Er PB Low Friction Control Arm Mounts

[mikeatfhc]

Ok doing the front suspension install this weekend. Installing the ER Polybronze bushings and using the Low Friction Control Arm Mounts.

Here's my problem - First the spherical washers for the rear mounts were too thick to fit within the rear cross-member. So tacking a different tack than others I decided to grind down a little of the thickness off of my crossmember to get them to fit, yet allow some movement for the washers to work properly.

After countless installs and removals yesterday - I got everything to the point where the drivers side a-arm will rotate with a just push of the finger, the passenger's side needs a push. Loosening the bolts and they both drop under their own weight (how my aching head!). I can confirm that my a-arms are not bent.

I am about ready to give up trying to get these to spin freely enough to fall under their own weight with everything torqued-down. It just ain't happing folks.

Anyone who has done this... what finally worked for you? Also, did you just do away with the front mount cover plate (the tow hooks mount)? Chuck's instructions don't address this... and he doesn't include any spacers for the longer bolt to go under the very front bolt hole.

Help me before I say this is good enough, and just put it all back together.

thanks.

[mikeatfhc]

OK - I went to the source and spoke with Chuck Moreland...

I am closing this for those of you who may run into this problem some time in the future...

Chuck stated that in about half of the Low Friction Control Arm intallations that the a-arms may not fall of their own wieght - he says that it becomes a problem when one has to apply about 20lbs. force to get the arms to move. I would estimate mine required 3 to maybe 5 lbs pressure to get them to move. He said my install was fine.

That's a good thing - because I had given up and finished installing everything yesterday.

Also of note: He said rather than grinding on the crossmember as I had done that one could grind on the replacement low friction rear control arm mount to allow enough room for the spherical washers - in retrospect grinding the mount would have been A LOT easier than grinding on the crossmember.

['78 SC]

Anyone who has done this... what finally worked for you? Also, did you just do away with the front mount cover plate (the tow hooks mount)? Chuck's instructions don't address this... and he doesn't include any spacers for the longer bolt to go under the very front bolt hole.

Any comment from Chuck on the cover plate? I left out the front bolt because the steep angle was more than the spherical washer could accomodate. I intend to add a spacer to maintain the position of the cover plate and install the bolt.

Thanks for posting Chuck's response.

[mikeatfhc]

Chuck had stated that there were different types of tow hook mounts used over the years therefore he didn't address this in the kit. He told me to just use washers as a spacer under the forward-most bolt.

['78 SC]

Thanks for confirming that a spacer (or washers) is the recommended approach. This is good information for an installation Q&A on the ER website. /Hint mode off/

The best technique I found for getting the arms to move freely was to gradually tighten all of the bolts (say, one flat at a time) and then jiggle each of the spherical washers to the point of greatest slack. This allowed the washers to settle to the right orientation as the arm moved into its final position. It took a while, but worked first time on an arm that would not otherwise move freely.