LCA wear and tolorence

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Duster_71

Duster_71

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Hello all,

I'm working on the lower control arms of a 74 Duster and getting ready to replace the bushings. Before I do, I'm trying to determine if the lower control arm itself is worth working with.The question I have is how much play/tolorence is acceptable for the swivel/torsoin bar knuckle to move in the control arm. I know it needs to spin but what about a little wobble in the conrol arm, side to side /up & down? I'm sure none is ideal but is there a measurable tolorence to make a determination?

Thanks,
Ron
 
It only turns when you adjust the torsion bar
 
The 2 halves of lower arms have been found spread apart. There's a YouTube video showing how to correct plus weld plates on the bottom to tie 2 halves together. I don't have the link handy.
 
RedFish said:
The 2 halves of lower arms have been found spread apart. There's a YouTube video showing how to correct plus weld plates on the bottom to tie 2 halves together. I don't have the link handy.
Click to expand...
Thanks Red Fish, I'm talking about the amount of play the swivel has in the two halves of the lower control arm. It seem that the holes have been worn slightly (egged) to allow not only rotation but wobble.
 
I had the same issue; here's a video. One thing: if you're going to weld on sway bar tabs, do that before the stiffening plates, because the heat may over-tighten the part that is too loose now.
 
rich006 said:
I had the same issue; here's a video. One thing: if you're going to weld on sway bar tabs, do that before the stiffening plates, because the heat may over-tighten the part that is too loose now.
Click to expand...
rich006,
Did the welding eliminate your excess play/wobble?
v/r
Ron
 
I've added stiffening plates to a few sets of LCA's now. On all the one's I've done it's fixed the excessive play.

I've taken it a bit further on mine as well. The stiffening plate definitely helps, but the reason why the play gets to be excessive is the ends of the LCA spreading apart. I weld a strap across the ends as well so the ends can't move at all. Like this (no the poly bushing was not in there when I was welding!)

img_1297-jpg.1714954353.jpg


You do have to make sure you weld the strap somewhere that it won't interfere with anything as the LCA and suspension moves! Here's another angle showing where it is. It basically needs to be on the end of the LCA, away from the lever arm for the adjusters. You can also see that I gusset the K frames as well.

IMG_2790_zpsj1t3mbyg.jpg
 
72bluNblu said:
I've added stiffening plates to a few sets of LCA's now. On all the one's I've done it's fixed the excessive play.

I've taken it a bit further on mine as well. The stiffening plate definitely helps, but the reason why the play gets to be excessive is the ends of the LCA spreading apart. I weld a strap across the ends as well so the ends can't move at all. Like this (no the poly bushing was not in there when I was welding!)

View attachment 1715025697

You do have to make sure you weld the strap somewhere that it won't interfere with anything as the LCA and suspension moves! Here's another angle showing where it is. It basically needs to be on the end of the LCA, away from the lever arm for the adjusters. You can also see that I gusset the K frames as well.

View attachment 1715025698
Click to expand...
Excellent welds!
 
Duster_71 said:
rich006,
Did the welding eliminate your excess play/wobble?
v/r
Ron
Click to expand...

I clamped the two sides of the arm together and welded on the stiffening plate before I attached the sway bar tab--see my thread here. Probably a good welder would have done the sway bar tab with a lot less heat, but I'm not a good welder. In the end the torsion bar connector was hard to turn inside the control arm, but as brian6pac pointed out above, that doesn't really matter because it only needs to turn when you adjust the ride height.
 
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