Upper control arm bushing extra part?

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ChuckDock

ChuckDock

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I know there are a million posts about how to replace uca bushings and I watched video's and read forums but was surprised to see this extra spacer (?) on one side of the uca but not the other. It was hell to get the bushing out and I ended up cracking this "extra" part. The part in the pic shows the cracked ring that was on just one side of the control, not the other.
Can I just install my new bushing without that part?

uca.jpg
 
Yes, just leave it off, don't worry about it.
In the real world, that collar didn't do any good anyway.


UCA Rear Bushings 012 (Copy).JPG
 
Alaskan_TA said:
It is a reinforcement for more strength.
Click to expand...
It isn't welded on the control arm, and isn't pressed in either, or least doesn't seem to be. But, I guess there had to be a reason. It's funny how I haven't heard any mention about these in the removal process.
Well, maybe I should see if they are available and add it in when I assembly these. Or, bag these all together and just order the tubular control arms with the offsets and parts already installed, which I'm really leaning towards.
 
ChuckDock said:
So are those the spares you have left off as you replaced uca bushings? Like trophies?
Click to expand...
I have a little side line business going on in the way of rebuilding brake and suspension parts, and then putting the parts up for sale on this forum, Craigslist, or other Mopar related internet forums.
When i come across big ball joint upper control arms with shot bushings in them, i always remove them, as a courtesy to my buyer(s), making it easier to sell, with me already doing, performing, all hard, dirty work.

There have been numerous threads posted throughout the years about those collars on the bushings.
They were hit or miss, which cars ever got them, from the get go.
Supposedly on the A body cars they were on some of the 6 cylinder cars, the Rear bushing only, and rumored to be on B & E body high performance models.
But who really determined what a high performance model was destined to be.

It was just some Chrysler's engineer in the the suspension division that had a brainy idea, and thought it was something to have installed to justify his wage within the corporation.

I have seen them on the A body cars throughout all the years, as that's what i mainly dabble in, and very few B body cars, they have gone away from showing up in wrecking yards, many, many, years ago, around my area, even for California.
 
I had a few paks of NOS ones I used . Then I had a buddy machine some collars that I welded to the control arm. I did this after I discovered a bushing flopping around on a control arm I pulled off my Barracuda.
 
hemi71x said:
I have a little side line business going on in the way of rebuilding brake and suspension parts, and then putting the parts up for sale on this forum, Craigslist, or other Mopar related internet forums.
When i come across big ball joint upper control arms with shot bushings in them, i always remove them, as a courtesy to my buyer(s), making it easier to sell, with me already doing, performing, all hard, dirty work.

There have been numerous threads posted throughout the years about those collars on the bushings.
They were hit or miss, which cars ever got them, from the get go.
Supposedly on the A body cars they were on some of the 6 cylinder cars, the Rear bushing only, and rumored to be on B & E body high performance models.
But who really determined what a high performance model was destined to be.

It was just some Chrysler's engineer in the the suspension division that had a brainy idea, and thought it was something to have installed to justify his wage within the corporation.

I have seen them on the A body cars throughout all the years, as that's what i mainly dabble in, and very few B body cars, they have gone away from showing up in wrecking yards, many, many, years ago, around my area, even for California.
Click to expand...
Ok, good deal. I just didn't know if you were being sarcastic about the bushings or not.
But great, 2 guys here say yes, I need them and you say I don't, lol!
Well, now that I know what they are called I'll do some googling. I do like the tubular uca's but if I can make the offsets's I bought work, I'll save 400 bucks.
 
ChuckDock said:
I know there are a million posts about how to replace uca bushings and I watched video's and read forums but was surprised to see this extra spacer (?) on one side of the uca but not the other. It was hell to get the bushing out and I ended up cracking this "extra" part. The part in the pic shows the cracked ring that was on just one side of the control, not the other.
Can I just install my new bushing without that part?

View attachment 1715300743
Click to expand...

I might be 6 mo late here but may have some to add... after rebuilding the front suspension on my Dart using all new rubber bushings and so, I got pretty upset hearing an old noise in the front suspension I thought I had got rid of... but still there... sometimes pretty loud thump or bang... After some wondering and looking every part I noticed a space between the uca and the end of the front bushing... maybe the front bushing got loose???
Just yesterday I decided to tape my cell phone in the front fender and watch what might be happening while driving back and forth...
I posted some pics and a link to the video showing the brand new front bushing on the passenger side uca.
The rear bushing seems to be ok and has the metal collar I put back.
Now I need to take the UCAs off again and figure what to do, but one thing is certain, I like that collar, won't hurt...

Watch this... what should I do?



20190925_204411.jpg


20190223_092032.jpg


20190302_155352.jpg


20190305_093941.jpg
 
ChuckDock said:
I know there are a million posts about how to replace uca bushings and I watched video's and read forums but was surprised to see this extra spacer (?) on one side of the uca but not the other. It was hell to get the bushing out and I ended up cracking this "extra" part. The part in the pic shows the cracked ring that was on just one side of the control, not the other.
Can I just install my new bushing without that part?

View attachment 1715300743
Click to expand...

I might be late here but after rebuilding the front suspension on my Dart using all new rubber bushings and so, I got pretty upset hearing an old noise in the front suspension I thought I had got rid of... but still there... After some wondering and looking every part I noticed a space between the uca and the end of the front bushing... maybe the front bushing got loose???
Just yesterday I decided to tape my cell phone in the front fender and watch what might be happening while driving back and forth...
hemi71x said:
Yes, just leave it off, don't worry about it.
In the real world, that collar didn't do any good anyway.


