Am I seeing things, or is this UCA that bent???

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AlV

AlV

Crabs in a barrel
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Hi FABO,

Take a look at the photos below of my UCA, I just installed the cam bolts and cam to the realization that I need (either) new glasses, eyes or a UCA!

These things seem really stout so I am struggling on the fact that the metal can be that out of shape. I'm pretty sure it came out of the car this way although I can't say that for certain because I didn't notice it then. What I can tell you is that it wasn't obvious until I put in the bolts.









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10487572_651924394889938_7835193834559780361_n.jpg


10421309_651924588223252_1617437217626280853_n.jpg


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What is the consensus since I'm not sure what to do with it, or if it can be repaired.

Thanks

AlV
 
I agree with you. Bent. Maybe before you got the car. I would replace it. Too bad, looks real clean!
 
Yes, it is bent. If you take the bolts back out put an eye on one bushing looking through the other you will see the bend. The bushings should be in a straight line.
 
The portion that seems to be bent, the bearing "sleeve" can be straightened out. You'll need something like a strong hydraulic press. Wouldn't want to use the BFH on this. Noting that these cars could be notoriously "out-of-square" it may be advisable to check to make sure the car hasn't been involved in unknown get togethers with other vehicles, trees, ditches, etc. It won't do much good to have a straightened UCA going into mounts that are messed up.
 
Hyper_pak said:
I agree with you. Bent. Maybe before you got the car. I would replace it. Too bad, looks real clean!
Click to expand...

lol
I was thinking the same thing. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the front end.



I still have a few things to do but it's almost there.
And now this.. It shall be called "and yet another part to replace.":banghead:

AlV
 
Jim Lusk said:
Yes, it is bent. If you take the bolts back out put an eye on one bushing looking through the other you will see the bend. The bushings should be in a straight line.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim....Yep, they are definitely not in line.

Now I have dig deeper. lol

AlV
 
2 Darts said:
The portion that seems to be bent, the bearing "sleeve" can be straightened out. You'll need something like a strong hydraulic press. Wouldn't want to use the BFH on this. Noting that these cars could be notoriously "out-of-square" it may be advisable to check to make sure the car hasn't been involved in unknown get togethers with other vehicles, trees, ditches, etc. It won't do much good to have a straightened UCA going into mounts that are messed up.
Click to expand...

2 Darts,

The history of the car is certainly an unknown. I can tell you that I've taken the car apart to the shell and haven't seen any indication of any major structural impacts. The Body did have to be straightened from dings and dents but that's it (Not even rust).







I think you're right, I'll take the Arm back to the shop and test fit it to see if something is tweaked Brackets or otherwise...But I'm sure I didn't see anything on my first go around.

It's possible I could have done something pressing in the bushing although I don't know what it could have been.

I cross measured the K and it seems to be square, measuring 34.5in corner to corner (rough)

You mentioned something about the bearing sleeve.. I have access to a press. What were you thinking with regards to correcting the piece. How would you approach it?

Thanks
AlV
 
We went a round or 3 of discussion in the past. Only the OEM engineers can explain why upper arms are so strange and not mirror imagine in left to right. This is the same engineering that put one rear wheel ahead of the other in those wheel wells.
I understand only that these factors are relative to a few things, weight displacement, torque thrust, and the crown in the road.
Bottom line... Don't be surprised if you get another arm only to find it identical to the one you have. Please let us know in any case. Good luck
 
2 Darts said:
The portion that seems to be bent, the bearing "sleeve" can be straightened out. You'll need something like a strong hydraulic press. Wouldn't want to use the BFH on this. Noting that these cars could be notoriously "out-of-square" it may be advisable to check to make sure the car hasn't been involved in unknown get togethers with other vehicles, trees, ditches, etc. It won't do much good to have a straightened UCA going into mounts that are messed up.
Click to expand...
Good point; if the UCA bolts came out easily, then I would be a bit concerned for the iner fender area.

This is more than just the bushing sleeve bent; looking at pix 5, 6 & 7 in the sequence above, it is obvious that the right hand arm in those pix is fully twisted and bent donward.
 

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RedFish said:
We went a round or 3 of discussion in the past. Only the OEM engineers can explain why upper arms are so strange and not mirror imagine in left to right. This is the same engineering that put one rear wheel ahead of the other in those wheel wells.
I understand only that these factors are relative to a few things, weight displacement, torque thrust, and the crown in the road.
Bottom line... Don't be surprised if you get another arm only to find it identical to the one you have. Please let us know in any case. Good luck
Click to expand...

Geez RedFish, I don't know,.. maybe your right and it's just the way it is.
I don't believe it was in a big collision I saw no signs of that, But I do think the front and took a beating.
Maybe it was one hell of a pothole lol

I'll keep you updated. Thanks!

AlV
 
nm9stheham said:
Good point; if the UCA bolts came out easily, then I would be a bit concerned for the iner fender area.

This is more than just the bushing sleeve bent; looking at pix 5, 6 & 7 in the sequence above, it is obvious that the right hand arm in those pix is fully twisted and bent donward.
Click to expand...


nm9stheham, I have to agree with your assessment. I spent sometime today trying to figure out how to straighten it and even with a press I don't know if I could get it back into shape.

There is a twist as you stated that has taken the bottom of the arm almost a half an inch out . Even if I could correct the twist (which I think I could if I really tried) the end of the arm is down about 3/8ths of an inch lower than where it needs to be (use pics 5,6 and 7 as a reference). I don't know what caused this but I'll work through it.

I'm going to take a closer look at the brackets and the inner fender on the car.. I seem to remember this cam bolt being very stubborn coming out of the car. Thanks for the photos!

AlV
 
I have repaired a tweaked upper arm mount on a POS early Dart convertible and was successful, but if it were a GTS I'd probably have a frame shop take care of it. I do have an extra pair of mounts still welded to short frame segments if you wind up needing one.
 
I think the bent arm is the back arm on the passenger side? If so, probably hit one heckuva pothole, ran off the road, or hit a curb at high speed.

You could use heat to re-work but then I'd not be sure it would not be softened.
 
Yes nm9stheham, it is the right side control arm and it musta been one heck of a pothole. I'm not going to re use it.

Dave
The Lower is fine.. I checked it yesterday after I saw the upper.
I truly can't explain this. I'm heading down to the shop in a few hours to take a closer look look at the UCA brackets.

Take a look at post #7.

-AlV
 
It turns out the UCA mounts are fine.. Less than an 1/8 difference between the sides nothing to worry about.

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I was relieved lol. I also found a replacement so we're good to go.

Thanks to All.

AlV
 
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