Lower Control Pivot Shaft

[cairopd1069]

How do you remove the lower control arm pivot shaft? I'm replacing all the ball joints and bushing and I can not figure out how to get the pivot shaft out. Knowing my luck, it's probably simple!! LOL! Do I need to replace the pivot shafts or just the bushings?

 

[Cranky]

You use a pin to press through the control arm. The rubber etc will stay in the arm and then you have to jack with that. If the bushing isn't totally wasted, the shaft will still be good. Also, the sleeves will stay in the CA and on the shaft. Again, you have to jack with them to get them off. It's been awhile but used to be that you needed the stock sleeves to stay in place if you use poly bushings but not for stock ones.

 

[1970GTX]

correct, the inner and outer sleeves are retained for poly bushings. The inner sleeve left on the pivot shaft, can be removed by the chisel method, The outer sleeve left behind in the control arm can easily be removed using a great little tool I got from Mancini Racing. Their set of suspension tools is money well spent for doing front end work. http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/frsuto.html
Good article here about rebuilding LCAs
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/tipstricks/155_0306_control_arms/

 

[tallhair]

I saw a youtube video or two showing how to get them out. You can also give that a shot. I'll see if I can find it later

 

[cairopd1069]

1970GTX, that is a great article!!! The photos make it easy to understand.

 

[1970GTX]

I did the stiffening plates on mine. Our friends at PST have an article about them in their forum here.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?49082-PST-s-Stiffening-Plates-Install

 

[tallhair]

I'm getting ready to do mine or have them done

[video=youtube;Nwes-SP8u4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwes-SP8u4w[/video]

 

[1970GTX]

a local shop owner here who is also a circle track racer (chevy) , looked at these LCAs on my car and was amazed at how flimsy they looked. Consider that they hold the torsion bar, lower balljoint/steering arm, shock absorber, strut rod and sway bar. That adds up to a ton of stress in all different directions. Some of the forces act to offset each other. I figure the stiffening plates are a no brainer for $25.

 

[cairopd1069]

Thanks to help from the forum members, I got the pivot shafts and bushing out today!! Thanks to all!!

 

[tallhair]

What method did you use? Burn out the rubber and use a chisel?

 

[cairopd1069]

Used a press to press the pivot shaft out and then used a flat head screwdriver and pliers to pull out the old bushing. Came out easy. I don't have the new bushing, so I did not mess with the outer metal sleeve. I don't know if the new one will come with a metal sleeve on the outside.

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Used a press to press the pivot shaft out and then used a flat head screwdriver and pliers to pull out the old bushing. Came out easy. I don't have the new bushing, so I did not mess with the outer metal sleeve. I don't know if the new one will come with a metal sleeve on the outside.

If using factory style rubber bushings it will come with metal sleeve. Do you have a welder? Find a washer that fits inside diameter of the old sleeve and then you can put it in the press and press against the washer to get it out.

 

[cairopd1069]

Thanks for the info, yes I'm ordering factory style bushings so I will have to take the sleeve out. The washer trick should work great!

 

[Cranky]

a local shop owner here who is also a circle track racer (chevy) , looked at these LCAs on my car and was amazed at how flimsy they looked. Consider that they hold the torsion bar, lower balljoint/steering arm, shock absorber, strut rod and sway bar. That adds up to a ton of stress in all different directions. Some of the forces act to offset each other. I figure the stiffening plates are a no brainer for $25.

Yeah, they look flimsy when compared to the GM stuff but then you need to look at how the GM is set up. With GM's setup, they need that heavy assed control arm partly due to the fact there's no struts to keep them from getting pushed back when hard on the brakes or running through a pot hole. I like the design of the Chrysler system better because not only does it work, it's also lighter.