i have a cracked front lower control arm The lower ball joint has popped out I sourced a set of arms to paint and rebuild but they’re not as nice as I’d like I don’t think any amount of sanding will smoth the pitting A pair of repro arms loaded with bushings and ball joints is about $350 I’m thinking of going that route. I’m sure they’re made in China. Anyone have experience with them?
Once, on a `65 GTO that got hit in the RF corner by a small SUV. It folded the original control arms and broke the ball joints. It was a hard hit, so much so that it broke both motor mounts and the engine jumped out of it's cradle and one of the bolts for the upper cross shaft popped a hole in the right side exhaust manifold. Anyway, I didn't have any decent factory control arms laying around at the time so I bought reproductions. They looked nice and they fit perfectly. After I got it back on 4 wheels so it would lot drive and hauled it to the frame shop because I assumed the frame was bent. Much to my surprise, it wasn't. I had also told him to align the front end so I wouldn't have to deal with it after the body and paint work and they told me that the left side was off more than the right but it aligned perfectly. With that experience under my belt, I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
Got an NOS LH listed. Also may have a complete set with new ball joints as well. If interested in the used set let me know and I will pull them out. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/nos-lh-lower-control-arm-68-72.254856/ Fred
Thanks Fred. I saw your ad and it is tempting for an original part. I found a coupon for year one that takes 25% off the pair. I may go that route Are your used ones nice?
They will do the job. I think originals are better but I run those and rebuilt my originals as spares.
I would wager strongly you are getting ball joints that are about 12 bucks new and the bushings will dry rot before your eyes. I'd be shocked if those were made by goodmark. If they are made by goodmark I'm not sure that's would be a positive anyway.
New joints and bushings are a given since they’re cheap. If I were to sand out smooth the ones I have for sure they’d be thinner than new. So many opinions
I would rather use the balljoint you have if its the original. The gm part even at 48 yrs old is a much higher quality compared to what they sell know.
Well I sourced some cherry originals But in the process of scuffing them for fresh paint I found they were welded / repaired in the same place mine was cracked. The guy I got them from happily refunded my money. Great guy. So I ordered some new Goodmark pieces to replace both lowers control arms from rockauto. They weighed the exact same as the originals and were the same gauge steel. They can loaded with new bushings and ball joints. Rockauto was the cheapest deal around. They installed without any issues. Pockets were very tight. I had to file a little off the center of the bushing to make the fit easier. Didn’t take much. Everything went well. And I’m back in business! Nice to have my Dad here to help too. Made my day. When I got the cracked arm off I can see why it’s cracked. Maybe it’s been cracked for a while. Someone beat the crap out of it!!