C20 Steering & Suspension Rebuild

[enaberif]

Ok I ordered 2 lower control arms from work, both were Delco brand. Left side didn't match the right. So I returned them, and ordered a set of Moog arms from Rock Auto. Got them today, the left side doesn't match the right!

What's the deal here, my current arms are exactly the same just opposites. Is there something I'm missing or is this really just bad luck?

Did your parts come in official Moog or AC Delco boxes? I've ordered stuff from RA before that was supposed to be Moog and ended up getting some weird 3rd party crap.

If you have Moog parts it should say on it somewhere.

[1967KaiserM715]

The double seal on the piston shaft will do that. Water and dirt(always on the road, mostly from other cars when getting on from dirt roads etc) it is the slow accumulation in the boot that leads to wearing out the shaft seal, and shaft itself.

Boots offer a small amount of protection as long as you routinely clean behind it, same thing with items such as wheel bearings and seals. Eventually you need to pull and inspect and then replace, on a street driven vehicle it is IMO unnecessary, and can lead to premature wear, something I myself would consider as outweighing any benefit

This is of course just my take on the whole scenario


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[1967KaiserM715]

In reply to the control arms, sometimes the aftermarket will improve a design if it sees fit(AC Delco is aftermarket, at the same time being an OEM supplier)

Case in point, some Ford Rangers had weak ball joints and Moog made new control arms to fit a better designed ball joint. All new ball joints (including OEM) would only fit the new arm, so the whole arm had to be replaced when doing ball joints for the first time

I am just speculating this may be the case here


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[LTZ C20]

Ok I ordered 2 lower control arms from work, both were Delco brand. Left side didn't match the right. So I returned them, and ordered a set of Moog arms from Rock Auto. Got them today, the left side doesn't match the right!

What's the deal here, my current arms are exactly the same just opposites. Is there something I'm missing or is this really just bad luck?

Did your parts come in official Moog or AC Delco boxes? I've ordered stuff from RA before that was supposed to be Moog and ended up getting some weird 3rd party crap.

If you have Moog parts it should say on it somewhere.

Yes, both Delco arms were in Delco boxes and both Moog parts were in moog boxes. The arms themselves have no physical indication of the manufacturer, if you took them all out of the boxes and set them all in a line, you would not be able to tell which company made which arms.

[LTZ C20]

The double seal on the piston shaft will do that. Water and dirt(always on the road, mostly from other cars when getting on from dirt roads etc) it is the slow accumulation in the boot that leads to wearing out the shaft seal, and shaft itself.

Boots offer a small amount of protection as long as you routinely clean behind it, same thing with items such as wheel bearings and seals. Eventually you need to pull and inspect and then replace, on a street driven vehicle it is IMO unnecessary, and can lead to premature wear, something I myself would consider as outweighing any benefit

This is of course just my take on the whole scenario


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe I'll just pass on the boots then.

[LTZ C20]

In reply to the control arms, sometimes the aftermarket will improve a design if it sees fit(AC Delco is aftermarket, at the same time being an OEM supplier)

Case in point, some Ford Rangers had weak ball joints and Moog made new control arms to fit a better designed ball joint. All new ball joints (including OEM) would only fit the new arm, so the whole arm had to be replaced when doing ball joints for the first time

I am just speculating this may be the case here


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That makes sense, but in this situation it doesn't. Case in point, Delco left arm does not match Delco right arm.

Delco right arm does match my truck.

Moog left arm does not match Moog right arm.

Moog left arm does match my truck.

So, Delco right arm and Moog left arm match my truck and each other perfectly. They are exactly the same in every way. So that's what I'm going to use.

So I have to return the Moog right arm and re-purchase the Delco right arm because I was already refunded that money.

The two arms I'm not using don't even match my truck or each other.

This whole situation hurts my brain.....

[LTZ C20]

Ladies and germs, if it pleases the court and I'm sure it will. If it don't then oh well, it makes me feel better!

A lower a-arm that's right!Well...technically it's actually a left a-arm. Oh who cares, it's correct.





Oh yea, the green plastic in the corner of the first pic, it's that air bubble stuff that has perforated sides. They felt it necessary to put this arm, that's already in a box, inside another box with 40 feet of that air bubble stuff.

[philo_beddoe]

Wow, nice and shiny, no rust or corrosion. So thats what they look like...

[LTZ C20]

Yea no kidding! Hopefully I will will be able to paint the stuff that's bare metal so every thing will be protected.

[philo_beddoe]

Exactly! Protect it!!

[bd]

Ladies and germs, if it pleases the court and I'm sure it will. If it don't then oh well, it makes me feel better!

A lower a-arm that's right!Well...technically it's actually a left a-arm. Oh who cares, it's correct.

Oh yea, the green plastic in the corner of the first pic, it's that air bubble stuff that has perforated sides. They felt it necessary to put this arm, that's already in a box, inside another box with 40 feet of that air bubble stuff.

Well you know what they say.  "Whatever's left can't be right."

Save the green pillows.  They're a great stress reliever when you break em.

[LTZ C20]

Yea, they are fun to pop. They are also funny as heck to put under the tire of a car in a technician's stall so when he backs out it pops. That's a classic! But I don't need 40 feet of them. They were all stuck together so it was like a giant bubble pack rope and that much is a pain in the butt to control. So I stabbed them all with my pocket knife so I could fit them in the trash hahaha.

[LTZ C20]

This is a bit of a side feature here, I'm open to the possibility of side steps, nerf bars, running boards, tube steps or what ever you want to call them. This is totally dependent of course on how high the truck sits after the new suspension. I know it will be a bit higher, I'm just not sure how much. I considered steps at its current height but I'll wait to decide for sure after the new stuff.

Anyway, if you guys wouldn't mind posting pics of 73-80 trucks with steps. 2 or 4wd doesn't matter, color doesn't matter, just for reference tho, mine is a white 2wd 3/4 ton.

As long as they aren't any style, design or variation of steps like these, because honestly I don't like these one bit, they are hideous.



Thanks all.

[enaberif]

Unfortunately the only ones that really work are nerf bars. Most of those hoop steps bolt to the inner rocker which I don't like.

[LTZ C20]

Unfortunately the only ones that really work are nerf bars. Most of those hoop steps bolt to the inner rocker which I don't like.

I'm fine with nerf bars, those I would bolt to the frame. The hoop style steps are stupid and I would never bolt or screw anything to the body.