Mevotech lower control arms

So what exactly is the issue?

 

This is my

It's been ongoing. But as of recent I had a scraping from the left wheel when I turned right. I took the brakes apart & found the inboard pads rubbing on a warped rotor on the right. Also an inboard clicking axle. Or was that before I did the brakes? I dunno. Re-replaced the axle somewhere in here. Anyway, guy at NAPA said I needed to do the caliper on the left. I wasn't so sure, but I said what the heck & cashed in my lifetime thing. Got a replacement rotor & pads. Wheel was still (had been for a while) rotating sluggish, so went for the wheel bearing, oh there was a clicking coming from the bearing. Did that. Felt a little better & the scraping noise on the left was gone. Oh, & I did the right brake flex hose. A week later started dragging on the right. Rotor was warped. I cashed in my other caliper & rotor & am now in traction hoping that after I replace the ca's I can move onto my ps pump & ac compressor. I have not driven on the new brake parts yet. I wanted to wait until the ca's were in so I can try & isolate whatever is going on.

 

So you did all this because something was scraping? I'm not sure I follow why you did control arms at all.
Heating up in context to the warped rotor or...?

 

No. I did the brakes because something was scraping. Didn't help. Then when I did the wheel bearing, it did happen to take care of the scraping as well as the metallic clicking & the grinding that was starting.

& I am doing the control arms because I had two warped rotors, one messed up axle & a wheel that still does not rotate freely & I have done every other bit of suspension & drivetrain replacement in the front end that I can think of over the past couple/few years. I don't want to keep burning through axles & brakes & whatever else that takes a toll on. I'd like to relax a little. Enjoy all the work I've put into the truck. Not smell rubber when I pull into the garage cuz my tire/brake is heated up. So, like I said, what's left? Only thing I could think of & the bushings were sorry looking was the ca's. The uppers are pretty rusty & I have other stuff to do on the truck so I figured I'd do the whole lowers. Glad I did cuz it'll be interesting to see if anything comes of the differences in the two arms.

 

Oh, & yes, the rotors? axles? I don't know. but somehow two rotors got warped & one happened in less than two weeks.

 

Well glad you're making progress at least.

I have no experience with 4x4 aspect of things so bare that in mind, but if the wheel that doesn't rotate freely and the axle that keeps getting messed up are both on the same side, perhaps there's an issue in your front differential?
Your brakes and rotors should be relatively independent from everything else. If it's locking up, that'll cause the warping. I can't think of any other reason a rotor would warp so fast. You can freely spin the tires when they're in the air right? Truck doesn't pull to one side when lightly braking, suggesting one side is receiving more pressure? When you did the brakes, you fully decompressed the pistons? Sorry if these seem like dumb questions, idk your experience level.

Do you have a pic of what happened to the axle?

 

The right tire does not freely spin when in the air. Well, does a little better right after I do the brakes & then shortly thereafter does not. The inboard brakes do end up rubbing the rotor. Yes. I fully retracted the pistons.

I knew I had heard of a couple things that can happen with control arms. Had to look it up. One is called axle slip & the other is braking that grabs. Am I saying this is what's happening? No. Just pointing out that the control arms can affect axles & brakes.

No. No pic of the axle. Also, it was turned in for the core. It was clicking inboard, like something in the spokes of s bicycle, when I rotated it. I did this with the tire on making it as close to level as possible as I understand having it hanging is not a great test of performance.

Understandably I can't help but hoping that this ca job will be the answer. Maybe the differences in the old & new control arms are insignificant. I dunno. But it certainly seems it would be easier to make the ball joint surface flat than angled, which tells me there is a reason for that. Whatever it is I have been with the flat forever & have had on & off problems forever. Tire wear, unevenly worn pads, etc. It was not until these past few years that I started learning about & doing my own stuff other than basic maintenance.

The way I see it is there's the domino affect & the reverse domino affect. The domino affect I think we (people), as daily drivers with no real vehicle knowledge, acclimate until something goes noticeably wrong/loud/etc. My sister's tie rods were shot & she never noticed.... Then there is the reverse more so for those of us who start doing our own stuff. We start to fix things & that sets off another that needs to be fixed. etc. You do pay attention. You do notice differences in performance. For years I had acclimated. Now I notice. It's almost as of I don't need to pay attention. I just know something right or not & I investigate. Doesn't mean I run around willt nilly replacing everything. I research, get on here & sometimes I just have to think of what have I not done yet because the reverse domino affect has not been completed. It's a good thing I'm doing the ca's. Call me lazy if you want, but I had decided to replace the arms because I have lots on my plate & I was going to save the originals for down the road. Anyway, we'll see if it makes a dif. UCA"s aren't due til wed, so we'll know thursday? Very optimistic I am. This is when I forget my three week LBJ job.

