How to remove control arms on 48 DeSoto

[MarcDeSoto]

I've done this before, but forgot how to do it.  I was surprised that the shop manual doesn't say what to do.  I put a floor jack under the lower control arm and jacked it up.  Do I remove the four bolts holding down the upper control arm pivot bar, or should I remove the upper control arm pin and nut first?  Or do something else?  

 

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by MarcDeSoto

[Andydodge]

To remove the upper A arms, place jack under the lower A arm, take the weight and use a jack stand to support the car, remove wheel, use jack to take weight off the suspension then undo the upper outer pin & nut, and spindle/A arm from each other then undo the 4 inner upper A arm pin bolts to the chassis and remove A arm......installation is the reverse procedure............to remove the lower support the lower A arm with a jack under the A arm.....undo the lower outer pin/bush bolt carefully and slowly lower the jack allowing the lower A arm to pivot down watching where and how the coil spring drops then remove the coil spring and undo the 4 lower inner pivot bar/bush bolts from the fram................installation is the reverse...........take care as the coil spring is under tension and can go flying..............andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

I removed the upper and lower control arms today.  Thanks Andy for helping me from Down Under!  I made four short videos of my work.  

 

 

 

 

 

[MarcDeSoto]

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by MarcDeSoto

[MarcDeSoto]

 

[MarcDeSoto]

 

[Andydodge]

Couple more things to keep in mind..........make a note of the various rubber grease seals that go on the upper & lower outer pin/bush assemblys.......not all rebuild kits may have the rubber seals and the upper outers can be replaced with large "O" rings sandwiched between the pin/bush assembly.........the lower outer bush which screws into the bottom of the spindle is available with 2 sized hex heads, either is fine to use......... BUT the rubber seal on the hex side of the bush has a specific sized internal hex hole to cover the head of the bush and maybe difficult to find if thrown away..........the opposite side of the lower outer bush when screwed thru the spindle has a round seal with an internal specific hole, again, keep in case you need it..........the upper & lower inner pin /bush A Arm seals are essentially just a round rubber "hose" type of seal, the correct diameter to cover the seal/pin area and about 1" long..........BUT can be replaced with a similar short piece of rubber hose the right diameter such as that used on a radiator bypass hose or large heater hose...........its also a good idea to clean out all grease nipples with thin wire or just use nice new ones, also its worth shooting some grease, not much,  into each bush prior to assembly.......helps to make it easier to assemble and I tell myself that it acts as "bait" to encourage the rest of the grease to follow.............lol............and I do like the videos.........lol..........regards, andyd   

[MarcDeSoto]

Andy, I've got the really old Mopar control arm kits, so I think I'm good on most of the rubber grease seals.  

 

[Andydodge]

Marc..........if you paid $5.58 for that package they sure saw you coming......lol...........andyd

[MarcDeSoto]

Andy,  I used special Chrysler Miller tool C-608 today to install the new pivot bar and bushings.  The tool is used for pushing the upper control arm out 1/16" because you have to torque the bushings on either side to 120 ft. pounds.  That's a lot of pressure!!!  I'm going to do the same thing to the lower control arm tomorrow, using tool C-594, and try to button it all back up again.

I dont' remember what I actually paid for the rebuild kit, but is was something like $10 or $15, but that was back in the 80s.  I'm glad I bought most of my parts back then rather than paying the exorbitant prices dealers want now for them.  I like the idea that it's OEM Mopar parts and not a Chinese modern knock off.   

 

[MarcDeSoto]

I ran into a problem when I installed the pivot bars in the control arms.  The manual said to torque the Upper control arm bushings to 120 foot pounds.  I did that with much effort, but then the pivot bar would not rotate.  So I had to back off the bushings until there was some play.  Then I assembled the lower control arm and tried to torque the bushings to 160 ft. lbs.  I could only get to 130 ft. lbs though.  

[Andydodge]

marc......for what its worth I have never torqued  the bushes on my car but I have done them up TIGHT, using a breaker bar and 1 foot extra length of pipe.......seemed to have worked......more importantly have you been able to get grease into and out of the bushes.........if they are too tight the bushes bottom against the pin and stop any grease getting onto the threads................andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

Yes, I'll check that.  But now I have a real problem.  Have you ever disassembled your upper control arm?  You are supposed to put a rubber seal on BOTH sides the steering knuckle.  Chrysler made a special tool (C-736) for compressing the rubber seals so you get the steering knuckle in.  It kind of looks like a metal shoe horn that has been bent over.  It could probably be made by a good sheet metal worker.  Does anyone have one I could borrow?  I have a ton of Chrysler tools, including a complete fluid drive rebuilding kit, but not C-736.  I looked at the other side of my car to see how I put that side together many years ago.  Looks like I got around it by just leaving one the seals off.  

