and they don't have threads only after you force in a new ball joint does it cut into the control arm a little but there not threaded from the manufacture.
 
Get a hold of originals that have been rebuilt. I have a spare pair that I did awhile ago. I was going to sell them to some guy recently, when I told him how much,he said I'm crazy, he could go buy the new repros. I told him, go ahead, goodbye. I'll just keep these.
 
We use to buy bare control arms from Chrysler no bushings no ball joint and they don't have threads only after you force in a new ball joint does it cut into the control arm a little but there not threaded from the manufacture.
idk too nice of threads in those virgin cars to believe that. not like it was 1 car but all 4
 
I'm guessing 64 upper control arms are the same? The original ball joints are put into a hole that never had threads, and the ball joint cut their own threads?? That would explain why the threads did not look so good in my upper control arms and why it took a lot to get them screwed back in. They started in by hand, but tightened up right away...........................MO
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top