& by all means none of this is to say that if you have an idea as to what the issue may be please offer it up. I am not having any classic differential symptoms. Doesn't mean that's not it though.

 

Here they can Rust to the point they just break .

I can agree with your logic.

Even having all tools I might need fighting to get the old bushings out sucks !!

I can`t see Kristi having access to all the tools I have this job could go worse then the Lower Ball Joint Adventure ..

Burning out seized Cam Bolts Takes a steady hand with the Torch .

I could see getting used OEM Control Arms and installing new Bushings with all other New Hardware and swapping so your not under pressure to things done under a time limit.

 

& one last point is I have been looking at those for a year? now. If you had asked me three years ago what was more important, the suspension or the engine, I would have said engine. & I just mean in general. Not talking show stoppers in the moment. Now I would argue they were equal & would almost go as far as saying suspension due to the fact that most/lots of components will take an unnecessary beating if the suspension is hurting.

My point you ask? Whilst I am not a procrastinator by nature, it does on occasion happen with certain things. & then life inserts itself as well. My point you ask? It’s better I am doing it this way now than the other way in another year.

I had considered the differential & this was my reaction if I have no improvement with the ca’s, i’ll be looking on to that next. I didn’t have the classic wheel bearing symptoms, yet I apparently needed one. Same can hold true for the dif.

 

Ok. Two last things.
I do appreciate all well intentioned advice/opinions. So thank you to all.

I looked up these bushings & like the looks of them. Thank you.

& I was almost named Carla. Story goes - my father was the & I mean THE most avid Red Sox fan ever. I was born in October of ‘67. The Sox were in the World Series. If they won I was to be named Carla after Carl Yastrzemski, Yaz. They lost, so kristi it was/is.

My parents did not do so well by us kids, but at least they gave me a name that other kids couldn’t do much with. I have amnesia up til the age of 14, so I have no playground memories, however my sister told me Pisty was about the worst anyone could come up with.

 

Yes, rust is always the scuttlebutt. I'm talking more about how common it is for shops to tell people "you need new control arms" because they are too lazy to want to press out some bushings, and it's no extra cost to them since they're making the customer pay for the parts anyway.

@Kristi with a K, another option for bushings is to go with poly bushings. The energy suspension ones use the original outer sleeves, and you just burn out the rubber and replace with the poly inserts. It sounds odd, but it works, and it's totally DIY if you have just some basic tools and something like a MAP gas torch.


Replacing bushings in old cars/trucks is never a bad idea, but from what you're describing, I really can't see control arms having anything to do with what your complaint is. It should be fairly obvious if your control arms are damaged to the point of causing other issues. You'd see cracked paint where the metal has been bent.

 

If it were me, I'd first try to figure out why my tires don't spin once my foot is off the brake pedal. Disconnect your axles to rule them/the front diff out and try to spin freely again. If it corrects the problem, that's progress. I really don't think your suspension is causing any of this (unless you bent something), if I'm understanding the situation correctly, and it seems like the issue(s) are still present after the LCA replacement.?

 

It’s possible the scraping was the dust plate was bent/pushed into the rotor, same happened to me. Could have happened while rolling over a log or something. I took everything apart to find out all I had to do was turn the wheel to look haha was such a horrible sound, sounded more like heavy grinding than scraping in my case.

 

I did this, with axle, without axle. Rotates good. Brakes in food shape freshly bled, spins pretty good. Drive 'er around for a few days, the spin is compromised. It's as if having the weight of the truck, heat, on the wheel is somehow involved. LCA's have yet to be completed. I am on the second one.

 

I took what was left of the plates off early this year. But the scraping went away after I did the wheel bearing.

 

So strange.....

...Are your lugs going all the way in? I suppose a wheel with impartial contact to the hub could cause these symptoms

 

Energy suspension sells em for the LCAs? Frick.

 

Seems fine. I just took a look at the rotor & I could see full contact was made via the anti seize film on it.

 

I can`t recall does your truck Have ADD or manual Hubs??

If it has ADD your right wheel will always have more drag when everything is assembled .

You will have the slight drag from the brake pads your turning the front differential and part of the transfer case without looking closer I can`t recall just how much.

Colder gear oil and colder ambient air temps will also cause more drag .