Control Arm Assembly

[79gmcsierragrande]

Well I finally got the last set of parts from the machine shop Friday and I started making the jigs for my control arms today. I want to stay at stock height so I’m just duplicating the stock arms that are jacked up. This is all the bushing mounts and ball joint mounts.

[79gmcsierragrande]

More

[79gmcsierragrande]

Here's the Jigs

[79gmcsierragrande]

The upper ball joint mount were cut on the water jet at work. All the other mounts I had to send out to the machinist we always use. Sucks to have to send them out since I used to be a machinist, I just don’t have access to a lathe anymore. The guy was cool and didn’t charge me so I made him some plates for his hydrogen boost in trade. It’ll be a few days before I can start making the arms but at least I got the jigs made.

[shaneo2112RUSH]

damn!!! love the way the jigs came out!! i might have to wait on buying ART a-arms and see how yours come out

[79gmcsierragrande]

Uppers are done.

[joe231]

cool, can't wait to see the lowers

[scotts62]

Sweet looks good!

[69face]

awesome! no hurry and get them done so you can powdercoated them

[jlaird]

Awesome!

[tommypic]

those are the **** . I like them jigs got to watch this thread , going to show this to my son he works in a fab shop .

[N2TRUX]

Cool as heck, but I have to ask why? I see that you said the original ones were shot, but couldn't you just scrounge a set from the salvage yard?

Yeah, I know "because I can", and I am impressed. It just seems like a fair amount of work to build "stock" A-arms.

[79gmcsierragrande]

Well I live in the middle of nowhere, the local junkyard doesn’t have them, and the next closest junkyard is 5 hours away. The price of new lowers is around $300 for OEM and I’ve spent about $200 for the materials to do both uppers and lowers. But more than that it’s just something to mess around with, it’s a hobby after all.

[sebas213]

Hello, This is a copy with originals size? what is the difference with the tubular control arms? The tubular control arms have an angle? I live in Argentina and here are not make them, then I want make them.

[79gmcsierragrande]

Originally Posted by sebas213

Hello, This is a copy with originals size? what is the difference with the tubular control arms? The tubular control arms have an angle? I live in Argentina and here are not make them, then I want make them.

Yes this is a copy of the original size. I'm not sure if the tubing is stronger but it is easier to work with. I'm not sure what you mean by angle. I used a tubing bender to bend them into shape.



If you want to make your own you're going to need a few things. You have to machine the bushing mounts; I bought the bushings and measured them, then made the mounts .001 in (.025mm) smaller to be a tight fit. I also had the lower ball joint mount machined but I had them done .007 in (.177mm) smaller. The upper ball joint mount I cut out on the water jet but it can easily be cut out with a torch or plasma. You also need a tubing bender.


Material:

On the upper ball joint mounts- ¼” hot rolled steel plate. I’m using 1 ¼” OD (outside diameter) tube with a .125” wall thickness DOM (drawn over mandrill) for the uppers, and 1 ½” OD .188” wall DOM for the lowers. On the bushing mounts I made sure I had at least ¼” wall thickness left to keep them from warping when I welded them.



I hope this helps. If you have any more questions you can PM me also.

[sebas213]

Originally Posted by 79gmcsierragrande

Yes this is a copy of the original size. I'm not sure if the tubing is stronger but it is easier to work with. I'm not sure what you mean by angle. I used a tubing bender to bend them into shape.



If you want to make your own you're going to need a few things. You have to machine the bushing mounts; I bought the bushings and measured them, then made the mounts .001 in (.025mm) smaller to be a tight fit. I also had the lower ball joint mount machined but I had them done .007 in (.177mm) smaller. The upper ball joint mount I cut out on the water jet but it can easily be cut out with a torch or plasma. You also need a tubing bender.


Material:

On the upper ball joint mounts- ¼” hot rolled steel plate. I’m using 1 ¼” OD (outside diameter) tube with a .125” wall thickness DOM (drawn over mandrill) for the uppers, and 1 ½” OD .188” wall DOM for the lowers. On the bushing mounts I made sure I had at least ¼” wall thickness left to keep them from warping when I welded them.



I hope this helps. If you have any more questions you can PM me also.

Thanks for the informacion. The angle that I talk, is the angle of de ball joint. I think the tubular arms have a different angle than the originals. I read about this days ago.

[1SlowShortwide]

What is the difference in weight?

[79gmcsierragrande]

I'm not sure what the differance is, I'll weigh them on monday. Made some progress on the lowers, well one of them anyways. I still need the bump stop mount and the shock mount. I need to quit my job so I have more time to work on personal stuff.

[joe231]

looking good!

[69face]

yeah i remeber when i quit my job to work on personal stuff, life hasnt been the same since.

[1SlowShortwide]

Hey ever get any weight comparison?

[bagged69c10]

Looks cool. I plan on trying something similar.