Rear upper control arm upgrade

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LandCruiserPhil

LandCruiserPhil

Peter Pan Syndrome
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Recently our IH8MUD leader broke a rear upper control arm on Hells Gate. It started me think I have been up there wonder if its an upgrade I should consider. Metal Tech makes some nice units but Im not a fan of mechanical joints and too cheap to pay $250. I had an extra set of low mileage lowers donated to my pile of used parts by Saddletramp. In the past I upgraded my lowers by sleeveing them with larger tube so I measured up the rear uppers.
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The find would be a piece of 1.25” DOM ,095 wall, it looked like a great fit.

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Rounded up all the needed parts together

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Cut and drilled for rosettes and prepped everything ready to assemble

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Welded everything up, ground down the rosette welds, and pressed in the bushing


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Noticeably bigger:)
 
The finished uppers painted and ready for install

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Old uppers came out easy and the new versions bolted right in.

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I went to inspect my old uppers with 150K

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I ready glad I went with the upgrade. Along with being twice as thick as the old uppers, the old bushing had seen better times.

Using this method for upgrading is easy and low cost if you have the tools required. The material needed is 3’ of DOM tubing at about ~$5
 
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I have extra lowers and an upper, for sale! :D

Looks good though. One of my uppers was bent, on a stock rig, don't think it'd ever been wheeled either.

Definitely the way to go.
 
No go on using Slee's adjustables?

You're making me think that when I actually install mine, maybe I should upgrade the DOM while I'm at it...
 
NLXTACY said:
Solid, not tube. Much larger ends using OEM bushings. Only slightly more than $5 :flipoff2: but a whole lot less labor ;)
Click to expand...

Solid would be stronger, larger ends dont do anything for me:meh: I have a bout 1.5 hours in fab time and only get paid $10/hr at work.

Math question - How many hours of work would LCP need to do to purchase LandTank upper arms?
 
CruiseOrlando said:
No go on using Slee's adjustables?

You're making me think that when I actually install mine, maybe I should upgrade the DOM while I'm at it...
Click to expand...

Would of been a great time to adjust the length but Im right where my pinion needs to be now. In the past I had adjustable uppers and had a problem with the jam nuts constantly coming loose.

Woody's broke where the end and the tube connected(looks like at the factory weld). Now I have where the factory attachment was welded and the new tube welded over and to the bushing holder.... maybe even more better :hillbilly:

I dont think DOM makes that much difference just what I found:meh:
 
My arms were a custom order part. I can't even remember the cost to be able to run the math at 10.00 per hour.

Most things I make is because my time is better suited spent on earning money. So my hobby is more on the design side that fabrication.

Kudos to those who have the skill and time to fab their own stuff.
 
great writeup phil! I am going to do this to my lowers and uppers. Do you have a link to your lowers write up? did you sleeve the lowers the same way? ie: cut them in half then sleeve?

for clarification, the uppers require 3 feet of 1.25” DOM ,095 wall. Is the size pipe the same for the lowers? if so, I am thinking I will just order a 10 foot section from pat at summit steel.

I need to order new oem bushings, so might as well do this while I am putting them in.

Noah
 
^^^ kind of what I was thinking - I have the LCA's on my to-do list, and this would be a fine time to do it... if it makes sense...
 
1973Guppie said:
great writeup phil! I am going to do this to my lowers and uppers. Do you have a link to your lowers write up? did you sleeve the lowers the same way? ie: cut them in half then sleeve?

for clarification, the uppers require 3 feet of 1.25” DOM ,095 wall. Is the size pipe the same for the lowers? if so, I am thinking I will just order a 10 foot section from pat at summit steel.

I need to order new oem bushings, so might as well do this while I am putting them in.

Noah
Click to expand...

Lowers:
Reader Digest version
http://www.copperstatecruisers.com/rear-lower-control-arms-mod.html

Full version
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rear-lower-control-arms-mod-80-series.451110/


After 2+ years on the lowers, if I bend them I'm having much bigger problems elsewhere
 
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The lower control arms are a bigger size and longer, you will need 4'2" of 1 3/4" - 3/16" wall either DOM or 4130 chromemoly tube. I just went this route on my lowers and added 7/16" in length (for my 3 1/2" lift) my uppers I used Slee's adjusters so I did not sleeve the uppers.
 
Lcp in third person .....

Nice mod. I think you got lowers and uppers mixed up in your posts above. Did you scallop the ends of the sleeve tube to match the bushing holder radius? i know you said you welded a to b to c. Just curious since you said thats where woody's failed. Seems it wouldn't matter if you beefed up the tube if the weld was the fail point.
 
jfz80 said:
Lcp in third person .....

Nice mod. I think you got lowers and uppers mixed up in your posts above. Did you scallop the ends of the sleeve tube to match the bushing holder radius? i know you said you welded a to b to c. Just curious since you said thats where woody's failed. Seems it wouldn't matter if you beefed up the tube if the weld was the fail point.
Click to expand...

Yes you are correct, edited

Not a certified welder I do weld:eek: not sure on your terminology, scallop.

Woodys upper appeared to have broke where the tube meets the weld. On mine the new tube is tight against the factory weld. When i welded the end I tried to carry my weld from the tube to the bushing holder the best that I could. I feel comfortable the ends are stronger then they were but how strong time will tell.

On my lowers I was not concerned with where the tube meets the bushing holder. My intent was the strengthen the arm to keep from bending.
 
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I'm still pondering the whole $10 bucks an hour thing :confused:




....nice upgrades Phil!
 
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