Rear upper//lower control arms

[Jeff Dodson]

Well got them ordered from Summit along with a rear Sway bar. Can you guess what I will  be doing this weekend.?

I know the upper buissghibggs are bad, I can see them. Is there any tricks or concerns I  need   too look out for.?

[Dtret]

Support the car and the diff so it does swing down and crack you in the head. Do one arm at a time. I’m assuming your new control arms come with bushings so that will eliminate pressing bushings. Watch the brake line attached to the diff too. 

[Jeff Dodson]

Yes  thank you. I knew about the supporting car and axle. I bought some BOXED so I can put the sway bar. Figured it was self explanatory.  The uppers are ones I'm more concerned for. Those bushings are bad, I can see them.... what can't figure out, I'm sure I can, are the uppers and how they attach. Like 1 end does not have attached to the arm bushings ?

[cny first gen 71]

Yea uppers are a little tricky, kinda hard to get to but do able. I'll be doing the same to mine as soon as my back is back in shape, already have control arms and sway bar and shocks too.

[Blackhawk]

1 hour ago, Jeff Dodson said:

Yes  thank you. I knew about the supporting car and axle. I bought some BOXED so I can put the sway bar. Figured it was self explanatory.  The uppers are ones I'm more concerned for. Those bushings are bad, I can see them.... what can't figure out, I'm sure I can, are the uppers and how they attach. Like 1 end does not have attached to the arm bushings ?

The bushings should be pressed into the upper arm in the front position, then the rear position is pressed into the differential ears with the arm sitting over them.

[Jeff Dodson]

11 minutes ago, Blackhawk said:

The bushings should be pressed into the upper arm in the front position, then the rear position is pressed into the differential ears with the arm sitting over them.

Thank you.... they won't be in until tomorrow so I havnt even seen them yet. I'm not sure if they are coming with the new bushings. I hope so, but didn't show in the picture when I ordered them

[Jeff Dodson]

24 minutes ago, cny first gen 71 said:

Yea uppers are a little tricky, kinda hard to get to but do able. I'll be doing the same to mine as soon as my back is back in shape, already have control arms and sway bar and shocks too.

I have the shocks on there already. I bought the Spring assisted shocks. Im not a fan of AIR SHOCKS.... 

[Marks71]

I bought the Ride Tech tool through Amazon to R+R the bushings. Most of the arms I’ve seen have come with bushings, but you will still need to R+R the 2 in the ears of the rear end. 

[Jeff Dodson]

7 hours ago, Marks71 said:

I bought the Ride Tech tool through Amazon to R+R the bushings. Most of the arms I’ve seen have come with bushings, but you will still need to R+R the 2 in the ears of the rear end. 

Thank you

[420ponies]

When you get the car off the ground , you should do all 4 corners with jack stands.Or if you have a lift it will be easier. If only jack stands, lift the front up at least 4  clicks on a the front stands, then the rear the same. Support the frame on jack stands, this way you're going to have more room underneath to move around in, that way your rear axle can come down as far as needed for the uppers. I use 3 jack stands on the axle, one each side,  and 1 on front side of differential housing. I also remove drive shaft from housing ( wire it/ strap it out of the way). The brake line hose should give you enough room to get to the uppers. Really thinking back , mine popped out with a large socket. I think I did the same going back in, not much press fit as I thought they would be. My new uppers from UMI Performance were aluminium bushings. Do side at a time, ( lowers ). This way you will have better control of the rear axle housing. You're going to like the difference it makes, trust me. I'd like to see the end results here on the forum.😊

[Jeff Dodson]

3 hours ago, 420ponies said:

