Oval bushings on lower A arms
 

Saw a tool from ridetech for pressing out and in bushings for a 70 A body. The oval bushings,,,,anyone have a tool to press those in? Or…. I’ve seen like rest oparts makes upper and lower A Arms with bushings and ball joints for like 140.00 a piece. My original A arms do have a little pitting from over the years but obviously cosmetic. I just don’t know the quality of these aftermarket A arms as far as steel quality and are they engineered exactly like gum did? Don’t need the angles all off.

Not oval bushings but I did that job in my Firebird, and it sucked. $140 to bolt new ones in would start to look pretty darned attractive.

When I did mine the guy at the alignment shop had said he would do it with the alignment for $300. When I was done I thought to myself I probably would have happily paid him $500. We all have jobs we hate I guess, and that’s one I would absolutely let someone else do for money.

Even getting the, back in the car can be a pain because the mounting ears squeeze together from being bolted in for decades

Even getting the, back in the car can be a pain because the mounting ears squeeze together from being bolted in for decades

For my IA Camaro I used some all thread and washers and nuts to gently spread them for the same reason.

Not a fan of the OEM style repro A arms, the set I ordered were a mess. So much of a mess that I sent them back and restored the originals. Thinner metal, wrong angle for the ball joint, missing various aspects of the OEM arms that add strength.

Seems like I heard of someone doing a service of restoring your OEM arms.

Lever Family Racing used to restore control arms but have since retired from my understanding.

I did the same exact thing. I made a thread about on here it and showed some pictures and got harangued about possibly cracking the mounting ears.

I stand by my statement that this is a job I would happily pay a shop to do if the price was right. Just because it sucked, and coil springs activate my anxiety anyway. I looked at that Ridetech tool, its very nice but you would be well on your way to having a shop do it at the price they want for it.

If I were to give more advice about doing it yourself, I would say getting the mounting ears dead clean helps a lot. Its such a tight fit, and if you use urethane like I did it doesn't compress at all. You need every fraction of space you can get, so there cant be any built up road grime left in the way. using rubber might make it a little easier because it will compress a little.

I did them on my 72 GTO, used a press, and a large impact socket to keep the control arm from squeezing together. Still not fun.

On install, if it doesn't get pressed square/straight, you may have an issue on the inside of the joint shell lining up with the 2nd opening. C-clamp helps if it's too wide. If too close together you can keep pressing the bushing in until it gets closer to lining up, then whack it with a hammer to start it. Then C-clamp on the outside to press rest of way.

You can burn the rubber out of them and collapse the shell, but the heat can cause integrity issues.

The OE control arms after years of service, or even sitting, are questionable from an integrity standpoint to begin with, I personally don't trust them. If it's an OE type resto and you don't beat on it you should be better off, but still don't trust them.

It sux when the ball joint is loose in the arm too, pretty common. The 'saver' type ball joints are a little larger to help with that, but if it's cracked, it will just crack more.

Then you have to check for cracks in other areas, and even then, back in service for a period of time and they can still crack.

The repops are 'good', I've held them in my hand, and 'appear' like the originals. The ones I saw were round bushings, but that might not be a bad thing. I would still trust them more than a used set.

I suggest replacing the repops' ball joints though, unless they specifically say Moog on them. (I don't think they do).

Honestly, if it's not going to be judged just use tubulars. They are better in all aspects except for OE look.



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This is true, and you can smear a little assembly lube on them to help.

They go in easier at a specific angle, which is outside it's normal operating range. Like, jack the thing way up, slide the ends in the tabs with the control arm pointing as far down as possible, and you can use a dead-blow to whack at the ball joint area. (And wherever else needed). It's usually tight towards the outside of the tabs, so sliding it in more from the bottom get around that. Some.


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If 1967 is same as 1970:

Did my 1967 GTO A Arms a long time ago so a bit fuzzy on installation. I made a homemade oval press tool by smashing a round steel pipe with a 20 ton press. Then dipped the press side into liquid plasticote rubber just to protect the A arm from being steel on steel. The receiver side has to be supported which is not easy. Not for the faint of heart but I can loan you the oval steel pipe if you have a large press and want to experiment. It is a bit heavy but USPS flat rate box has an 80 pound limit...fairly cheap to ship back and forth to you in Maine. Not certain but I might have also used the help of a rental/loaner press kit from the local auto parts store. Maybe they even have the oval pipe in different sizes nowadays?

I too bought a set of repro A arms once but elected to do the originals. I still have the repros and you can have them for free if you ever visit the Los Angeles area!

After thinking about the different ways to go here I took a look at my original A arms again. My theme has been to keep the car stock looking so tubular an arms are not what I want for a look. My originals are quite rough looking from pitting. So I elected to buy new a arms from restoparts opg. They have the oval/ round rubber bushings in them already with ball joints. Not sure the quality on these arms exactly but I’ve bought some restoparts stuff before and compared them to other aftermarket companies and their stuff looked better. I did consider buying a harbor freight press but just figured I’d get a better looking A arm and the bushings are already installed. Hopefully the quality will be good. Spent more money than I had intended which is the way it usually goes. The arms will be here next week. If everything looks ok I will put them in myself in the spring when it warms back up. I replaced front coil springs on my old drag car back in the day so I feel ok about doing it myself.

