Light Racing upper control arm rebuild - couple questions.

I recently picked up a set of used Light Racing upper control arms from a member on here for a steal. They need some attention though. They've been painted, the bushings are the old style ones, and the balljoint boots are damaged..

I've done some research already on SPC's website and read their DIYs on installing new bushings and ball joint boots. Everything seems pretty simple and straight forwards, but I still have a few questions.

1. Are these control arms painted or powder coated? I would like to clean them up to look brand new. I started chipping away the paint on the factory finish. It feels like powder coat - can anyone verify this?

2. I have the new Spec Ride bushing kit to install. Are these rubber or poly? Do you need lube the bushings before installing them? The DIY doesnt mention lubricating the bushings before installing. I've done poly control arm bushings on other vehicles and always lube them to keep them from squeaking.

3. The DIY on the ball joint rebuild clearly states to NOT use any spray cleaners on them because it will damage the nylon ball seats. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on cleaning the old grease/dirt/dust out of the ball joints on the inside part - between the ball joint and the cup it sits in?

4. When doing the ball joints, which grease seems to hold up the best? The DIY states to use "chassis grease". Lithium? Marine? Moly? Synthetic? I've been reading about people having problems with the ball joints drying up and failing on these control arms, and I'd like to avoid this.

:beer:

 

Just get some good quality grease that goes into a grease gun from an auto parts store. I use synthetic myself but as long as you regrease them every 5-10K, you will be good.

Sorry, can't help on the other questions.

 

To answer all your questions, you should probably just call spec-prod's tech support. As for the finish, I would assume powder coat, bushings I assume poly, and yeah, grease em up good, the BJ's, I cleaned mine out with a dry shop rag, then to grease em, I used what I use on my u-joints. I packed a ton of grease in and moved the ball around, and flopped in more grease, then packed the boot with grease too. Then put the boot on the BJ and then the ring clamp. It is important that you purge excess grease out before attaching the bj to the spindle. You can do this by puttin a small screw driver or an awl between the stub and the boot and compressing the boot down as much as you can. When you attach it to the spindle the boot is going to compress, and if you have too much grease and air in it you will over expand the boot.. If you got any more questions, just send me a pm. Good luck

 

I installed these UCA's this weekend...

1) Powder Coated
2) They had me lube the inside of the rubber bushing before sliding the metal sleeve into them...and the end that the metal washer contacts.
3) Can't help on this one as the ball joints were brand new.
4) Can't help on this one either...

 

Thanks for all the info :beer: