control arms...

[shelbyone]

anyone has an idea where to purchase lower control arms that are NOT made by Dorman? ( had them once, they last about a year...)

 

 

[Reaper1]

What are you needing to replace? The arm itself doesn't go bad unless you hit something.

 

Both the bushings and the ball joints are available separately.

[shelbyone]

Hey Reaper!  last time I did this, it all went south...3 different kind of balljoints from rockauto did not really fit, so I bought control arms with integrated balljoints...unfortunately from dorman..they lasted not even 2 years!!  so...I am very hesitant when it comes to standalone balljoints...

Hemi told me, that the ones for the lebaron would fit! 

[Reaper1]

Yes, parts from a LeBaron of the same year of your TC should work (except '91...I don't think '91 TC's got the cast control arms).

 

So, here's the thing, EARLY '89's *can* have the older '88-down style control arms with the rear bushing being the stub-strut type. The later '89's, 90's, and most likely '91's all would have the stamped dual pivot style. These use the same ball joints as the earlier style, but the bushings are unique to that year. Bushings for the cast control arms will NOT work in the stamped dual pivot style. 

 

The bushings can be had from polybushings.com. I *thought* I saw that MOOG had started making them as well. *WARNING*, Make SURE the metal sleeve is SHORTER than the width between the bushings by just a little!

 

As for which brand of ball joints: MOOG or OEM. NOTHING else! Again, cast control arms use a different ball joint if I remember correctly (I know they use a different sized pinch bolt). Some OEM ball joints have a small tack weld on them that must be ground off before you can press them out. 

[shelbyone]

thanks Reaper! I am still not sure which of the bushings I need...( I always thought my TC has cast control arms...) I ordere MOOG Balljoints, now need bushings..

 

look:

 

https://polybushings.com/pages/moparfwdaarm.html

 

 

I do not have these:

Edited June 27, 2021 by shelbyone (see edit history)

[Reaper1]

Ah, you updated the post! I didn't see the picture before. 

 

So the picture is the old "stub-strut" style. 

 

If your control arm are stamped like the ones in that picture, but have 2 pivots instead, then that is the ones that need the larger rear bushing and the smaller front bushing. The set for 1990 cars will work (PB1020).

Edited July 2, 2021 by Reaper1 (see edit history)

[shelbyone]

update: went for the polybushings...even after confirming 3 times, he send the wrong ones...shop needed to burn the old bushings out ( they were unable to just press them out) resulting in unbelievable labor cost...polybushings send replacement overnight, that took  from thursday to monday afternoon.

now I know why replacing the entire control arm is easier when doing it yourself and I would never have all things seperatly done again, resulting in more downtime and exceeded cost. never again...

as for performance: yes, nicer handling, more direct steering...but the price and the trouble is not worth it...

[Reaper1]

Ouch! Sorry you had that bad experience. Out of curiosity, what did he send the first time that was wrong? 

 

As for removing the old bushings, personally I have been able to press them out with just a big frigging C-clamp. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. I had a buddy that had 50/50 success. Burning them out is stinky, messy, and not fun. Still shouldn't have been more than 1 hour labor for that part.