Lower Control Arm Pins

[rovohn]

I am in the process of disassembling my front suspension as I am going to replace bushings and ball joints.
I have managed to remove one of the rear lower bushing pins and now I have a 1-1/8 wrench i can start on the other rear pin.
Do the front pins move at all?
I dont want to spend a lot of effort trying to turn something that wasn't designed to.
In a nutshell,can the lower arm be removed with the font pin still in place?
Thanks in advance for the help
Cheers,John

[RICH MUISE]

If my memory serves correctly, the pins actually press into the frame and the hex head is just to keep them from rotating when you assemble/tighten the bushing bolts. Somebody confirm this please.

[hiball3985]

The pins aren't really a press fit, they should tap out fairly easy but after a long period of time they could be a corrosion fit  If you can turn the big 1 1/8 end it may help to loosen it and my require lot's of soaking. The A arm can't be removed with one pin still installed..

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for jogging my memory, Jim. You are correct. Their location would prohibit them being a press fit design...duh! I replaced mine with a new set, so wasn't concerned damaging the old ones with a small sledge hammer/removal tool.

[rovohn]

Where did you get the replacement pins from?
John

[RICH MUISE]

I believe Concourse, but that was 10 years ago. I know for sure that I got my upper control arm shafts from them.........overpaid! Classic Auto in OKC may have them. I think the lower pins were 75ish for the set of 4.

[cokefirst]

Mac's has these pins with the bushings in a kit.  Not cheap, but available 49-29672-1  $123.49 a side.  So almost $250 for the lower bushings and pins.

[hindsight57]

MAC's kit does indeed say "one kit does one arm".

I had seen on the Concours site:
part B7A-3048-A, $82.95 (4 pins, no bushings, kinda in line with what Rich paid plus inflation)
part B7A-3048-K, $124.95, (with bushings and washers).
both Concours part number description say "COMES WITH TWO LONG BOLTS AND TWO SHORT BOLTS. ONE KIT WILL DO THE ENTIRE CAR"

Not sure if MAC's or Concours has the description wrong about if one kit does one side or both sides... just more info before someone orders.

[KYBlueOval]

What goes wrong with these pins that requires they be replaced?
After reading this post, I went out and looked at mine ( Not Installed ) and they look fine to me, but I don't want to go through installing the A frames and coil springs etc., to find out I should have replaced these pins.
Thanks
John

[hiball3985]

What goes wrong with these pins that requires they be replaced?
After reading this post, I went out and looked at mine ( Not Installed ) and they look fine to me, but I don't want to go through installing the A frames and coil springs etc., to find out I should have replaced these pins.
Thanks
John

Good question. I've replaced bushings on probably half a dozen cars over the years and I have never seen a worn pin or one that needed to be replaced for any other reason.

[Lgcustom]

The long front pins on mine were bent. Not knowing at the time that new ones could be available, I just took a BFH and straightened, cleaned and reinstalled them with new bushings. Been working ok for 10 years.

[RICH MUISE]

Mine were replaced simply because when I built my car, I was in the "if it comes off, replace, restore, or rebuild it" mode. Also, for me there was a bit of uncertainty as to whether or not they were worn as there were no specs available  to inspect it by. I also replaced my upper control arm shafts at a cost of over 300 for the pair (Rare Parts) for the same reason. The new uppers were actually .001 smaller diameter than the oem's! My thinking process on the shafts was the car was 50 years old, they HAD to be worn, never really gave it too much thought. In my case though, as mentioned, I don't think they were worn.

My "no specs available" statement just got me to wondering if anyone has ever seen any actual blueprints for any part. It would be neat to have some old bluprints to decorate a man cave/garage with. Wish I had kept some from when I was working on space shuttle stuff.

[gasman826]

upper and lower control arm shafts are not wear items.  Unless damaged, clean them up, slather on some Never Seez and reinstall.

[hiball3985]

The long front pins on mine were bent. Not knowing at the time that new ones could be available, I just took a BFH and straightened, cleaned and reinstalled them with new bushings. Been working ok for 10 years.

I can't picture how you would get bent ones out   

[gasman826]

I haven't got past how they got bent!