View attachment 1715300755
Click to expand...

Hi there, just went through your posts here and would like to hear your comments on my UCAs floppy front bushings.
Do you sell parts here? Ship international? Thanks.
 
In a lot of the kits, you get that part, but it's made of poly. The reason for those is for control arms like on GM cars where the bushing presses through two holes on each side of the arm. You install the bushing in the first half, slide the sleeve on then press the bushing the rest of the way in. The sleeve fits between both sides of the control arm and acts as a support so the arm is not crushed when using a press.
 
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Hi all, I had a problem with the rear bush walking out in the arm so I looked into it and to my understanding of what that collar does is just space the arm on the bush and traps it in the one location, maybe its a load of BS but that bush never moved again after I installed that collar on the bush, having said that none of my other cars suffered from the bush moving out in the arm so maybe it was just a worn out arm to begin with, anyway here's a small video I made many years back.
 
dodgy said:
Hi all, I had a problem with the rear bush walking out in the arm so I looked into it and to my understanding of what that collar does is just space the arm on the bush and traps it in the one location, maybe its a load of BS but that bush never moved again after I installed that collar on the bush, having said that none of my other cars suffered from the bush moving out in the arm so maybe it was just a worn out arm to begin with, anyway here's a small video I made many years back.
Click to expand...


Nice! That is what I need on the front UCA bushings. The rear got the collar and are ok. How did you get those collars, standard size pipe there in Australia?
 
Yes it was a standard size pipe I found in the scrap bin at the local steel sales joint, was many years ago and can not remember the size right now, maybe 32mm, I may have a bit left laying around I could measure up for you.
 
dodgy said:
Yes it was a standard size pipe I found in the scrap bin at the local steel sales joint, was many years ago and can not remember the size right now, maybe 32mm, I may have a bit left laying around I could measure up for you.
Click to expand...

That's ok, I am after a pipe that would fit right there here in Brazil, made a few phone calls but no luck so far, will stop at a shop and maybe a scrap yard, if I can't find one, I'll have to grind the inside of a water pipe to fit there, just some more hand made work, part of the fun of having these cars...
 
So... I'm not sure if a 74 e body with a 360 would be considered a high performance model but I do know that those sleeves were not on it when I did my front end. I will be looking at my 68 to see if it has them. After watching the video, I'm thinking they are necessary. Hopefully I'll finally get to my disc brake upgrade this winter.
 
Dfr360cuda said:
So... I'm not sure if a 74 e body with a 360 would be considered a high performance model but I do know that those sleeves were not on it when I did my front end. I will be looking at my 68 to see if it has them. After watching the video, I'm thinking they are necessary. Hopefully I'll finally get to my disc brake upgrade this winter.
Click to expand...

When I replaced the bushings on my Dart's UCAs I noticed the collars/sleeves only on the rear bushings, which were still in good shape but the front bushings were both shot.
I could not notice any significant difference in my manual press when pressing the front and rear new bushings on the UCAs but probably the front had a reduced grab due to having the bushings replaced a few times before (the old front bushings did not appear to be loose before disassembly but I had some of that noise occasionally).
The contact area between the UCA and the bushing is small and if it is a bit worn out it could allow some movement and then develop an even worse problem.
This happened in my case after driving only about 60 miles after replacing the bushings.
Due to the UCA moving on the front bushing back and forth as seen in my video, it squeezed the bushing pretty bad becoming loose.
I removed both UCAs and ordered new bushings to replace them. Also found a standard size steel pipe that seems to be the same size as the factory collars (so I can cut the pieces and make the collars).
I will now check if the UCA need some weld filling to get to it's original diameter in the area where the bushing is pressed but they do not seem to need much.
I think if I had pressed the collars on the front bushings too in the first time, they'd be fine now, avoiding having me doing this again.
For me they are a good preventative measure specially on old/used UCAs.
Another important detail is checking if the UCAs are bent due to running loose on the bushing. Mine need to be pulled apart about 0.20" to go back to speck so they will fit in the mounts without having a fight.
Just my person opinion.
 
I watched your video and was alarmed at how much movement there was, when everything is correct the only movement should be limited to the torsional Flex in the rubber, so your assumption of the holes being made bigger with all the movement makes sense, I'm sure I've seen aftermarket stamped steel arms sold somewhere alot cheaper than the tubular arms, it might be worth looking into replacing the arms. Anyway looks like your on the right track to a solution.
 
The Valiant patrol car had the sleeves on all four bushings when I took the original front end apart after the lower control arms broke free in the "K" member and started moving around. At the time I was working at a dealership and the parts person identified them for "severe service" vehicles for what ever that's worth. The '66 273 2bbl Barracuda I'm working on now, which was mostly untouched original, had them only on the rear bushing (when looking at the wheel). Besides the Patrol car it's the only other car I've ever seen them on. Necessary, I don't think so. But if you are into carving up corners I'd consider using them. Certainly no harm in using them.
 
My 70 Challenger R/T SE had these collars installed on it from factory. So yes, HP e-bodies had them too.
 
According to the '69 shop manual page 2-12, A Bodies with 10" brakes, and B Bodies, used as taxis or Police cars
used the support sleeves. Always keep in mind that manufacturers don't spend a nickel for a part that isn't needed.
 
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