Control arm orientation?

[floatinghead]

I lost the label for my control arms after painting and want to make sure they are installed correctly on the subframe.  Pics are of what i thoughts was drivers side.  My question is in the second pic  the direction of the ball joint mount area.  Is it "pointing " the right way?     Just checking as its hard to see in diagrams or other people pics.

 

thanks!

 

 

['76mintgrün'02]

here ya go

 

[floatinghead]

Thanks for the link.  I used that as a resource when I started to take things apart.  As the control arms aren't symmetrical, it's still hard to tell from the photos if I have the plane of the ball joint mounting surface correct.  Is what I have shown ( as looking from the drivers seat) the correct control arm orientation or is it the wrong way and do i have the passenger side shown incorrectly on the drivers side?  does that make sense?   I'd hate to get things set up and mounted and then have it all wrong...

 

thanks  

[uai]

They should be absolutely symmetriacal...

[floatinghead]

5 minutes ago, uai said:

They should be absolutely symmetriacal...

This is what mine look like:

 

[uai]

But they are the same left&right - so somebody bent them.

I had to machine grind down mine with the rollcenter correction installed to make them clear the rims. Perhaps somebody did similar on yours, although bending won't help

 

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by uai

[floatinghead]

Hmm. Really? So they should look like the red lines?  They awfully consistent.  Why would they be bent like that?  They’ve been on there for 18+ years...

so should I order new ones?  Damn if I didn’t put so much time into cleaning these things up...

[uai]

I would dare to run them, but they should be the same part left&right

[floatinghead]

this bums me out.  just about to put this thing together.  now need to hunt some down.  new ones aren't cheap and I'm hoping i don't trash my bushings pushing them out....

 

I see that you're near Stuttgart.  I might be south of there this winter.  it was supposed to be this month, but well, not much traveling these days.  Beautiful area!

 

[xr4tic]

Interesting, is the car slammed to the ground or something?  I can't imagine someone angling them unless they had severely altered the ride height.

 

Or maybe to clear some small rims?  IDK.

['76mintgrün'02]

Are they bent symmetrically?  Meaning, if you place them both so they angle forward when mounted, you have the option of the bent tip pointing either up or down on both sides?  If so, you may be able to use them, if the ball joints still fit nicely.  I cannot judge from here though and don't want you trying anything dangerous.  I'd just hate for you to have to trash them.

 

Maybe they got bent due to someone installing the ball joints on the UNDERSIDE of the arms, like on the recent BaT car that sold for $64,555.00.  Don't use this photo as an assembly guide.

[floatinghead]

51 minutes ago, xr4tic said:

Interesting, is the car slammed to the ground or something?  I can't imagine someone angling them unless they had severely altered the ride height.

 

Or maybe to clear some small rims?  IDK.

No, my cars just a bit lowered on H&R springs.  14" wheels.  I met with gracer today and he thought that maybe they got twisted while someone was changing the springs out at some point and let the struts lever them over.  the fact that both sides were consistent made me think thats how they were supposed to be, but symmetrical it is.  I'm trying to see if I can bend them back to straight before pulling the trigger on new ones.  I'm getting close...

[TobyB]

Yeah, sorry, that's bent.  Nothing good's going to come of that.

 

I had a couple like that from parts cars- but they also showed where 

the wrecker had hooked the center of the arm and bent it too.

 

And yes, you can straighten them.  They're pretty soft, and fatigue- resistant.

Scrape off the paint and check really carefully for cracks after you do.

(dye penetrant, or even a sharpie over it, then wiped off)

 

Since the ball joint bolts over that, it should be pretty secure.

 

Hmm, I wonder if someone was trying to add just a bit of camber by moving the lower 

point outwards...

 

t

 

[floatinghead]

So I worked on bending them back last night and they look pretty decent. The 3 mounting holes for the ball joint are all

planar and seem to be parallel with the main line of the control arm which they were from the start. The outer edge of where the balljoint sits isn’t perfect but I didn’t want to over rev on bending to avoid stressing the metal. I’ll fit it up to a balljoint to see how it looks.  I’ll also take the paint down at the bend line to look for cracks  and hope it’s in good shape. 

[TobyB]

I think you'll be ok.  Bolt up the joints tightly, and they'll conform the last few ripples.  

 

I agree, odd that they are mirrored.

 

t