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WagonsRcool
EFI Slant 6
Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 305
Location: New Jersey USA
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Post subject:
Lower control arm question
(Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:09 pm)
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Some years back I owned a '73 Dart Swinger that had a K-frame failure at the Lower Control Arm mount. Way scary when the steering wheel suddenly pulled to one side & was 'loosey-goosey". When I pulled things apart to fix it I found that I also had a failed LCA- the stamped side plate had cracked at the torsion bar anchor/pivot.
The peculiar thing that I noticed was that the side plates of the LCA had "clean-cut" holes (there was only the single thickness of the stamped metal) that held the forged TB pivot. In contrast, earlier '68 & later '75 LCA had additional metal at those holes that was folded outward, creating short "sleeves" to hold the pivot- more metal has to be stronger.
I've seen another '73 that had the same weak LCA design. So my question is a parts book lookup, was that LCA '73 only? Just what are the listing breakdowns over the years on A-body LCA. (the basic design is the same 62-76, but there are several minor differences).
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63 Valiant Wagon
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Dart270
Board Sponsor & Moderator
Joined: 21 Oct 2002
Posts: 9606
Location: Blacksburg, VA
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Post subject:
(Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:22 am)
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Thanks for the heads up. '72-down are bulletproof, in my experience. No idea if other mid 70s years were improved over 73, though.
Lou
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WagonsRcool
EFI Slant 6
Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 305
Location: New Jersey USA
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Post subject:
(Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:49 pm)
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| The LCA I got from a '75 parts car were the "bullet-proof" type. I was wondering about '74, & what other differences there were in the earlier '72-back LCA.
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DusterIdiot
Board Sponsor
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 7135
Location: Salem, OR
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Post subject:
Uh...
(Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:35 pm)
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1973-1976 have the same LCA part number...In 1976 they had another LCA with a new part number but it's noted as saying to be used if the car is equipped with rear spring isolators (sway bar equipped unit maybe???)
So far all the disc & 10" drum brake LCA's I have are all the same 1973-1976, so I'm not sure what to look for here...
-D.Idiot
Last edited by DusterIdiot on Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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WagonsRcool
EFI Slant 6
Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 305
Location: New Jersey USA
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Post subject:
(Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:45 am)
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| I was just looking to see if the parts listing reflected the 2 different control arms that I saw (the '73 LCA being different from the '75). If there's only one part number for '73-'76, then that doesn't jive with the "actual" parts that (by observation) were used in production- but that is certainly not unheard of. Thanks for checking.
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DusterIdiot
Board Sponsor
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 7135
Location: Salem, OR
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Post subject:
Also...
(Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:06 pm)
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| Quote: | | If there's only one part number for '73-'76, then that doesn't jive with the "actual" parts that (by observation) were used in production- but that is certainly not unheard of. |
The other scenario that can exist is someone had a 1975 with 9" Drums and a 10" drum car from 1968-1972 and decided to do a full swap...I have caught this in junkyards from time to time.
-D.Idiot
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WagonsRcool
EFI Slant 6
Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 305
Location: New Jersey USA
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Post subject:
(Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:41 pm)
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| True enough, but in this case, I worked on 2 different '73s, both had 10" drums, sbp wheels, & the "unreinforced" LCA. The '75 was definitely a factory manual disc car & had the bullet-proof LCA- there was no indication that any susp hard parts weren't original.
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