Lower control arm troubles!

[Indyuke]

I rebuilding the front end on my '70, and in putting the new lower control arms in I'm wondering how tight they're supposed to be. I know they're supposed to be torqued to 130 ft/lbs, however when I get to about 60 ft/lbs the shaft cannot be turned by hand. I have the shaft perfectly centered and nothing is contacting anything else, the bushings are well greased, but when I get the nuts tightened down, the shaft is will not spin. It's too tight.

Is this normal?

[eightbanger]

All you gotta remember is, what you may have trouble moving by hand your Truck will have no bother at all, I replaced my shafts & bushings and they were unmovable, but as soon as they were on the Truck they moved nice & easy. Also you will have to make sure that the indents on the shaft are facing the correct way to lock into the studs before you fully tighten, I didn't and had to undo it and turn the shaft round to face the correct way, remember too that these are new parts and have to wear in, so they are going to be real stiff in the beginning.

[1969 stepside]

Originally Posted by eightbanger

All you gotta remember is, what you may have trouble moving by hand your Truck will have no bother at all, I replaced my shafts & bushings and they were unmovable, but as soon as they were on the Truck they moved nice & easy. Also you will have to make sure that the indents on the shaft are facing the correct way to lock into the studs before you fully tighten, I didn't and had to undo it and turn the shaft round to face the correct way, remember too that these are new parts and have to wear in, so they are going to be real stiff in the beginning.

Are both bushing shafts supposed to have the stud holes? I bought some from Oreilly's and one of them only has 1.

[Indyuke]

I can barely more the control arm up and down once bolted into the truck. It moves through it's full range of travel... I just didn't know it was supposed to be that tight.

[TobyArnot]

I'm following this because I'm in the middle of the same thing on my '70. I too thought the bushings seemed way too tight. Are both of the bushings supposed to be tightened until the hex is against the boss on the a-arm??

Thanks for info!

[eightbanger]

Originally Posted by Indyuke

I can barely more the control arm up and down once bolted into the truck. It moves through it's full range of travel... I just didn't know it was supposed to be that tight.

You can bet that the weight of the Truck will have no probs moving it up & down and with a little wearing in it will all work just fine, if you want, just back the hex nuts off a couple of turns, NOT enough so you can rotate the shaft with your hand but just enough to let it move a little more freely with the control arm fitted. As long as you have pumped plenty of grease into the ends of the shaft, I see no problem.

Originally Posted by TobyArnot

I'm following this because I'm in the middle of the same thing on my '70. I too thought the bushings seemed way too tight. Are both of the bushings supposed to be tightened until the hex is against the boss on the a-arm??

Thanks for info!

I tightened mine up to just past the point were my bushings started to spread, which pretty much left the hex nut against the A arm.

[Dano69c10]

Originally Posted by eightbanger

I tightened mine up to just past the point were my bushings started to spread, which pretty much left the hex nut against the A arm.

Hey eightbanger, is your c10 right hand drive?

[eightbanger]

Originally Posted by 1969 stepside

Are both bushing shafts supposed to have the stud holes? I bought some from Oreilly's and one of them only has 1.

The original shafts that came off mine had only the one hole, but the replacements had two, it doesn't matter either way.

Originally Posted by Dano69c10

Hey eightbanger, is your c10 right hand drive?

No, happy to say it's a left hooker....British Classic & American Classic car owners over hear tend to joke with those that drive converted Yanks that "if it's right hand drive it ain't a proper American then"

[Indyuke]

Originally Posted by TobyArnot

I'm following this because I'm in the middle of the same thing on my '70. I too thought the bushings seemed way too tight. Are both of the bushings supposed to be tightened until the hex is against the boss on the a-arm??

Thanks for info!

Originally when I took it apart, the control shafts could be spun easily by hand and the hex nuts were tightened so hard against the arm that it took a long bar to get them off.

So I thought for sure the new shaft would be able to be spun by hand as well once tightened. I tightened the hex nuts right up against the control arm with nary a gap to be seen. The shafts are in there solid now.

Thanks for the reply guys.

[Dano69c10]

here, here!

[Indyuke]

Eh, I finally just tightened them down and am driving it as is. They are tight though. Once I let the weight of the truck down onto the susp, they were so tight one side actually rode a bit higher for a while until (I assume) they loosened up enough. Crazy!

And to 1969 Stepside, my new shafts were the same way when I bought them. I thought that was ridiculous, so I took them back, cleaned up my old ones, put the new bushings on and went that route. Double check the location of the holes on your new ones too by measuring from the end of the shaft. Mine weren't in the right spot. That'll give you some alignment issues.

[1969 stepside]

Originally Posted by Indyuke

Eh, I finally just tightened them down and am driving it as is. They are tight though. Once I let the weight of the truck down onto the susp, they were so tight one side actually rode a bit higher for a while until (I assume) they loosened up enough. Crazy!

And to 1969 Stepside, my new shafts were the same way when I bought them. I thought that was ridiculous, so I took them back, cleaned up my old ones, put the new bushings on and went that route. Double check the location of the holes on your new ones too by measuring from the end of the shaft. Mine weren't in the right spot. That'll give you some alignment issues.

Thanks for the help guys.