Team Chevelle banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

How lucky was I(broken lower control arm)?

Jump to Latest
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
J

jb68malibu

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Two weeks ago I had gotten my chevelle small block to big block conversion completed. I had driven the car about 20 miles with no issues until I had asked the wife if she wanted to go for her first ride with the new big block added. We went about a mile down the road and done a pretty good size burnout, everything was okay until I had pulled into someone's driveway and backed up to do a turn-around. As I was backing out into the road, we had felt the passenger side front end hit the ground and dragged. Long story short, the lower control arm broke, luckily there was no damaged to the front fender or wheel and I was able to find someone that had an extra control arm. Small part of the crack was clean like it was partially broke for years until the new B.B. springs and the weight of the big block was added and then finished break occurred. Glad the break didn't occur while cruising down the road.



 
#3 ·
These cars are nearing 50 years old now. It's a good idea to inspect the steering and suspension on a regular basis. I'm going to try and go over mine this weekend. Kinda foolish to run 110-111 at the dragstrip unless you take care of maintenance.
 
#4 ·
Dang, you could have done much worse. I get them in my shop all the time, but they are 92-06 Crown Vics and Gran Marquis. These things are forever breaking lower A Arms.

Any damage besides a few scrapes and dirty underwear?
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Luckily with the sway bar and huge headers laying on the ground that kept the wheel and tire from pushing more up on the fender. My mechanic said the balljoint was still good and the newer shock was also. Next project will be changing all front end parts over to Moog.
 
#8 ·
Andy's Auto Repair said:
Dang, you could have done much worse. I get them in my shop all the time, but they are 92-06 Crown Vics and Gran Marquis. These things are forever breaking lower A Arms.
Click to expand...
Horsechit-MickeyMouse-Bullchit design
Same with the crappy ball joints on the 93-97 T-Birds

Had to replace the arms and ball joints on my 50,000mi Crown Vic.
WAAAAY too short a life for the ball joints on a strictly hiway driven car.
But--they did start making noise so I was warned.

As for the 'Bird----had a lower joint give way with no warning whatsoever on the freeway at about 75mph----whole new meaning to "Drive The Wheels Off"

Kinda hard to steer and brake a 3 legged 'Bird across 3 lanes of traffic.
And then to top things off----more damage to the front end by the wrecker---not really his fault, I could see no other way of loading the car either.

would be nice if we could give these a shot of grease occaisionally.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#11 · (Edited)
Makes me wonder, even if my arms look fine for now, should I install one of Pete Lohr's (FO_FDYFO) $45 reinforcement kits (or try to fab something myself)? A proactive measure.


I keep going back and forth... Got the tubular lowers, but then worried about "China crap"... Then a few members said those arms were fine, and Bill (BillsCamino) said he even had the arms/welds inspected by an airframe/aerospace company (?) where he used to work...

So I'm good to go...

Then last week there was a post
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=427266 about the new Ball joints snapping (the BJs included with those arms)... So now I am debating replacing the BJs (with Dana/Spicers?) or the new Arms completely, and just having my stock arms rebuilt with good quality parts (maybe by Glenn Lever)...

And now this (again)...

Even If my arms are blasted clean and inspected, it doesn't mean that cracks will not form in the 45+ year old metal...

Its giving me a headache...
 
#12 ·
After sandblasting, I too found cracks in my 66 A frames in the same places.

I carefully welded the cracks, and bead blasted the surfaces after welding.

I strongly advise all 60's Chevelle owners a ESPECIALLY BB cars - to examine this area on their cars. A failure at highway speed would be catastrophic.

keith
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#13 ·
Glenn Lever. get decent stuff built right. Or, graduate directly to UMI tubular.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#14 ·
JWagner said:
Mine broke in the same manner. I was backing out of a parking place and heard a clunk. I pulled forward into the space and the front end dropped. All at about 2 mph. I would rather be lucky than smart.
Click to expand...
Mine did the exact same thing backing out of a parking space about 6 years ago. I replaced the damaged one a week or so later. A couple months after that I replaced all 4 with rebuilt ones.
James
 
#15 ·
Originally i had planned to clean up my stock lowers install new ball joints but reading threads where they broke on others i ended up getting tubulars from UMI because in the end i do not want to die to save some money.
 
#16 ·
Ball joint oversizeRe: How lucky was I(broken lower control arm)?

nothing about it in 1971 factory manual or replacement ball joint instructions--replacements are 1/64 inch oversize and press in very hard. Oversize, I believe in case years have wallered out the original bores some. Might be a good idea to ream some out if not. Might be a good idea if someone in the business would provide an interference fit spec.
 
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
About this Discussion
15 Replies
15 Participants
Last post:
dogsridewith
Team Chevelle
posts
5.3M
members
131K
Since
1998
A forum community dedicated to Chevrolet Chevelle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restorations, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Bench Racing Performance Engine Chevelle Tech Body Shop