New rear control arms

[jonheld]

Had a club member make a set of these up for me using Christo's bushings. Bought a used set from Cruiserparts.net and had him remove the ends and use 1/4" DOM. Nice and beefy.

Thought it would be a simple swap but it took me 4 hours. Lower shock mounts had to come off and both were badly damaged, frame side of control arm mounts were both folded over, etc. After 16 years, nothing's quick and easy anymore.

 

[TiredIronGRB]

Nice, I need to do that.

 

[fzj80kidpen]

Hey, my rear passenger side control arm looks nice and faded like yours (bottom pic).
Has not caused any problems that I am aware of yet.
Thinking about doing the angle iron thing

 

[jonheld]

I can't tell if they were causing problems because everything is slightly tweaked on my truck at this point. This was just stage 1 of a 4 stage plan to get the truck more road worthy. Since Paragon is closing down I'm going to be spending more time driving to and from the trails.

Next up is some caster correction and some more permanent frame repair.

 

[aim]

Frame repair? Rust? Traffic? Rocks?

 

[jonheld]

I noticed a small tear in the outer frame rail where the steering box mounts and a split in the weld for the front panhard mount. Both have been patched and there is no sign of movement anymore. However I want to remove the steering box and permanently repair the frame in that area.

The steering box mount is not as robust as it should be IMO and the frame rail moves slightly when you torque the wheel. Over the years the metal fatigues.

 

[IBCRUSN]

The steering box mount is not as robust as it should be IMO and the frame rail moves slightly when you torque the wheel. Over the years the metal fatigues.

Do you think it might have something to do with the 36" TSXs that you've been running for a while? Maybe it's time to step up to hydro assist, your steering gear would probably thank you.

 

[jonheld]

Hydro assist is for babies. I was gonna get rid of that power steering altogether.

 

[cruiserdan]

I noticed a small tear in the outer frame rail where the steering box mounts and a split in the weld for the front panhard mount. Both have been patched and there is no sign of movement anymore. However I want to remove the steering box and permanently repair the frame in that area.

The steering box mount is not as robust as it should be IMO and the frame rail moves slightly when you torque the wheel. Over the years the metal fatigues.

Jon I would be interested in seeing a photo of that break/repair if you have one.


D-

 

[jonheld]

Jon I would be interested in seeing a photo of that break/repair if you have one.
D-

Here's a quick shot at night. Best I could do on short notice. The welds flash-rusted over so they're easy to see. The horizontal one just below the body of the steering box was a tear in the outer frame rail. The one below that is a repair to the factory weld that opened on the panhard mount. That repair runs on all 3 sides of the mount.

The steering box is only supported by 1 wall of the frame. While the bolts appear to go through the inside rail, there are sleeves that are just tack welded from the factory to that side of the rail. It doesn't offer any real support. 2 of those tack welds were broken on mine.

 

[TiredIronGRB]

I wonder how many people are out looking at theirs.

 

[GXO]

I am not in the salt belt, no worries for me!

 

[IBCRUSN]

I'm certain the damage wasn't caused by rust, it just happens to have surface rust on it now. Kind of like the mini truck issue.

 

[-Spike-]

Hydro assist is for babies. I was gonna get rid of that power steering altogether.

LOL, I like that attitude.

-Spike

 

[jonheld]

I am not in the salt belt, no worries for me!

Dude,

This has nothing to with rust. Please read my description of what caused the cracks.

 

[cruiserdan]

I wonder how many people are out looking at theirs.

I was thinking the same thing.

I plan to ..........

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I keep that area rust free using a patented leaking top seal on the gear box.

Nice control arms, once I got beefy ones I suddenly found myself wanting to drive the thing up and down every ledge I could find just to drag the arms across it.

 

[Wrench]

Yo Jon Who did this for you? I would like mine done. They did a killer job!

 

[jonheld]

GCLC member in Jersey. He works 5 minutes from my house and dropped them in my driveway when he was fininshed with them. I lightly sanded and hit them with 2 coats of rustolium black so they look super sexy. He's a welder by trade so I don't worry about the quality of his work.

 

[concretejungle]

I wonder how many people are out looking at theirs.

just got back in.... mine's cool