I do now have a set of energy suspensions poly bushings I got off eBay that will probably sit around until I sell them or whatever.

I received the restopart a arms. The part # sticker on the a arm itself comes back as a dynacorn part. Also on the restopart website it shows the pic of the lower a arm with oval bushings and says it has oval bushings. The ones I got were all round bushings. I thought restopart was their own thing?

So maybe the ones I saw then are because they only make round bushing ones. Interesting.

It was years ago so I honestly can't remember.


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I talked to opg… told them if I wanted dynacorn stuff I could buy the uppers and lowers for 395.00 elsewhere . They might refund me or they might want them back.. whatever they want to do. I payed like 538.00. I’m sure there’s only a few or maybe one place stamping these out. From what I read there’s really no difference between the ones with oval or ones that are all round.

I don't believe there is a difference between round or oval bushing arms, completely interchangeable, and no functional difference.

I think AMD makes the arms as well, but could be mistaken.

I'm not a fan of OPG, lots of stuff I have found are chevy-specific that's list for GTO/LeMans. And I have also received incorrect shipments.

I would imagine you could send them back for a refund, I don't believe they will issue the difference in cost unless they have a price guarantee.


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I found some online dynacorn.. exact same thing I have now for 390.00. They said if I want to keep them they would reimburse me 148.00. . I said yes so I’m keeping them I guess. I’d bet if I sent them back and went with a different vendor I’d end up with something that isn’t any better than these. Not saying these dynacorn are junk,, I have no idea. Metal thickness looks the same as oem and visually they look ok. The bushings and ball joints I have no idea of quality. You never know… I still might look for oem arms that are pit free and refurbish them. What I don’t like about used ones is that they might be tweaked from an accident and wouldn’t know until they’re in the car and I’m trying to get a front end alignment.
Either they’re out of restopart Aarms and selling dynacorn instead or there never was a restopart specific A arm… I have no idea.

Glad they are refunding some money, would say that's pretty good customer service there.

Dynacorn is pretty good stuff in general, but have to check everything regardless. I would think they are safe to use, but would still look had at the ball joints.

Probably re-branded, OPG does that a lot, as does many vendors.


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Yeah they weren’t trying to hide it really… the sticker on the a arm is a dynacorn number. I guess if I had never googled that number I would of never known. The top a arms didn’t have a sticker at all . If you google the part # on the bag it comes back as a no name brand. Whatever I guess.

Here is why I didn't use the repop control arms.

Ball joint angle is WAY off, depth of stamping on the ball joint mounting area is way more shallow. Thickness of the metal was on average thinner.

Ended up patching and restoring the originals.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...3&d=1734675458

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...4&d=1734675464

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...5&d=1734675488

How long ago were those pics/comparison done?


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I did a search and came up with an old thread that you posted in. It’s in the street section now. I’m now questioning if these are going to fit.

I still say it's important to check, and those examples are from 12+ years ago. I know folks in the chevelle and other forums have beat the subject to death, and results are all over the board.

I recall a few brands listing the same part number crossing multiple makes/models, and that I question. I think the A body ones now are better than the original offerings.

dataway - Which brand are those?


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Before I jump to any conclusions and send these back I’m going to pull one side apart and do a comparison and also see if they will even fit. I’ve got 8 5/8” between the bushings on the new LCA. From the thread that’s in the street section now that’s not a good measurement to have.

Those pieces were the one sold by Ames about the time the original post was made. I sent the photos to Ames and they took them back no problem.

No idea if they are any better these days.

Pretty easy to check them, lay them both on something flat and see where things point. There are numerous things that needed to be corrected besides the ball joint mount, the whole stamping was inferior in design to OEM.

Curious what they are producing now.

When I get the oem side out I’ll post some pics of comparisons .

I think the bushings are done with. Drivers side.
I haven’t taken the spindel off the old lower control arm yet so I can’t do a side by side yet but the new lower went right in the frame brackets by just pushing on it,,, didn’t force it at all.

All the teeth are worn off the bushing sleeve(s), so suspect you had that 'floating/wandering' feel while driving. Yeah, those things are done.

Very interested in seeing a side by side comparison.



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Curious… the teeth I see on bushings,,, I’ve only seen them on the top a arm. Is there supposed to be some on the lca bushings? The pics are of lca only.

Honestly, it's been so long since I've looked at a LCA bushing, I'm not sure. I thought there is, but could be wrong.

Those LCA bushings are toast regardless.


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To get a somewhat accurate comparison the control arms need to be parallel with each other that’s why I propped up the bushing end. Seems like the ball joint angle is close to each other but not identical. The different contours throw off the visual. I tried the old on top and then the new on top.

If I do use the new arms do you think just go with the rubber bushings that are in it or use the energy suspension poly that I have? The poly bushings are .02 longer and fit good in the frame pocket, I don't know the quality of the rubber ones.. there's no manufacturer on them.

I know personally, I would swap the ball joint. When it comes to the bushings, I would swap them too, and would use poly.

