So anyone ever had a broken lower a-arm? My right front broke on me tonight right around the lower ball joint. Thank God I wasn't on the freeway. i was backing up into my parking spot. Any recomendations as to what to replace it with, used or aftermarket? Its a 65 chevelle. Has anyone else had a problem like this and is it common?

thanks
josh

From what I understand, it's not necessarily common but not unheard of either. There are aftermarket options, Global West, I think. You could look for a used original one and then beef it up with a brace kit.There is a plate to weld onto the bottom of the A-arm and I think a strap that wraps the outer edge of the ball joint. Do a search hear and you'll find some info on it.
Or if your's isn't too bad, you could maybe fix it and then do the brace kit.

Jeff

Wow! Glad it didn't break at a worse time for you!

I'm upgrading the suspension on my LeMans and am using Hotchkis upper arms and I ordered the following pieces to strengthen the lowers (to avoid the same problem you had):

http://home.comcast.net/~petelohr/einstyn1/einstyn-09.htm

Clint Hooper is the one who recommended them to me. I haven't installed them yet, but it seemed like cheap insurance.

We designed our braces for our lowers very simular to what Pete offers. We also used Pete's Armor Coated Hardware thruout. Check it out.

graemlins/thumbsup.gif

well thanks for the kind words guys.
the control mod is not for inproving handling it is to prevert this:
http://chevelles.com/showroom/FO_FDYFO/itsbroke3.jpg
also the hardened stainless hardware is more brittle then grade 8 also Normally stainless is great! but here is a unique situation. Suspension bolts are exposed to road salt, more so then say engine bolts or interior applications. Here is the problem with stainless steel when pressed together with anything causes an airtight surface on the stainless. Such as the space between the bolt and a washer or the space between threads. In this air-deprived region especially when chlorides are present, the stainless is not allowed to produce its protective layer of naturally occurring oxide. Then the chlorides attack the stainless steel causing pitting. This does not take the form of rust and this is not noticeable because you can not see it until the torque is reduces because of the loss of material then the bolts work loose. Stainless is not the way to go in an environment where it is common to use road salt period.