Custom Tubular Lower Control Arm?

[SSTuner]

I purchased these custom control arms of eBay for my 1996 Impala SS a while back. After recieving my replacement ball joints,I went to pre-fitting them before getting the arm powdercoated I noticed that the diameter of my balljoints(S-10 and B-Body lower ball joints are the same) is smaller in diameter. The diameter of the hole in the control arm is 2.14"/54.61mm, the outside diameter of the lower ball joint is 2.09"/53.13mm.

Does anyone have spec sheets/cad for ball joint?

[SSTuner]

The press-in Moog K-6141 may work in the lower control arm as it measures 2.190 OD. But the problem now is that its a 5/8 taper shaft vs my 9/16 OEM one.

Would it be feasable to ream my OEM spindle to accept the K-6141?

[exwestracer]

The 2.19 will be too much press fit unless you open the hole up a little.

Just my opinion, but I'm not in love with how far the hole sits out from the ends of the tubes.... How thick is that plate?

[SSTuner]

How thick is that plate?

I will get the thickness of the plate in a few.

[SSTuner]

I went out and measured the plate thickness. It measures at 0.501

[UMI Tech]

Also, can you send a pic of the entire arm? I'm curious.

thanks

ramey

[MyFriendScott]

Maybe write the guy who makes/sells them and ask which ball joint was used to determine the ID of the arm?

[SSTuner]

Check here for control arm pictures:

https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...581#post872581

If you need better photos let me know and I can upload them tonight.

[carguykeith]

Ummm I would double check at least the thickness measurement, no way that's 1/2" plate maybe 3/16" (.1875) but 1/8" (.125) wouldn't surprise me.

[exwestracer]

Most of the lower arms you see out there have some sort of reinforcement out closer to the ball joint (like your upper arms). If it is 1/2" (!) it might be strong enough. That is one hell of a hinge point with all the corner weight pressing against that narrow piece of flat metal...

[SSTuner]

I will recheck the measurement.

Just to clarify, you want me to measure the thickness as shown it the "red" circle?

[carguykeith]

I will recheck the measurement.

Just to clarify, you want me to measure the thickness as shown it the "red" circle?

Ok I think you are measuring what I would call width here, I'm not as concerned with the distance between the concentric circles but that actual plate thickness. Though in this picture it does look thicker than the others... I'm still guessing 3/16" but even if it's 1/4" I would want some gusseting, flat plate just doesn't resist bending very well.

Oh and you can get a reamer for your spindle pretty cheap from circle track suppliers, that's what I would do.

[astroracer]

Looks pretty thick to me. It may be good to provide some gusseting back to the tubing. Like Ray said a lot of load goes through that narrow section.
This is what I did when i\I designed and built the LCA's for the van.

I used a lower ball stud cup from A & A engineering that fits the 6141 LBJ and plated it back to the tubes. The joint you are using is actually "borrowed" from the astro van application. The wagons and police cars were breaking the 1/2 inch studs so they up-sized them to the 5/8ths inch Astro LBJ.
Mark

[SSTuner]

Ray and Mark, I am going to take your suggestion and weld in additional gusseting/bracing as soon as I get the ball joint issue squared away.

[astroracer]

If you are running actual stock SS spindles they should already have the 5/8ths ball stud. That was a running change as far as I know for the wagons, police and SS cars.
Mark

[SSTuner]

The 9c1 and wagons got the 5/8 upgrade while the SS stayed with the 9/16 ones. This included the control arms and spindles. Not sure why the SS didn't go that way.

[astroracer]

Get yourself some wagon or Astro front spindles. In fact... I have some astro spindles I just yanked out of the van. Need some cleaning but you could have them for 50 bucks and shipping...
Mark

[exwestracer]

Mark, where does the spring load your LCAs?

SS Tuner...at this point reaming the spindles to the bigger ball joints might be your best option. Trying to open that hole up and keep it round and concentric is going to get tricky...

[astroracer]

[QUOTE=exwestracer;876135]Mark, where does the spring load your LCAs?[QUOTE]
Vari-Shock coil-overs.... The pic you see doesn't have the shock mounts installed yet.

[silver69camaro]

IMO that design isn't suitable for the weight of your vehicle.