I wouldn't trust the bushings and ball joints, maybe that's just me, but would feel a more comfortable knowing what is in use.

It's hard to tell by looking at two items with the naked eye what's different between two items. Even if there is a visual difference, they make function the same in use. Or for that matter, may even be improved.

One way to tell about the arms geometry would be to have both 3D scanned. That would tell you exactly what is different between the two.

You can search it, there should be 3D scanning services around where you live. They are all over the place around me.

Me being more performance oriented, and not care about OE look, wouldn't even consider using OE type arms. They flex and tubular replacements are fairly inexpensive, providing near zero flex with better geometry. But understand when people want the OE look.

So I may not be the best person to ask. Just sharing my opinion that may help others.


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Looks like they have improved the depth of the stamping in the ball joint mounting area. They are off in the same direction as mine were, but to a lesser extent. I'd check the thickness of the material too. The originals are pretty beefy and probably difficult to stamp in that thickness.
It would be nice if you could assume that the steel is a bit better 50 years later and so they could be made a tad thinner, but my guess is the Chinese metal isn't as good as what was used by GM 50+ years ago.

In this image of the your new/old and my new/old .... looks like considerable improvements have been made in the repops. Mine might have been an anomaly but you can see it was way off.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...4&d=1735105390

If you pick them up you can tell the aftermarket one is the same or actually heavier in weight than the oem one.

If the tilt provides more caster than original, then that technically would be an improvement.



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If that was the case I’d feel better about keeping them .Unfortunately I don’t have a clue.Still on the fence about looking for oem ones to restore. I’d use my originals but they’re pitted pretty bad and I’d hate to go through all this work to put those ugly things back in.I have new pro forged ball joints coming. The aftermarket ball joint does still seem to lean to the left compared to stock

I'm not an alignment expert but I think you'd have to change the POSITION of the ball joint to change caster, not the ANGLE. Since the ball joint stem moves the angle it's mounted wouldn't change much about the alignment I wouldn't think.

I took the ball joint angle as a sign of quality (or lack there of) and attention to detail in the repop.

I sweated the decision just like you, specially since I had hacked mine up many years prior. In the long run I felt better about using OEM pieces in such a critical location. If you can return them that adds some flexibility to your decision. There should be tons of rust free examples out there.

A quick search turned this up:

"Some lower ball joints are angled to optimize suspension geometry and maintain proper alignment throughout the suspension travel, particularly on vehicles with specific suspension designs or when lowered, as the angle helps compensate for changes in control arm position during suspension movement, preventing excessive camber or toe changes.

Key points about angled lower ball joints:

Suspension design:
Different suspension systems require specific ball joint angles to function correctly, with the angle often designed to maintain proper alignment during suspension articulation.

Camber control:
By angling the ball joint, engineers can help control the camber angle of the wheel, which is crucial for handling and tire wear.

Lowered vehicles:
When a car is lowered, the stock ball joint angle might not be optimal, so angled aftermarket ball joints can be used to maintain proper alignment.

Ackerman angle:
In some cases, angled ball joints can also contribute to achieving the desired Ackerman angle for precise steering. "

I know it may not be a good comparison, but some aftermarket tubular arms do have angled ball joints.



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Maybe call dynacorn and ask? Not sure if they have tech support or anything, but it's worth a shot.



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AI just doesn't know the difference between angled and offset balljoints is all. It'll tell you the car you're working on doesn't exist if you don't hold it's hand and steer the conversation. It crawls teh internets, sees Mopar has offset ball joints, and assumes everyone does. Seriously doubt Dynacorn, or whoever, was engineering *replacement* arms with improved geometry

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1735245098

If you offset the ball joint pin, just like if it were centered and straight up, with added caster, or other alignment settings outside of OE, the ball joint can reach the end of it's travel.

In order to take advantage of an angled ball joint, you would have to change alignment to take advantage of it.

Again, a simple quick call to Dynacorn could answer the question.

As for AI, per suggestion, I phrased the question differently and got this:

"While both "angled" and "offset" ball joints refer to a ball joint with a non-straight alignment, the key difference is that an angled ball joint refers to a joint where the axis of rotation is tilted at an angle relative to the connecting components, while an offset ball joint refers to a joint where the center of the ball is displaced from the center of the connecting components, essentially creating a lateral offset in the joint's alignment"

And, as always, take comments from the 'internet' with a grain of salt.


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Ive been talking with some people here with some OEM arms ,,,,Ive got new ball joints and poly bushings anyways. Might just send the dynacorn stuff back and make myself feel better about it.

Poly GRAPHITE? or polyurethane?
DEFINATELY not urethane!!!! they will squeek you to death in a few months.
No the lower bushing sleves do not usually have teeth on them.
Just remember If you are using RUBBER DO NOT TIGHTEN bushing bolts down until car is sitting full weight on them (yes PITA) as the rubber is bonded to BOTH the inner sleeve and the outer shell causing a torsional BIND if tightened BEFORE being loaded into its proper rotational location

I have all urethane bushings in my lower control arms. Plenty of grease when installed, no squeaks after about 2 years.

I have urethane bushings in all the rear control arms in my gto for years now and have no squeaks.