Gbodyparts tubular control arm install problem

[johnnyttype]

Hi guys, i was rebuilding my front end the other day and ran into an issue with the tubular uppers from gbody.. im hoping its something dumb that you guys might be able to help me with! I removed the stock upper arms with no issue, i have stock spindles, and bolted in the gbody tubular's. Ball joint offset towards the front like the stockers, ball joint bolted in from top, pulled the arm down and the stud made it to the bottom of the hole in the knuckle at best, no threads showing! Almost like something in the geometry of the suspension was causing the ball joing to bind and not go down further?! Any ideas, anyone ever have this issue?

I had jack stands under the arms to take the pressure off the uppers... could that cause an issue? I just dont understand what was wrong because i took the Gbody arms back off and the stockers went back on with practically no effort!

Thanks
John

 

[jpratt]

Not sure if this could help but are you sure you have them in the correct side, drivers and passenger side.

 

[johnnyttype]

well i didnt see any markings for driver or passenger sides but i compared them and they looked identical so i made sure the ball joint offset was towards the front of the car. I can check them closer just to be sure, i was a little stressed the other night haha

 

[turbobitt]

I may be the bump stop keeping it from coming down. If so, you can remove the bump stop and reinstall once the car is on the ground or you can try and jack the lower arm up.

Allan G.

 

[johnnyttype]

The bump stop on the lower arm? If i remember correctly the bump stop wasnt touching anything... So maybe it was just a matter of i didnt have the lower arm up high enough to install the arm? I still dont understand why the stocker had no issue going back in.

 

[turbobitt]

The bump stop on the lower arm? If i remember correctly the bump stop wasnt touching anything... So maybe it was just a matter of i didnt have the lower arm up high enough to install the arm? I still dont understand why the stocker had no issue going back in.

No, The bump stop on the upper arm. It is new and probably taller than the old stock one. If I remember correctly it is located on the bottom of the arm and contacts near the shock mount area. You may not see it since it is located on the bottom of the arm and out of sight.

I'm also assuming that these are made like all the rest of the tubular arms and have a bump stop. Just double check. Or maybe they have a limiting bolt ?

Allan G.

 

[johnnyttype]

No bump stops on these upper tubular arms, im stumped and cant go back out to work at it since there is a hurricane on the door step! Im thinking of jacking up each arm individually and installing the top bolts loosely, no shims, and get the ball joint started first.

 

[SHADOWII]

Call Brian/gbody, they have always been very helpful w/their products.

 

[johnnyttype]

Ive been talking to him too but hes about to rollout to SEMA!

 

[fitz3820]

Can you put a jack under the lower control arms to move the whole assembly up? I installed these a few months ago without problems - until finding a shop that could do an alignment with shims, etc.

 

[charlief1]

Either you've got a binding issue or the wrong ball joint. Take 1 of the ball joints off the arm and see if it goes all the way in the hole. If it doesn't then you need to get the right ball joint. If it does then you have something binding up. I don't like putting stands under the arms because the arms might move up and down which can cause the stands to move sometimes. One other thing is to put the stands on the frame and lift up on the lower at the ball joint with the jack. More leverage means the lower will lift higher.

 

[johnnyttype]

Im going to give that a shot this weekend, hopefully i can do the alignment at my old school! Cant stand foreign hands on my car.

 

[johnnyttype]

Got the arms on today, Thanks Everyone! Didnt even break a sweat thanks to the weather never getting above 45 and a stiff breeze.

 

[turbobitt]

Got the arms on today, Thanks Everyone! Didnt even break a sweat thanks to the weather never getting above 45 and a stiff breeze.

So what did you do or find?

AG

 

[johnnyttype]

Found that the suspension wasnt able to settle fully when having both jack stands under the lower arms... jacked up each arm individually and went in like butter.