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When a PO added the rear lower control arm brackets on my '72 Supreme, he left off a washer for the bolt on the driver side. So today I decided to take care of the issue. I got the bolt out with no problem, but when I tried to put it back in, the hole in the control arm was out of alignment just enough to stop the bolt from going through.
I thought if I could "shift the arm a little, I would be ok, but when it shifted, this is what happened.
The control arm shifted forward (I think) and I don't know what to do at this point, so I'm reaching out for help before I end up in more trouble. As a side note, when I installed my rear sway bar, I didn't have this problem.
Also, here are a couple more pics of what I'm looking at. I would deeply appreciate any advice and a speedy response on what to do so I can get it buttoned back up.
Just use a big phillips screw driver through the hole and get the 2 parts aligned. Its a lot easier if you have the weight of the car off the rear end with the frame sitting on jack stands.
agree with ^ put the rear frame on stands both sides and then jack up the rear end to get the weight off and you should be able to use a awl or a punch to line up one side and start the bolt in the other
The alignment is too far off to where I can't get a screwdriver in the hole for the control arm (and I do have the frame on jack stands). I took a crude measurement, and if the control arm didn't shift, then my rear axle did (gulp).
You just have to manhandle the rear or the arm and get it aligned enough to reinstall the bolt. A hammer, prybar, large screw drivers, etc. are not out of the question to accomplish this task. You can take the shocks loose at the bottoms to get the minimal amount of pressure that springs are providing. I just got done installing my rear end, so have recently been there.
pull the tires off so the rear end can be on a jack in the middle, floating, ,so it can be moved around
also could you loosen up the top bolt to move the bracket around?
Last edited by green1972; Jan 8, 2020 at 12:17 PM.
Reason: additional info
I took a crude measurement, and if the control arm didn't shift, then my rear axle did (gulp).
Yes, the rearend shifted. You removed one of the 4 attaching points, so the weight of the rearend caused it to move slightly on the remaining three axis. You need to use a jack to raise the rearend some, then jam some sort of a tool into the bolt holes as said above and force it back into alignment. Longer is better as you will need the leverage to get the rearend to move. I typically leave the tool in the hole to maintain alignment as I push the bolt through from the other side. Once the bolt peeks though, the threads bind slightly due to the misalignment so you may need to use a wrench to "screw" the bolt in until it goes all the way through.
I'm not sure how you managed to get ensnared in this scenario, be thankful you didn't attempt to remove BOTH bolts in the LCA.
You need to remove the wheel/tire & put the floor jack under the LCA & then raise the LCA slightly so as to be in a position which ensures the downward force being exerted against the LCA by the coil spring is relaxed.
Yeah, well I botched that completely anyways. That’s what I get for being in a hurry - trying to finish my front end. I thought it was the rear bolt on the front LCA. Doh! Then went back to notice his rear LCA drop downs. Sorry Dave, apologies.
Yeah, well I botched that completely anyways. That’s what I get for being in a hurry - trying to finish my front end. I thought it was the rear bolt on the front LCA. Doh! Then went back to notice his rear LCA drop downs. Sorry Dave, apologies.
That's not an add on bracket. That whole set up is either made by Southside machine or Lakewood who I belive bought the rights to that design. It's used to elimnate wheel hop and plant the tires. I agree that you need to man handle this to get it in. Specially if you have weight on it. You need it on jack stands and even then its not just gonna drop in and go through.
