How much play in an LCA

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momoparman

momoparman

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I removed my LCAs and sandblasted them then had a friend press out/in the new bushings. I noticed on the left side that there is some play between the LCA and the shaft housing that's stamped into the LCA. Its the shaft that has the torsion bar on one end and the LBJ mount on the other. UP and down play is about .30 to .60 max.

any input?

The other one has some play but its not as bad as compared to the lefty.

Thanks and thanks for this site and the fair and respectable folks who run it.

Mop
 
Here are some pics of the gap.

Mop
 

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...............I dont think there should b any play........but then it may b taken up when installed and the T bar is adjusted..........kim.........
 
Well, under tension I'm sure the play is taken up in one direction at least...it's the other direction I'm concerned about.

Anyone else with some input?
 
I know I would want as little play as possible. It could get a little on the twitchy side with play and it would be hard to keep it lined up.

Jack
 
Yea...that's what I was afraid of.

I guess I will pull my spares out of hiding and see how they are and compare.

I will post if I see play in the others.

Thanks,

Mop
 
I just pulled my other two off the old K member from blufatty.

They have some play in them as well. It's probably .030. They are both clean and in good condition as the car was clean when I took it apart (No rust). I guess I'm gonna use the best two and weld some of those reenforcing plates on them.

I would think that there has to be some play as the torsion socket rotates around in an un-bushed opening. So one would theorize that there must be a bit of play in order to allow for rotation of the socket in a rough opening....no? ](*,)

Any more input would be welcome.

Mop
 
Not unusual, but probably not desirable. As I recall, if you put a clamp, or vise grip over the two halves of the LCA, and clamp them together such that they pinch the torsion bar adjuster, the play will be lessened. Check that out. If so, you can clamp them together then weld the LCA reinforcing plates on and you'll be set.

As far as how MUCH play is tolerable, that's your call.
 
fourspeed said:
Not unusual, but probably not desirable. As I recall, if you put a clamp, or vise grip over the two halves of the LCA, and clamp them together such that they pinch the torsion bar adjuster, the play will be lessened. Check that out. If so, you can clamp them together then weld the LCA reinforcing plates on and you'll be set.

As far as how MUCH play is tolerable, that's your call.
Click to expand...

Yes. just clamp them and weld a 1" strap to hold them together. They have to have some movement for when you adjust the torsion bar ride height. That's it and that will have the weight of the car pushing it into place. So just enough play to just move them.

Here's what I did. Then I added one 1" strap under the sway bar tab and one more out near the ball joint. I don't think I need the one near the ball joint. That's where there's a forged receptacle for the lower ball joint with rivets holding it to the halves of the LCA. IMHO, that was redundant and a waste of weight. The plate they sell overlap with the LCA flange and IMHO add unnecessary weight.
 

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That's good info.

I did notice that when I clamped them in my workmate I could get them to be tighter. I will take your advise and weld them while clamped. They got spread apart a bit when I was removing them....they were a little rusty and I had to use a hammer to break them loose. I must have spread the right one apart.

I will try the squeeze and weld and let you know how they do.

Thanks

Mop
 
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