Rear control arm is taco'ed. Need some advice.

[Skillet]

Slipped back on a rock this weekend and landed squarely on the PS rear control arm. Not horrible but definitely bent.
Is this a common occurance with the 80? I did not expect that.

Still drives fine but I am sure there will be funky wear issues if not fixed soon.

Now, the real question...

Should I repair or replace, and if I should replace, stock or man-a-fre beefy adjustables.

I did a search but all I came up with was a thread that turned into an argument about drop brakcets.

Any advice here?

 

[PHAEDRUS]

You can replace or you can rpr, find a local 4wd/fab shop and have them source some new tubing and re weld the old ends in some heavier duty tubing.
Dave

 

[WildYoats]

You can replace or you can rpr, find a local 4wd/fab shop and have them source some new tubing and re weld the old ends in some heavier duty tubing.
Dave

Speaking of which, do you know if Seth has these available yet at RL?

 

[NorCalSam]

one stop Slee Off-Road!

Yes this happens to the stock ones they look stout but are a week point. Slee makes a thicker stronger one.

 

[psfpilot]

Here's what ShottsUZJ100 did to prevent the problem. It appears to be the elegant solution: simple, strong and inexpensive.

Angle Iron Reinforcement​

 

[kennyv0826]

Here's what ShottsUZJ100 did to prevent the problem. It appears to be the elegant solution: simple, strong and inexpensive.

Angle Iron Reinforcement​

Angle iron works great and takes lots of abuse or just make a link out of thicker tubing and you'll be good to go.

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

Man-A-Fre

Have you seen these bad boys from Man-A-Fre?

http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/4plus80seriessuperhdlowercontrolarms.htm

 

[Wrench]

Have you seen these bad boys from Man-A-Fre?

http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/4plus80seriessuperhdlowercontrolarms.htm

WOW those look good. Might have to get those. Seems to help articulation.

 

[OGBeno]

I have a pair that Junk sold me and they are the Slee rear control arms with gussets welded in by the bushings.

They are beefy, thicker than OEM and I've already ounded the crap out of them and used them as sliders--literally.

Good value.
-onur
Akron, OH

 

[Mickldo]

Ditto on the angle iron gusseting. Has worked great on my truck.

 

[Skillet]

One of the fine members of this site has an extra and will be sending it my way for a small fee.

I will weld some angle iron on them and be good to go.

Anyone have a suggestion on the gauge of the angle iron?

Thanks for the good info everyone!

 

[PHAEDRUS]

slight hijack,
havent heard anything on the ones form seth, should be sometime soon.
see ya saturday Mr. Lang
Dave

 

[IBCRUSN]

flip it over and keep on wheeling. Unless you have extra $$ to spend that what I did. Once they are flatter I may go with the angle iron for the short term as you mentioned.

1/8" thick angle and the appropriate size, maybe 1"x1".

Once I have a few extra benjamin's I may go the Slee or MAF route.

 

[alvarorb]

The stock arms are not very strong. I bent mine years ago. There was someone on the 80s mailing list that used to manufacture really beefy ones. But he no longer does. I got one of his sets. What I like about them the most, besides being super strong. Is the fact that the ends are a lot bigger than stock. This helps protect the mounts.
If I find pictures at home I'll post them.

Regards

Alvaro

 

[IBCRUSN]

Somewhere I heard that the early 80's had much beefier control arms but how much so I don't recall.

 

[alvarorb]

Here are some pics of my old and new arms:

Notice how the heads of the new arms are larger. They are also 1/4" longer. That helps set a better pinion angle, when the truck has a lift.

Regards

Alvaro

 

[IBCRUSN]

Nice bendage!

Wasn't there a guy who was going to look into the possibility of making "J" rear control arms to help alleviate riding on the arms in the rocks? I can't recall who that was.

 

[Skillet]

Here are some pics of my old and new arms:

Notice how the heads of the new arms are larger. They are also 1/4" longer. That helps set a better pinion angle, when the truck has a lift.

Regards

Alvaro

Yea, good job!

That top one is nicely done.

My PS looks like the bottom one in your picture. I like the beefy ones you replaced them with.
I would like to get on some of the heavy duties but $500 is pretty spendy for rock draggers.

 

[WildYoats]

What's the easiest way to repair, removing and flatten in a BF Vice? I like the gusset idea for now (cheap and easy) and I have one bent one.

 

[alvarorb]

I think that Slee's arms are the way to go. Yes they are pricey at $400. But it's a bolt on solution that has over $100 in bushings alone. If you have the cash, I'd suggest you pony up and get them.

Regards

Alvaro

BTW: I'm not affiliated with Christo. Just a big fan of his products.