When you get the car off the ground , you should do all 4 corners with jack stands.Or if you have a lift it will be easier. If only jack stands, lift the front up at least 4  clicks on a the front stands, then the rear the same. Support the frame on jack stands, this way you're going to have more room underneath to move around in, that way your rear axle can come down as far as needed for the uppers. I use 3 jack stands on the axle, one each side,  and 1 on front side of differential housing. I also remove drive shaft from housing ( wire it/ strap it out of the way). The brake line hose should give you enough room to get to the uppers. Really thinking back , mine popped out with a large socket. I think I did the same going back in, not much press fit as I thought they would be. My new uppers from UMI Performance were aluminium bushings. Do side at a time, ( lowers ). This way you will have better control of the rear axle housing. You're going to like the difference it makes, trust me. I'd like to see the end results here on the forum.😊

Will do... I am also putting a sway bar

[Marks71]

On 10/1/2024 at 7:19 PM, Jeff Dodson said:

Will do... I am also putting a sway bar

When installing the sway bar, it should fit perfectly between the trailing arms, no gaps. If there is a gap, shims are available, because you don’t want to use the bolts to pull it tight to the arms. This will only put unnecessary stress on the arms.

[Jeff Dodson]

57 minutes ago, Marks71 said:

When installing the sway bar, it should fit perfectly between the trailing arms, no gaps. If there is a gap, shims are available, because you don’t want to use the bolts to pull it tight to the arms. This will only put unnecessary stress on the arms.

Oh yes, that makes perfect t sense.  They need to move with the arm... 1 question... the 2 mounting holes.  Closer to the front of the trailing arm or or the rear... 

[Marks71]

Closer to the rear

[Jeff Dodson]

Thank you. I will probably get to them tomorrow.  The set I bought came with the upper control arms, but not the bushings on the differential side. I can get to those at a later date

[Marks71]

That’s interesting that they didn’t supply those bushings.Are your arms coming with rubber or polyurethane bushings?

[Jeff Dodson]

3 hours ago, Marks71 said:

That’s interesting that they didn’t supply those bushings.Are your arms coming with rubber or polyurethane bushings?

Polyurethane.... I prefer Polyurethane. I built an 85 C10. Had the whole kit, front,  rear, body... everything... although I probably won't do that to a truck again,  it drove like a stiff sports car.

 

One more question.  Does the sway bat attach to the differential ? I have never  installed a rear sway bar and it did not come with bolts or brackets for  it to mount to the differential 

[Dtret]

5 hours ago, Jeff Dodson said:

One more question.  Does the sway bat attach to the differential ? I have never  installed a rear sway bar and it did not come with bolts or brackets for  it to mount to the differential 

No. Just to the lower arms

[Jeff Dodson]

42 minutes ago, Dtret said:

No. Just to the lower arms

That's what I was thinking. 

Thank you 

[Jeff Dodson]

Just finished the lowers and the sway bar. MAN OH MAN...if your contemplating this, DO IT.  It takes all play and sway out of the car. This thing drives like a DREAM... 

Still need to do the uppers, havnt ordered the bushings that go on the differential yet, but I'm fixing to. I think I'm going to have to get someone to do them. I don't have a lift and I can't move around under there like that. 

[420ponies]

Told you so. Great to see this upgrade done on your Monte! Glad we could help.😊

[Jeff Dodson]

It was surprisingly easy to do as well. Of course they are solid, so I had to get both loose then lift the differential up so the holes would line up and the arm would fit into the pocket.... 

[Jeff Dodson]

Well, I got the uppers done today. Wasn't too bad, but I had to remove the sway bar and disconnect the lowers control arms just to get the Springs back in. Then everything went back together fine... I may have stretched the rear brake line before I saw it. I'll see when I bleed the brakes.

As far as ride and driveability.... it's absolutely great. The whole rear is stabilized. I also found that I do have a 12 bolt rear. Now thinking about gears. I'm thinking some to give it GRUNT... I'm a bigger fan of TORQUE than Horsepower...

[72 Monte Carlo]

Jim and Jeff,

Did you install the adjustable or non-adjustable style control arms?

[Jeff Dodson]

Non-adjustable on mine.