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On most older cars that have had their suspension neglected, the upper control arm bushings will show extreme wear on the "load" side which changes the alignment and looseness in steering. When I rebuilt the front end on my 69 Chevelle, I took all the parts to the person who does all the front end work on my other cars. He also did the alignment after the car was put back together. He advised using a center punch to punch one mark on one side and two marks on the other side of the control arm shaft. He advised to orient the mark to the front so they go in exactly as removed. Next he examined the control shafts and said they had no wear at all after 30 years (Even though most of the rubber on the bushings was in pretty sad shape). He said to reuse the shafts. Next came up the question of polyurethane verses rubber bushings. Then he asked me "if after 30 years of use and with bushings still in servicable condition, why change". So I didn't since my car is a daily driver. He said polyurethane "anything" will squeek until it drives you nuts. Unless it is a race car and subjected to extreme side loading, forget polyurethane. His last tip was to keep all four sets of shims in separate bags and marked where they came from. That way the car will remain close enough to drive in for an alignment. It works! >From: "Craig & Cerena Robertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [Chevelle-List] Tech question >Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 09:41:04 -0500 > > I was in the process of checking Advance Auto for Upper and Lower Ball >Joint and Control Arm Bushings. They have some terms that I have not a >clue. Hope someone can set me straight. > When looking for Ball Joints they also list the item Ball Joint with >the word Axial or Radial after it in the list. What do they mean Axial and >Radial. > I also notice that you can purchase the Control Arm Shaft or just the >Bushings. Should I replace the shaft while I at it or not. Thanks for you >help. > >(The man with a dumb question) _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ----------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
