1966 LH Upper A Arm

[Gary G.]

As I was pulling into the drive last night, I heard and felt a thud and the car suddenly wanted to veer left. I thought I had a tie rod problem but found out I have an A-Arm issue. I lost the bolt on the forward bushing and caused the entire A-Arm assembly to shift. I guess I was lucky I was already home.

As you can see, the rear bushing has come out of the sleeve and I'm not quite sure how to get it all back together again.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

[William C.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

jack the car up under the lower A-arm. That will remove the pressure form the upper arm. Disconnect the upper arm at the Ball Joint and the frame and remove it from the car. At that point you can inspect and see if a new shaft and bushings will get you fixed or if the entire a-arm assembly needs replaced. Work accordingly after inspection. If rebuilding the existing, use a different bushing supplier/manufacturer.

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Happens a lot with urethane bushings, which those appear to be. Use Locktite.

[Gary G.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Yes they are Urethane - Thanks to both of you for your replies.

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Gary,
I had the same thing happen on my '69 when it had poly bushings. Unfortunately I was driving at the time when the whole thing let go and put the a-arm through the fan shroud. I would NEVER use poly bushings again. Pressed in rubber is in there now and I check the bolts regularly.
Jeff

[John H.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Gary,
I had the same thing happen on my '69 when it had poly bushings. Unfortunately I was driving at the time when the whole thing let go and put the a-arm through the fan shroud. I would NEVER use poly bushings again. Pressed in rubber is in there now and I check the bolts regularly.
Jeff

Jeff -

Gary's situation is a perfect example of why not to use urethane "hot-rod" bushings in a control arm application; that system is designed ONLY to operate with fully double-bonded pressed-in bushings; the ill-engineered urethane bushings introduce a secondary failure mode that isn't possible to create with the OEM bonded bushings - urethane is inherently dangerous in that application, as it depends solely on the bushing bolt for the system's integrity. Most people simply don't understand how bonded bushing systems work, and think "urethane must be better" - it isn't.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Jeff -

Gary's situation is a perfect example of why not to use urethane "hot-rod" bushings in a control arm application; that system is designed ONLY to operate with fully double-bonded pressed-in bushings; the ill-engineered urethane bushings introduce a secondary failure mode that isn't possible to create with the OEM bonded bushings - urethane is inherently dangerous in that application, as it depends solely on the bushing bolt for the system's integrity. Most people simply don't understand how bonded bushing systems work, and think "urethane must be better" - it isn't.

John------


Personally, I would NEVER use or recommend urethane bushings or other urethane components for ANY street application. Never. Ever. Period.

[Gary G.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

I was able to get it all back together today. I have never heard of this being a problem with urethane bushings so I will add inspection of all upper and lower A-arm bolts at every oil change.

[Dale M.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Thanks for posting the situation for the urethane bushings. I have a 64 and have issues as well. I didnot understand the issue. I wanted a tighter steering. My mistake, now I know.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Thanks for posting the situation for the urethane bushings. I have a 64 and have issues as well. I didnot understand the issue. I wanted a tighter steering. My mistake, now I know.

Dale------

Keep this thought in mind: If urethane bushings had been around when these cars were originally built, would GM have used them? I don't know. But I do know this: urethane bushings have been around for about 25 years now and the OEM's still don't use them in PRODUCTION for any car that I know of. So, I strongly suspect that GM wouldn't have used them in the 60's even if they had been around.

[Dale M.]

Re: 1966 LH Upper A Arm

Thanks for your comments and great information. I now need to see when I replace them. I sure will watch the bolts.