Flux core spills all over, not as clean as gas MIG but those machines are very cheap.
Suspension and frame work, cracked LCA, advice welcome
- Thread starter DLJ
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Jim Lusk
Well-Known Member
Yes.
I think about a baggilion people do not know this. A baggilion and one counting me. Thank you.
Jim Lusk
Well-Known Member
I know because the store that sold me the welder told me and I've seen it other places, as well.
Just something thats easily overlooked. My new fancypants welder tells me to check polarity.
Kendog 170
Let the boy go !
I know you said you want to grind it and make it look nice but personally after V grooving like Jim said, I would lay a nice bead weld and not grind where possible as it adds strength to the repair.
You are right, I had to cut the tab on top pf the LCA to open it enough to work and cut off the metal where the crack was, going about 1/4" beyond where the end of the crack was. Thing is I have a tendency of over killing and placed a large amount of weld on the outside of the LCA but left it leveled on the inside. I used what I had here... 7018 2.5 mm arch weld electrode and worked bit by bit to avoid heating it way too much...
I will post some pics soon. I bet it will not crack again, at least not at the same place for sure...
I also plan on welding an stiffening plate on the bottom and around the bushing area.
Thanks for your input and have a great New Year!!!
Kendog 170
Let the boy go !
Looks nice.
Taking too long but I am expecting to finish all main work under the car in March... Here are a few pics of the mod I did on the LCAs... now they feel solid... just hope they are aligned enough..
Got a cheap gun for mediablasting those rusty LCAs before painting.
Got a cheap gun for mediablasting those rusty LCAs before painting.
Lower Control Arms reinforcement plates make these mopar LCAs much stronger than stock.
I think it is one must do job when you have the front suspension serviced.
I made the stiffening plates myself out of a 2.5 mm thick steel plate, after making a prototype out of cardboard.
The one detail in welding these plates is make sure they are aligned as they are supposed to. I cut the welding on the top plate of the LCA which holds both parts together, to be able to press them tight in place before welding the bottom and top plates in place.
The result was amazing compared to the original LCAs, now they feel really as one piece.
my68barracuda
Well-Known Member
Hey, thanks for your quote.
That front grill was made by Chrysler in Brazil only (as far as I know) for the chargers from 1973 till 1978 and for the gran sedans and gran coupes from 1976 till 1978 with a different grill design and minor changes... Now, I must say they are pretty rare here but you still can find some used old ones for sale on the web for about maybe US$ 500.00 and that may not be in very good shape... will need some metal work and painting... as far as bumpers and fenders, they are the same as the 1969 US Darts. Shipping I am not sure but maybe about $ 100.00 to 200.00.
There are also some pannels behind the grill that hold the headlights... Pretty rare here too.
Yes they do, I only saw those Aussy LCAs after making mine but I think that is the way Chrysler should have made them in the first place.
If you look at the very first picture I posted in this thread you see a difference in thickness on the stamped plate where the crack began (probably due to the manufacturing process of stamping them), so I think it had to crack there anyway, which is the weakest point and does not allow reinforcement by welding a plate all around.
Anyway, after welding the reinforcement plate these arms feel really solid. The aussy LCAs also have the sway bar tabs in the same position as the ones in Brazil, in USA the sway bar tabs are more in the middle of the arms, guess they were sending overseas all the old stuff they did not use in USA any more.
LCAs bear all the weight up front, I think you would be ok welding then adding the reinforcing plate. After adding up the costs to refurbish my factory LCA's I wasn't too far from new tubular units from QA1, which is the route I chose. As far as your seal issue/ question, I'm in the same boat( see pic)with new UCAs from POL...I called them about this floating seal issue and the guys reply was " yeah, that's just the way they are" wtf?
Well thats a poor design on their part, no point adding the boot if it can't keep the crap out and the grease in, when you go aftermarket sometimes the sad thing is the manufacturer think's it's good enough for a product to leave that way.
In the USA these new control arms are not way too expensive so they probably are the best way to go (they even allow more positive caster) but in that pic it seems the front suspension height is way too low so the uca is way up in a position the seal might open. Is that the actual car height as it runs? The new tubular uca should come with a new upper ball joint and seal. The PU boots I got from energy suspension do not have the metal ring to hold them in place so I just hope they seal in normal operating condition.
All tie rods and ball joints were stock and felt like new so I decided to keep them and use the PU new seals but the car is not a daily drive...
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