forged or stamped control arms

[pgutier1]

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ACDelco 45G9213 Professional Front Lower Forward; Optional;Rubber Type

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Moog K200899 Front Lower Rearward;Rubber Type

Could these be the ones you are looking for?
And if they are, they are available on RockAuto.com website. My apologies for my other incorrect information. Hope this helps. And you'll need a press to remove and install them correctly.

Thank you, I will check these out! RockAuto is one place I didn't check...

 

[Schurkey]

I don't know about 2WD. All my experience is with 4WD.

Far as I know, there's THREE kinds of lower control arms; and just to be more complicated, there's two widths at the bushing end for the upper arms..

1/2-ton and 6-lug 3/4-ton trucks use upper control arms with the "narrow" spacing. 8-lug 3/4, and 1-ton trucks use the wider spacing on the upper arms.

K1500 vs. K2500 8600 GVW upper control arms.

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Stamped lower arms are just that--formed and welded sheet steel from the bushing end to where the ball joint attaches using four fasteners. The OEM fasteners are rivets; replacement ball joints come with four bolts to replace the rivets.

Bolt-in ball joint, removed for obvious reasons.

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...and the control arm it came off of.

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A newer version of the stamped arm apparently uses a permanently-attached (welded?) forged end with a press-in ball joint. I've never seen one of these in person.

And of course as we saw in the photo some posts back, there's the fully-forged arm, which also uses a pressed-in ball joint. This joint may or may not be the same as the pressed-in ball joint in the stamped arm with the permanently-attached forged end.

It's my understanding that the Polyurethane bushing inserts from Energy Suspension or ProThane (or, I suppose, anyone else) will fit any of the three styles of lower arms. The stamped arms either re-use the existing outer bushing shells; or you press out the original outer shells and press-in the "new" outer shells. The forged arms don't use outer shells, but--apparently--the bushing insert shape is the same as the others.

 

[pgutier1]

I don't know about 2WD. All my experience is with 4WD.

Far as I know, there's THREE kinds of lower control arms; and just to be more complicated, there's two widths at the bushing end for the upper arms..

1/2-ton and 6-lug 3/4-ton trucks use upper control arms with the "narrow" spacing. 8-lug 3/4, and 1-ton trucks use the wider spacing on the upper arms.

K1500 vs. K2500 8600 GVW upper control arms.

You must be registered for see images attach

Stamped lower arms are just that--formed and welded sheet steel from the bushing end to where the ball joint attaches using four fasteners. The OEM fasteners are rivets; replacement ball joints come with four bolts to replace the rivets.

Bolt-in ball joint, removed for obvious reasons.

You must be registered for see images attach

...and the control arm it came off of.

You must be registered for see images attach

A newer version of the stamped arm apparently uses a permanently-attached (welded?) forged end with a press-in ball joint. I've never seen one of these in person.

And of course as we saw in the photo some posts back, there's the fully-forged arm, which also uses a pressed-in ball joint. This joint may or may not be the same as the pressed-in ball joint in the stamped arm with the permanently-attached forged end.

It's my understanding that the Polyurethane bushing inserts from Energy Suspension or ProThane (or, I suppose, anyone else) will fit any of the three styles of lower arms. The stamped arms either re-use the existing outer bushing shells; or you press out the original outer shells and press-in the "new" outer shells. The forged arms don't use outer shells, but--apparently--the bushing insert shape is the same as the others.

Good info, yes on Energy Suspension...which I would like to use and OE for back up, just in case. Did you do a massive jump to break the lower ball joint? LOL!

 

[Schurkey]

Did you do a massive jump to break the lower ball joint? LOL!

I am embarrassed to admit that I drove over a bit of snow. The streets were melting in the tire contact area, but still frozen at the edges. So I steered over to the edge; figured the weight of the vehicle would crack the compacted snow (about 2--3 inches thick.) No, it popped the ball joint stud four miles from home, and $80 in towing fees.

The steering knuckle had previous damage; I think that was the root cause. The stud was probably mostly cracked through when I drove over the snow; and that's when it broke completely.

Steering knuckle with sheared ball joint stud dropped into the tapered hole. Note extreme wear on "inside" area of stud hole.

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The good news in this case was that the easiest vehicle in the Treasure Yard to get a steering knuckle from, happened to be an Extended Cab. The Extended Cab trucks got better front brakes than my '88 Regular Cab--which I didn't know at the time. Once I started comparing calipers and rotors, I grabbed the entire front suspension from that truck, (except the torsion bars) plus the bigger booster and bigger master cylinder.

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[Anubis]

First off....damn that is clean! I spy...a tubular upper control arm, who makes this? I also see a different inner/outer tie rod connector? Thanks for the motivation!

Thanks for the kind words. The truck is super clean and usually sits under a cover.
The tubular upper control arms came with the 2-3” Rough Country lift kit. It comes with brackets to lower the front differential which corrects CV shaft angle on a lifted truck. The tie rod connector is made by Pro Forged. This is a weak link on GMT800 trucks with high horsepower. I’m not sure GMT400’s have this issue but I upgraded anyway to make sure I don’t have issues when I give it the beans.

 

[pgutier1]

Thanks for the kind words. The truck is super clean and usually sits under a cover.
The tubular upper control arms came with the 2-3” Rough Country lift kit. It comes with brackets to lower the front differential which corrects CV shaft angle on a lifted truck. The tie rod connector is made by Pro Forged. This is a weak link on GMT800 trucks with high horsepower. I’m not sure GMT400’s have this issue but I upgraded anyway to make sure I don’t have issues when I give it the beans.

Thanks for the info! I will be completely upgrading the front end on my rig and I will add this to the list.

 

[1998SSLT]

Maybe this will help your motivation. I put the forged arms on my K1500 a few years ago.

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Some help please, what year etc are those lower control arms from and do you know if they'll work on a 98 GMC K1500? Thank you.

 

[Anubis]

Some help please, what year etc are those lower control arms from and do you know if they'll work on a 98 GMC K1500? Thank you.

I sent you a PM sir. Check your inbox.

 

[Threequartercrewcab]

Sorry to re-revive an old thread but I’ve been searching and don’t want to start a new thread.

@pgutier1, did you ever try the polyurethane bushings in those forged LCAs? I have a 2000 k2500 but can’t seem to find the answer as to if they’ll fit correctly.

 

[pgutier1]

did you ever try the polyurethane bushings in those forged LCAs? I have a 2000 k2500 but can’t seem to find the answer as to if they’ll fit correctly.

I have not yet, since the Moog K6658 should be the same for forged LCA's. I will be using these as my choice for poly bushings and they should work. Thoughts?

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/energy-suspension/chassis---steering/chassis/control-arm---components/control-arm-bushing/be3c304786fb/energy-suspension-control-arm-bushing-kit/ens0/33185r/v/a/18312/automotive-truck-2005-chevrolet-silverado-2500-hd?q=control+arm+bushing&pos=5