Upper a-arm and ball joint boot question

[Mike E.]

Be nice to a rookie-this is cutting-edge technology to a guy who has been working on kingpin cars the past 41 years.
I'm working on a 71, and knew that On an upper -arm the bushing was bad and the a-arm hogged out. Now that I have removed the arm, I find that it is bent, as is the shaft it bolts to. I picked a pair of nice original upper a-arms with good original ball joints. I have two questions:
1) the a-arms are quite similar in appearance-how do I know which is left and which is right?
2) the previous owner of the replacement arms removed the spindles with a pickle fork and tore each boot. I see that there are repro boots that look right on the Internet. How would they attach to the correct ball joints? Has anyone successfully replaced the boots?
Thanks--still learning, I hope!

[Richard M.]

Re: Upper a-arm and ball joint boot question

Mike, No worries....I kike kingpins too.

I have not replaced just the boots before but I'll take a jab at it.....

Here's a photo of a original lower. I believe the boot just slips over the circular flange.

NOSLowerBallJoint.jpg rjm_image1.jpg

Repro upper - I'd think the upper slips inside the ring.
su-1015.jpgsu-1032_67.jpg

BTW, I have discovered that the reproduction "correct" ball joints are not greasable. See my notes at the end.

The upper control arms have a unique profile per side. There's a slight angle when installed and if reversed the rubber bumper won't hit the center of the bump-point on the arm. The angle contributes to the designed in caster.

Here's a file photo I have which IIRC came from John Hinckley...
front susp1800.jpg

A few more for reference....The more pronounced curve at the side of the arm closest to the balljoint is the telltale. This heads rearward on both sides.

Left
P5060037.jpg

Right
P5060036.jpg

Left & Right - as viewed from the rear
P6080001.jpg

Left
P6110014.jpgP6110015.jpg

FYI.......
I always use USA made ball joints. A friend of mine recently had a bad experience with Asian imported ball joints (25k miles later after replacement) when his wife's car lost a lower joint. It sheared the stud right off it's ball in a parking lot. If I get his permission later I'll add a few photos of the failure.

While I'm at it I'll share something that I've recently concocted. Since original ball joints are difficult to find, and word on the street is that the correct looking repros with the protruding studs are not greasable and I've also heard they are not made in USA, I felt a need to improvise when using greasable made in USA balljoints.

Here is a method I use to keep safety and preventative maintenance in mind when I restore, yet try to yield the appearance of "originality".

I'll let the photos do the talking, but it only requires a small tapped hole in the bottom of the stud on each balljoint. I need to refine the pieces and get the profiles more original looking but you'll get the idea.

P9270003.jpgP9270004.jpgP9270005.jpgP9270073.jpgP9290088.jpgP9290089.jpg


P9290090.jpgPB200123.jpgPB200124.jpgPB200125.jpgPB200126.jpgPB200127.jpg


PB200128.jpgPB200130.jpgPB200131.jpg


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