Are these the right lower A arms?

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evans68cuda

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Rebuilding my front end and took the lower A arms to my work to put in the parts washer and then install the bushings I got for em. One of them has the tab for the sway bar and the other doesn't! It's a 68 cuda and the one with the sway bar tab is in the stock 68 location (right below the strut rid mount) Doesn't even look like the tab broke off, just never came with one! I know this isn't uncommon, but weird to me that someone would change one arm out and not the other... But that's beside the point. My co worker looked at the one without the tab and said "this one looks different" and I assured him that it was just the sway bar tab, but he thinks the bolt (pressed in that goes into the k frame) is different. Is there any differences in early or later a body lower arms? I know b body ones are different where the strut mounts, but the other arm is in so its hard to tell for sure. Any ideas on if this wouldn't work for whatever reason please let me know.

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Zoom in on my photo. You will see letters stamped. VL RF & on the other control arm.
VL LF.
Those mean they are A Body control arms.

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This picture is after they have been blasted & powder coated. Again you can see the VL markings on both if you zoom in. Best I can help you. :rolleyes:

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Zoom in on my photo. You will see letters stamped. VL RF & on the other control arm.
VL LF.
Those mean they are A Body control arms.

View attachment 1715069146
That's good info thanks!! Just checked the one I have installed already with the sway bar tab and it says vl lf. But I left the other at work so I'll check in the AM. So vl means it's A body? No differences on then except the sway bar tab? That's no big deal for me cuz I'll just get a bar that has tabs to connect to the shock Bolt
 
My 68 came from the factory with one LCA with a sway bar tab, and one without. Your bolt looks to be correct but I do not know if the other Mopar also look the same. All the a body LCA's from 62 to 76 will interchange except for the sway bar tab locations.
 
My 68 came from the factory with one LCA with a sway bar tab, and one without. Your bolt looks to be correct but I do not know if the other Mopar also look the same. All the a body LCA's from 62 to 76 will interchange except for the sway bar tab locations.
That's funny, I wonder why!! Doesn't bother me, just interesting. What sway bar are you running?
 
Glad I could help. I enjoyed doing mine.
My sway bar is factory. 7/8 size.
 
That's funny, I wonder why!! Doesn't bother me, just interesting. What sway bar are you running?

I speculate either they ran out of passenger side arms without the tab that day, or it was just a mistake by the factory worker in grabbing the wrong arm.

I currently am in the process of rebuilding my front end, and I did purchase a drivers side LCA with a tab off a FABO member to have a matched set. I have a Hellwig sway bar that will eventually be installed.
 
Thats a great article...love the "welded washer" shell removal procedure! Gonna use that when doing my LCA bushings.
that sounds like a good method, I just took an air hammer to the lip at the end of the bushing shell, came out fine!
 
I speculate either they ran out of passenger side arms without the tab that day, or it was just a mistake by the factory worker in grabbing the wrong arm.

I currently am in the process of rebuilding my front end, and I did purchase a drivers side LCA with a tab off a FABO member to have a matched set. I have a Hellwig sway bar that will eventually be installed.
i like your theory, what size wheels do you have? i plan on running 17x8 with a 5.5" backspacing so trying to gather some info on what sway bar i can use with that
 
i like your theory, what size wheels do you have? i plan on running 17x8 with a 5.5" backspacing so trying to gather some info on what sway bar i can use with that

I just have some 14 inch sbp slots and will probably just use those to get the car on the road. I am not knowledgeable about the swaybar fitment vs wheel size but I am sure you can find some expertise in the FABO wheels subforum.

Looks like you are probabably ahead of me in your suspension dissassembly process, but just in case I have some fairly detailed "how I did it" photos in my restoration thread that could be helpful.
 
This discussion got me to go look at my LCAs. I have a left and a right (as per stamping) that came from '73-up A-body out of a salvage dealer. Didn't notice until now that the pivot bolt is slightly different on the two arms. One has a barrel style shoulder, and one has a tapered shoulder. See pics. Did they come from different cars, different year???? I don't see a problem using either one, but now I'm curious why they're different.

LCA LH.jpg
LCA RH.jpg
 
The big rivets have a 3 digit number on them. That is the month & year of the part.
 
That's what I'm thinking my co worker was talking about. I don't see an issue with it however. I looked at my other side and it dies say vl rf
 
I'm trying the welded washer method on removal of my LCA bushings. So far, I've broken the weld twice and moved the bushing fraction of an inch. Zoom in on pic. Will re-weld and keep pushing, but dang!!!! this thing is stubborn.
Removing LCA Bushing.jpg
 
I'm doing my third set...
I've found the tap method works best.
Sandblasting and penetrating oil helps.
Cut the shell off the tap with a wafer wheel.
Heat causes metal to expand.

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