1969 Barracuda upper control arm issues.

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Matrick69

Matrick69

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I am in the process of reserecting my father in laws 69 Barracuda and I have ran into an issue with the upper ball joint. Somehow I was able to get the old one removed, but the internal threads are trashed. I've looked around and only see large ball joint control arms available. Does anyone know a place that sells new, or am I stuck looking for a decent set of used small joint arms? Thanks in advance for any help!
 
They are not threaded, the ball joint has a thread that is not very deep, it is a interference fit mostly. New control arms do not have threads. Just force it in.
Lube it up and screw it in.
 
Personally I would go ''tubular A arms'' unless you are looking for stock. All you can do is look at the used parts in the ''junk yards'' but this is a very common problem with the small ball joints.
 
The added benefit of tubular upper control arms besides the larger ball joint is increased caster. Stock control arms provide maybe 1 degree. I have magnum force upper control arms and can get about 5. More caster lends to better higher speed stability.
 
Not opposed to the tubular arms at all. I just want to keep my current spindles and lower arms as they are all rebuilt.
 
Already have disc brakes and everything is new. Definitely going to need a solution that works with my current setup.
 
How bad are the threads? They always look a bit messed up. The question is whether you can tighten the new joints to the correct torque. If you can't, the correct procedure is to tack weld in three or four places. One key to getting the new joints in is to spin them backwards until they drop into the first thread.
 
Jim Lusk said:
How bad are the threads? They always look a bit messed up. The question is whether you can tighten the new joints to the correct torque. If you can't, the correct procedure is to tack weld in three or four places. One key to getting the new joints in is to spin them backwards until they drop into the first thread.
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I'm going to give that a try tomorrow before I move forward. Thanks for the help!
 
Found some aftermarket tubular arms from QA1 that appear to be small ball joint. Anyone installed these? Going to try to install the new ball joint first as I will only be out a $9 part of it doesn't work. Thanks again for all your help guys.
 
Matrick69 said:
Found some aftermarket tubular arms from QA1 that appear to be small ball joint. Anyone installed these? Going to try to install the new ball joint first as I will only be out a $9 part of it doesn't work. Thanks again for all your help guys.
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I personally have not used the small ball joint version but I can vouch for the large variant...definitely a high quality product.

If they fit like the large version, you may need to trim a bit of sheet metal to allow the arm to travel downward... so keep an eye out for that.

Keep us posted!
 
Actually QA1 has nice tubular upper arms that are available with the small ball joint, so you could keep you're current spindles/brakes. I was able to dial in 4.5 degrees of caster no problem.


I just put a set on my Dart a couple months ago and love em.
 
Here’s a before and after. And a pic that shows the little bit of metal you have to trim for clearance.

6771BAA2-525C-485D-922C-48E433CEB517.jpeg


FD90DE4B-C129-4800-A4B6-0156DDAC9F4F.jpeg


6E52A436-1F1E-4D6F-9455-73EDB10BBFFD.jpeg
 
As Jim Lusk says, Some folks do tack weld the new small ball joint if the thread fits not so tight. You can use the moog offset bushings to gain more caster on the stock arms. They work very well.
 
Jim Lusk said:
How bad are the threads? They always look a bit messed up. The question is whether you can tighten the new joints to the correct torque. If you can't, the correct procedure is to tack weld in three or four places. One key to getting the new joints in is to spin them backwards until they drop into the first thread.
Click to expand...
I cleaned up the stock arm and installed the new ball joint without any problems. I am working on getting it running and driving right now so money saved is good. Definitely going to put the tubular arms on my list for a wintee project. Thanks to everyone for the input.
 
Angleiron2 said:
The added benefit of tubular upper control arms besides the larger ball joint is increased caster. Stock control arms provide maybe 1 degree. I have magnum force upper control arms and can get about 5. More caster lends to better higher speed stability.
Click to expand...
AND harder to steer with wide tires, with non power steering. PITA in parking lots.
 
Welcome to my world. 383 car and Armstrong. Skiny fronts help and factory large diameter steering wheel, all stock pieces and I would have it no other way.

Looking good and same as mine! Hope you get to driving soon!
 
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