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Hi all. I would like to know if I have an issue with the Front Lower Suspension arm in so much as the right hand side and the corresponding left hand side appear to NOT be mirror images of each other as I would have expected.
As you can see from the pictures the larger side or pronounced side of the suspension arm as it attaches to the car is facing inwards on the right hand side looking forward and is on the outward side on the left looking forward.
As if one is wrong. But I do not know. Maybe they are just made like that. Can anyone shed some light on this subject.
I think it's just the way the bushings are pressed in, not the same each side. Don't think it's a problem since the rubber accommodates the very slight angle differences.
You can remove the bar and flip the front to the back. However, I don't know if the trailing arm has the necessary bolt holes for whatever is on top of the bar. (possibly a sway bar or bumper stop?) Also don't know if the bushings on both ends are the same size.
People freak about this all the time. It is not a problem. The arms are NOT mirror image, they are the same on both sides. The only important metric is that the center-to-center distance of the bushings is the same. The direction that the bushings get pressed in has zero impact on the functionality of the arms. Using the same arm on both sides let GM get away with one part number instead of two, and prevented installing the wrong arm on the assembly line. Don't lose any more sleep over this.
Hi everyone,
Thank you for your replies. I was sure that this was going to be the case, that is that GM had saved on having to make different dies. When you have modern mechanics looking at cars, here in New Zealand, for a warrant of fitness they start to freak out if something is not the norm.
It took a bit of convincing and a printed page from the manual to get them to test the lower ball joint correctly. Their mandated testing would always hoist the wheel up incorrectly and make the lower ball joint sloppy. We managed to train them in that regards. Now I will show them this thread and they should be satisfied with the trailing arms.
Merry Xmas to you all and thanks for your reply. Time to have a BBQ for Christmas Eve.
Thanks everyone
