Control Arms For '88 TC Parts A-Pullin'

[Ike Clanton]

I rebuilt my entire front end a year ago, except for control arm bushings because this car is my daily and the last time I did the bushings 10 years ago on my old TC it took FOREVER to get the bushings in.

I have regretted not doing the bushings with each and every clunk over each and every bump ever since.

THEREFORE, I'm going to do them, and duplicate all that labor. Yay.

This time, I want to go to Pull-A-Part and harvest 4 good arms, rebuild anything that isn't pristine on them including bushings obviously, and swap them in to minimize downtime when I actually do the job. In the case of the upper arms, I want to be able to have my newly-renewed arms inculuding the shafts sitting there ready to bolt up.

Question 1: If I understand it correctly, I can use arms off any TC/CV/GM thru '97, even if the upper arms are the tubular-looking type as opposed to my stamped type. Do I have that right?

Question 2: If I do use later arms, is there a year or model that is preferable, such as a cop car due to being stronger, or the models where the bushings are all the same or something?

(I am not doing a brake upgrade because I like my cast lacy spokes.)

It should go without saying that because I am not doing the brake upgrade, I will be re-using my old spindles.

I appreciate any thoughts.

[mcninetyone]

You can use control arms all the way up to 2002, they are all the same. When I did my big brakes everything came from an 02 except the uppers. I found an 02 CVPI with a good front end and just bolted everything on, didn't need to rebuild a thing. They work great, and not a rattle or squeak is to be heard. But I did make sure eveything was in good condition, maybe I just got lucky!

Your uppers have nothing to do with the lowers, since all lowers are the same 79-02.
The upper arms are different and you will have to use uppers from a 91 down if you don't do the big brakes. I'm not sure the upper ball joints from anything newer than 91 and some 92's will work with your box spindles.

You can do the "big brake swap" and still keep your wheels if you don't mind grinding the edge of the calipers down just a bit. Thats not what I did, I used 16" police steelies, but I know a guy that has done just that.

[86VickyLX]

Your uppers have nothing to do with the lowers, since all lowers are the same 79-02.
The upper arms are different and you will have to use uppers from a 91 down if you don't do the big brakes. I'm not sure the upper ball joints from anything newer than 91 and some 92's will work with your box spindles.

You can do the "big brake swap" and still keep your wheels if you don't mind grinding the edge of the calipers down just a bit. Thats not what I did, I used 16" police steelies, but I know a guy that has done just that.

No other upper balljoints or control arms will work with box spindles other than boxes. Lower control arms are just about the same from 79-02, with the exception of somewhere along the line, the bushings used became the same size, instead of two different sizes on the box. When was that exactly? Not a clue...

Who did that with big brakes? Running 15" wheels on big brakes?

[mcninetyone]

Right, the uppers must be from a 91 or older box if you're keeping the original (spindles) brakes!

A friend of mine did the big brakes and the 15" wheels turned but did rub the spindles, he went to work grinding
some meat off the calipers and it seems to work.

Like I said, I just used the 16" steelies for that PI look!

[Ike Clanton]

Ok, just do box arms and renew those. Good deal, thanks boys!

[Piece-it pete]

I wish I would've got spare parts and did them in advance of the job! Nice.

One vote for changing it over to a 90s setup though. Mainly because you could use the big 90s front sway bar with ball and socket end links, and you should have a much easier time getting it properly aligned. If I do a box again without going to big brakes it's what I'm going to do. But regardless, have fun, it's awesome

Pete

[Ike Clanton]

I wish I would've got spare parts and did them in advance of the job! Nice.

One vote for changing it over to a 90s setup though. Mainly because you could use the big 90s front sway bar with ball and socket end links, and you should have a much easier time getting it properly aligned. If I do a box again without going to big brakes it's what I'm going to do. But regardless, have fun, it's awesome

Pete

So you're saying use all arms and spindles from '92-'97 cars for their sway bar setup? Also, what is beneficial about that on the alignment side? Will my brakes and wheel bearing stuff work with the later spindles, or do I need ALL the later stuff? I just got new calipers not long ago and would hate to waste it.

Unless you really wow me here, I think I'm still keeping the box stuff, though the one thing that interests me is a larger front sway, because TCs only got a skimpy 7/8" bar in front!

[Piece-it pete]

I don't mean to be a fly in the ointment

Yes you'd need everything else. And you could get a wagon or cop sway bar using your box parts & ditch the little bar anyway (I did).

The newer style UCA has a cam bolt setup for alignment, while the boxes need a certain tool (so I was told) to get it right, it took them hours to align mine and I went back a couple times, while on my 97 it was never a problem.

If I was starting from scratch and wanted to keep the 15"s I'd do it. My 97 handled better than the boxes I've owned (all stock or very close) and the only big reason I can 'see' is the sway bar setup. If you've got a bunch of new parts though I understand, I'm not gonna redo mine!

Pete

[mcninetyone]

If you go 92-97 stuff then you'll need the uppers from a 92-94 (lowers 79-02), after that you can use the sway bar from a 98- 02 CVPI.
But you'll need to get everything including the spindle and calipers. Your 15 wheels wil bolt up to all the 92-97 parts just fine. But you still won't have the big brakes.

Or you could do what you've been thinking all along, and go with a front sway bar from a box CVPI, which is far from skimpy!!! The CVPI bar will bolt right on to your car and make a big difference.

[packman]

....Or you could do what you've been thinking all along, and go with a front sway bar from a box CVPI, which is far from skimpy!!! The CVPI bar will bolt right on to your car and make a big difference.

Or a station wagon bar. Although a little smaller than the CVPI, they're a little easier to find at the JY. The wagon bar made a little bit of difference for my CV. Though that bar (being hollow) was much lighter than the old bar.


Packman

[gadget73]

97 and older front end stuff works with a 15" wheel. 95-97 brakes are slightly bigger than box brakes.

[Ike Clanton]

One thing I want to make SURE of is this:

The '79-02 LOWER control arms...will the LOWER ball joint from say a '97 Town car fit my '88 spindle? I ask this because if it does, I'm going to buy complete, brand-new lower control arms which include the bushings and ball joints from a '97 rather than rebuild old ones.

The lower ball joints do not have the same part number between an '88 and a '97. When looking at the pictures, the only visible difference seems to be that the newer stud has slightly longer threads, and MAYBE a longer conical tapered section.

So, one more time, in distilled format: will a '97 TC LOWER ball joint fit my '88's spindles?

[mrltd]

No.

[Ike Clanton]

God damn it...

[mrltd]

Just rebuild the stock stuff with poly bushings and new balljoints.