Lower Control Arms Help

[JayMB]

The lower control arm bushings I use for my '99 8-lug 2500 with forged lowers were these 2:

AC DELCO 45G9213 GM 89033036
AC DELCO 45G11076 GM 88996751

They had "Made In Mexico" moulded in the same place as the originals that came out.

 

[ItsMarty]

Thanks for that. I needed a kick in the ass to get to work on that project--I'm way overdue for slapping lower bushings 'n' ball joints on my '97 K2500.

I'd been debating on buying spare forged arms to make sure the bushings fit properly. Now I know I don't need to.


What do you mean by "I can't get the shaft of the balljoint to straighten out"? Are you saying that the ball joint stud won't pivot in the joint?

My understanding from reading posts on this forum, is that the forged arms are interchangeable with both versions of the stamped arms.

Im wondering if the extra material needed that goes around the press in balljoint vs the riveted BJ’s (riveted BJ’s kind of “hang” from the control arm vs the press-in BJ’s for the forged arms need metal all the way around them) require a different knuckle to clear. These seem to want to hit the knuckle and not allow correct movement. Getting the balljoint into the knuckle you have to angle it a couple different ways to get it to drop in. You can see it in these photos the possible binding issue. Going to see if the nut will pull down the balljoint enough to clear but it doesn’t look promising. A quick search on eBay shows the 2500/3500 knuckle on the 96+ trucks is a little different than the 1500 knuckles. Im not sure if that’s my issue yet though.

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[Schurkey]

Torque the nut, see what happens--IF (big IF) you're absolutely certain that the taper on the new ball joint matches the taper of the steering knuckle hole. (...and that the hole and the stud aren't damaged--burrs, dirt, metal shavings, crickets, etc.)

 

[ItsMarty]

Finally got it all together, I ended up having to grind a little bit of material off the driver-side knuckle where the relief is casted in for the balljoint to slide in. It didn’t take much and it finally went together. I used the original poly replacement bushings for the stamped arms in these forged arms and they fit great for anyone wondering. I used plumbers tape and the correct grease on the poly bushings/sleeves reading that it keeps them from squeaking so I’ll report back on that once I finally get to driving it.

 

[Schurkey]

Please tell me you greased the bushings like the instructions called for.

 

[Anubis]

I am a little late to this party but did the swap about four years ago. Forged lower control arms are nice.

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[JayMB]

Looks great. I see your fancy upper control arm. Are you cranked quite a bit? Did you drop the front diff down a bit? Angles look fine.

I want to do the same thing to mine witj a 2003+ full soze van spindle since the mounting point for the upper ball joint is about 1.5" higher, should allow for basically the same thing except stock upper control arm.

 

[ItsMarty]

I am a little late to this party but did the swap about four years ago. Forged lower control arms are nice.

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Did you have any issues with your control arms making contact with your knuckles when you made the swap? That was what I ended up having such an issue with, maybe my knuckles were just casted weird. Grinding a tiny bit off and I was able to slide them up the balljoint and seat them fully finally.

What’d you end up using to paint your frame? That looks great! I’m hoping this chassis saver I used duals out a bit so it’s not as glossy

 

[ItsMarty]

Please tell me you greased the bushings like the instructions called for.

Yes I greased them also. A little excessive on the grease but I’d rather have too much than not enough on bushings.

 

[Anubis]

Looks great. I see your fancy upper control arm. Are you cranked quite a bit? Did you drop the front diff down a bit? Angles look fine.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the upper control arms are aftermarket. I did drop the differential also with brackets to correct the CV angles. I used the rough country 2-3” kit and have it cranked up approximately 2”. It rides much better after this installation.