1960 - front suspension upper outer pivot pin wear?

[Michael T.]

Hello, I'm looking for help diagnosing and/or troubleshooting a possible issue I observed with the front suspension on my 1960 while I was doing a brake job.

I noticed that there is some radial movement in the upper control arm pivot pin and bushings on the passenger side. I have an ST-12 and think that Figure 23 is the pertinent drawing of the suspension component I'm dealing with. When grabbing onto the brake drum/backing plate (with the wheels off, lower control arms resting on jack stands), and pushing inward/outward as if checking for play in the front wheel bearings, the pivot pin appears to toggle back and forth within the bushings. The bushings appear tight within the upper control arm. The steering knuckle moves with the pivot pin, so I think the clamp bolt is tight. The driver's side seems OK so I guess this is not normal.

With the tires on and the car parked on the ground the front wheel is not visibly out of alignment. There is no abnormal wear on the tire(s) - I don't drive the car much and haven't purposely rotated the 14-year old tires (maybe driven the car 10,000 miles in that time).

I have never rebuilt or done any work to the front suspension on my car, and to my knowledge it has never been apart, so with the age and mileage (~150,000 mi) on the car there are probably several worn out front suspension components. A few questions I'm looking to have answered:
1. Does this indicate the bushings are worn out?
2. Is there a problem with the pivot pin, such as a sheared pin? (I don't think so, but it's possible.)
3. Is this something I can adjust/tighten?
4. Is this a safety issue, such that I shouldn't drive the car until this problem is fixed?
5. Does it sound like I need to get a pivot shaft kit to fix the problem?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Michael Tess
NCRS #38092
Ferndale, MI

[Michael T.]

Re: 1960 - front suspension upper outer pivot pin wear?

I wanted to share an update to my earlier post.

I removed the pin and bushings tonight. There is significant wear in the front threads of the pivot pin (pictured) and bushing. Based on what I read in the archives, I think the pivot pin was probably shifting within the bushing under moderate to heavy braking, which changed the caster of that wheel, and thus caused the car to pull to the right when braking.

[Russell L.]

Re: 1960 - front suspension upper outer pivot pin wear?

I just had issues with my 60' when I attempted to have the front end aligned. Was unable to as there was play in the right upper control arm shaft. Upon inspection, the front end shop found that the sleeve that the control arm shaft goes in was out of round due to wear and causing shifting and movement. Paragon sells a threaded insert that we had to weld in place to replace the out of round insert that was causing movement. We then replaced the upper control arm tower, bumper and shaft and had the weld ground and lightly dusted with black paint. Good as new now. If you would like photos I can send but am not able to download here.