Upper control arm problem

[holdenhead]

Hi all, I seem to have a problem with the upper control arm on my fc?? I have replaced king pins and bushes ect got everything done and was at torque rench stage getting everything thightened up right and the last bolt i come to is the drivers side upper outer bush. I cant get it to tighten to 80 pounds it just pulls the ends of the control arm in.....Do I just need another control arm or is there something strange happening? I hate that it's always the last one!!!!! Does any one have one that they could spare in Melbourne. Cheers Rick

[Brad]

Rick.
      First insert the eccentric sleeve from the FRONT , put the retaining bolt in but don't tighten.It needs to be loose for wheel alignment. Start the outer bolt in the REAR of the arm,smear the rubber seals with a bit of grease to stop them binding on the bolt. The bolt goes in the rear or it will foul wheel balance weights on full lock.
 Tighten outer bolt to 70-80 lb. Install lock nut and washer to 50-60 lb. Put the wheel back on and do the wheel alignment,then tighten eccentric retaining bolt to 30-35 lb.

condensed from workshop manual.

If it's pulling on the arm then I think it is binding somewhere, but hard to tell without looking at it. Is the bushing turning? You may be able to put something  between the arm and steering knuckle to stop it moving in? Hope this helps.
           Brad.

[mcl1959]

If the upper control arm is bent, it will bend in as you describe
Does it look bent compared to the other one?
It may be easiest to just replace the suspect one as what you have described should not happen.

Regards   Ken

[holdenhead]

Hi, thanks for your advice. I have found that the thread is a bit dogdey on the control arm. Maybe this is it? I'll get another 1 and see how it goes. Cheers Rick