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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / April 2005stripped upper control arm pivot
My car is a 64 Avanti. Brought it into the shop where I work for an alignment. on one side the only adjustment is camber. The adjusting pivot is not threading front to back to adjust caster. Do these strip out to the point that neither side has enough thread to move the spindle? I ordered one from SASCO assuming the worst. It was greased and the pivot turns easily. I did experience a creaking sound from that side and subsequently pumped in more grease. Just seems unusual... Ernie R2 R5388 Ernie, I hope you have the service manual for your Avanti, it has details on how the suspension can be adjusted. I am assuming you are talking about the threaded bushings on the outer end of the control arm. They are not intended for adjustment. They are the piviot points, they are threaded on both the outside and inside and thread into the arm and the top spindle T. The suspension is susposed to be assembled with the spindle centered in the upper arm. To do this you must have the spreading tool listed in the manual. The control arm must be spread .015" before the bushings are threaded into the arm. This is so that when you release the spreader after the bushings are installed, there is no binding in the assembly. The whole assembly top and bottom piviots must be completely free of binding. If this is not followed you will have a very stiff ride and the bushings will wear quickly or possibly back themselves out. Several of the Studebaker vendors sell the spreader tool for about $30.00. The only other items you will need is a set of large bow calipers and a .015" feeler guage and the service manual. It's very important that the spindle be centered in the arm. I know in the 47-52 models the Caster is not to be adjusted, and if it is not in spec it says their must be a bent suspension component. This proceedure is not too hard if you have the manual. Good Luck > My car is a 64 Avanti. Brought it into the shop where I work for an > alignment. on one side the only adjustment is camber. The adjusting pivot [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Ernie R2 R5388 It sounds like the pin isn't adjustable on '52 and earlier Studes. The top outer pivot pin, on Avantis and Hawks, (probably '53 and up Studes), is supposed to be adjustable for caster and camber like Ernie describes. The grease fitting in one cap is removable, and an allen wrench is used to rotate the pin, inside. The range of camber adjustment is run through, as the eccentric on the pin rotates inside the kingpin, each turn. Caster changes as the pin is threaded out of one cap into the other. There is a groove around the eccentric that bears against the 3/8" lock bolt in the king pin; to move the top of the kingpin forward or back. It would take a lot of wear for those threads to be stripped! I think it's more likely that the lock bolt isn't engaged in the groove on the eccentric. The groove is pretty shallow. Probably you can remove the lock bolt and probe, to see if it's in position to bear against the side of the lock bolt; or if the bolt is damaged. It may take a turn or two just to take up slack on the caster adjustment. Mike M. > It would take a lot of wear for those threads to be stripped! I have seen MANY of these upper bushings with the (internal) threads ripped out. It will happen VERY quickly , if proper assembly and maintainance isn't used. The rest of your description is spot-on... Ray Yes I serviced many a customer's car with those threads in very bad shape. If the rubber seals are intact and the bushings are kept full of fresh grease they will last many years. But the problem is that many people did not bother to get their cars greased regularly, and then road salt and sand would manage to work into the fittings and wear them very fast. Even in dry climates they must be kept full of fresh grease. -- wf. > > It would take a lot of wear for those threads to be stripped! > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Ray Problem was the bolt. My guess is the guy that installed the front end ( yours truly ) either snugged the thing up unevenly or left the bolt a little loose because the threads were perfect but the bolt had a wear spot that must have kept it from adjusting back and forth. The end of the world must be near because I replaced the pivot pin with a new one and it was a piece of cake. I even got rid of my hydraulic brake light switch and installed a mechanical one without any problems. Something bad is going to happen. ernie > Yes I serviced many a customer's car with those threads in very bad > shape. If the rubber seals are intact and the bushings are kept full of [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > > > Ray I had the whole suspension apart. Did the spreader thing and had good movement when it went together. Knowing that stripping is possible and that it can happen quickly is what I was looking for. The car hasn't gone many miles but there was a creak that developed that some extra grease made disappear. But, chances are it was that creak that was the threads stripping out. I ordered new ones. Thanks all. > My car is a 64 Avanti. Brought it into the shop where I work for an > alignment. on one side the only adjustment is camber. The adjusting [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Ernie R2 R5388 |
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