Edited June 7, 2020 by MarcDeSoto

[Andydodge]

Marc..........I've never used that tool but havn't had that much trouble getting the upper outer assembly done..........the seals I've used are like an "O" ring as shown, although they are thicker on one end than the other......I've also used MOOG cast steel upper A arms which are a solid casting without the internal pressed return that the factory steel A arms have.......you can see the thicker O ring in this pic...there is a much thinner on on the rear of the upper bush........dunno if this helps.......andyd  

Edited June 8, 2020 by Andydodge

[MarcDeSoto]

Thanks Andy,  well I guess that is one way to do it without the tool and without the correct MoPar seals.  Looks like your steering knuckle is a bit off-center in the yoke, but if it works, that's fine.  The Mopar seals fit exactly on the lip of the eccentric bushing and the steer knuckle and the inside lip of the control arm.  I went out today to HD and bought a piece of 22 ga. sheet metal because I'm thinking of trying the make a homemade copy of the special Chrysler tool 736.  Also here are some pics of the Chrysler tools I used to install the pivot arm bushings.  

 

 

[MarcDeSoto]

The two pics below show the Chrysler tool for installing the  lower control arm pivot pin.  It requires 160 ft. lbs. according to the manual.  I was only able to get 130 ft. lbs.  I think you need a bigger torque wrench, but those cost around $200 to $300.  So I can just further tighten it with an air wrench.  

[MarcDeSoto]

Below are two pics showing the main problem right now.  It is virtually impossible to install the steering knuckle into the upper control arm with both rubber seals in place.  I'm going to try to make the Chrysler special tool above out of sheet metal to try to accomplish this.  

[MarcDeSoto]

Here is the special Chrysler tool I am trying to make.  

[Young Ed]

I know I fought with that on my 48. I believe I used a 3" or 4" scrapper to slide it back together

[Dodgeb4ya]

I have that miller clip tool...not the easiest thing to use.

Buy using grease,two screw drivers, or plastic wedge tools and finesse will get the knuckle support to slide over the factory rubber seals.

[MarcDeSoto]

That would be a two man job would it not?  One to hold the wedge tools and one to hold the steering knuckle support.  

 

[Andydodge]

Here in Oz those tools were & are made of unobtainium..........I have never heard of anyone owning any of them nor have I heard of or know of anyone in the Chrysler Club here of having seen nor owned them........lol............and I gave up the idea of trying to make a tool as the original is I think a thick piece of spring steel with a 90 degree edge to strenghten it..........thats why I ended up using the O rings, does the same basic job and easy to install..........but keen to see if you get them in...............lol............andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

Well,  I decided to go with the Andy's suggestion.  O rings.  I tried the tip of screwing the pin in to hold the seal, but that's a no starter because the pin takes up space needed for the steering knuckle.  C clamp didn't work because it's in the way.  So, I took the tip of buying some skinny 0 rings.  They are 1/8" thick and I used three.  The original seal is 5/8" thick, but some of that 5/8" is just covering the bosses.  I think the 0 rings might work, so I'll try it.  It was easy to install the steering knuckle with the O rings.  I put two on the upper control arm boss, and one on the bushing.  I'm talking here about the right side of the knuckle.  On the left side of the knuckle, I put the regular seal.  It was fairly easy to slide in, in fact, I think I might have been able to put in four O rings?  

 

[MarcDeSoto]

And that's what I just did.  I just unscrewed the pin and installed a 4th O ring.  I think it's going to work fine now.  Thanks to our man in Oz, Andy!  

[Andydodge]

Marc...........it may not look a 100 point restoration but the object is just to keep crap out of the bush so the O rings will keep it honest enough........I use a heavy Moly based grease on all suspension & steering grease nipples and it sticks like **** to a blanket so with the o rings moisture seems to have not been an issue over the years I've used them..........lol......I thought I typed something different to ****.............lol............andyd   

Edited June 13, 2020 by Andydodge
a typing check.......lol.