Lower control arm sway bar tabs not the same height

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416stroker

416stroker

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I never gave it much thought before but when I put new bushings on my end links I noticed that the right side mounting tab sets lower than the drivers side. I took these pictures to show the differences. The ride height of the car is equal side to side so I ruled that out. The tabs are pretty robust and I know that they haven't been damaged or bent which I think would take a pretty good hit to move one this much. Is this something the factory might have did when they welded them on to force the sway bar to be loaded one side against the other?? Or should they both be the same? With the drivers side sway bar eye sitting on the top bushing, the right side top of the threaded link is just into the hole. I have to pull it down to get the nut started and then finish tightening it down to draw the bar tight to the bushing. The drivers side sits all the way onto the bushing without having to pull it down at all. I checked the sway bar on a true flat surface and it's not bent. I don't want to try to tweek the tab up that may not be bent if this is the way the factory meant them to be. Opinions welcomed.
 
Rear spring on the passenger side maybe, or the T.B adjustment I think can do this.
Wait for a true tec to jump in here and help you, I just wish I had tabs on my 66 sedan :banghead:
bump to the top have a great day :cheers:
 
Thanks Memike. Hopefully this is a "normal" factory 40 + year old sloppy quality control issue and nothings really wrong at all. Like I said, I double checked the ride height and both sides are the same so I know the trsion bars are pretty close to being equal in adjustment. Maybe it's me, but the right side tab looks to be at more of a downward slope and then angles up sharper than the drivers side. Maybe it's just the way I'm looking at it or maybe there was a difference in the two pieces as to how they were shaped from the factory.
 
There is a difference, but not one you would think.
Give a min to alter the pics and show you.
 
Look at the difference from the two sides at the distance between the rivets and the tab edges.
Makes even less sence now doesn't it?
It looks like the right side would be lower if anything.

Try measuring from the grease fitting to the ground on both sides and see what you have there.

I see the ball joints are at a different angle, but dont think it would affect it that much.
 

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Is your car all original? This could be from having LCA from different years/plants/cars and therefore no longer a "matched set"...
C
 
I wouldn't worry about it. Production tolerances were crap on these cars. As long as it takes an alignment you are good to go.

Has it been aligned?
 
Good observation Trailbeast. They are definetly different in regards to where the factory placed them and welded them on the arms. But I noticed something else to and I'll have the pics up in a few minutes to show you what I found. You made me stop and think of something that I forgot about from 40 years ago. Also, my car is all original and it has been aligned. Thanks for the input. Pics coming.
 
After looking closer I remembered that way back in the day I had a new lower ball joint installed on the drivers side. At least 35 years or so. Before the days of Chinese crap, but still a local parts house replacement. I took these pics to show the difference in the two sides. The tape measure on the right side is touching the lower part of the eye of the arm and the drivers side is below it by about a 1/4 to 5/16 in. The drivers side lower ball joint puts the lower arm higher than the passenger side which still has the original factory lower ball joint on the car. This would explain the differences in the two sides being different as far as the sway bar mounting is concerned. Anything to worry about as far as having two different lower ball joints??
 
Both your pics seem to be shot at almost the exact same angle (that's good)
In these pics I have verified that the passengers side tab should be closer to the ground. ???

That just makes it more confusing. :wack:

Did you happen to measure from grease fitting tip to the ground on both sides?
 

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The angle I shot this at is close but not good enough to let you see that both arms relative to the bolt that you have highlighted are the same space wise. But I did measure from the grease fitting down and the drivers side is roughly 1/2 inch higher than the factory joint is, so there is a real difference in the joint castings as far as the overall size of the "ball" socket of the joint. Now looking at it really close ( I should have in the first place..duh) you can easily see that the two joints are noticably different size wise in the lower cup part of the joint where the grease zerk goes in. The "ball" is smaller, height wise on the drivers side which was the one that got changed out years ago. I have to believe that's the big difference here. But doe's that difference matter and if so, why?
 
If it was me and my car, I would put the swaybar on it using the rubber bushing thickness or washers to let it mate up equally on each side.
Otherwise it's going to put a slight bind on it between them. (One side would pull down/up on the other side.
That being said, I don't think a half inch is going to matter very much in the overall scheme of things.

JMO
 
Thanks for the help. I will play around with this and find the happy medium and let it go at that. Sometimes I think I overthink things the factory did and then I get into no mans land on wondering if I have something that's not the way I think it should be. I need to quit thinking! lol! Thanks again!
 
You have two different ball joints on the car. I have seen this before. The only thing that could cause this besides ball joints is different tire diameter
 
I'm going to be playing in that stuff soon too.
I have a slight rattle in the passengers side upper ball joint that bugs the crap out of me, so as soon as it warms up a bit that sucker is out of there.
 
Here is another picture. You will notice these tabs don't match each other. I recall someone saying the our cars have the right front wheel slightly forward of the drivers side wheel. Research this for yourself because this is what I have read but I have never confirmed it to be accurate. If this is accurate it might be why the tab is in a slight different location.

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Yep, those look like mine do. I'm probably just making a mountain out of a mole hill. I guess I always figured on both sides being the same only opposites. Guess that kind of logic doesn't apply to the way our cars were built back in the day. As Mr. Spock would say, " not correct, but logical".
 
Here's what I noticed. If you look at the tabs & were to take a straight edge from the edge of the LCA to the bottom of the s/b tab you'll notice the tab for the passenger side is lower than the left. This is in relationship to the LCA not the ground. Unless it's just the angle the picture is taken from. But this would suggest the arms are different or the 1 side is bent.
 
My guess is that they're different as I know for a fact that they aren't bent as I've owned the car since day one. Probably just the way they tabs were stamped out and shaped back in the day and then welded on by hand and close was good enough. I guess I won't try to reinvent the wheel and leave it alone and call it good enough. But it does make you think about who was doing the final inspections back in the day as to what passed and what didn't.
 
Did you notice your ball joints are different styles and heights from left to right. Don't you think this is your problem. Your stabilizer bar should set on the links even when on a level floor and jacked up on the center of the rear as a tripod. Otherwise this will effect its purpose for weight transfer from side to side. Doesn't anyone else see this as a problem. Or doesn't it matter to those who really don't know. Why would you even ask? There is nothing wrong with your LCA's.
 
Thanks for your input. I know that I have to different lower ball joints as I mentioned earlier. One is a factory original and one is a replacment from about 35 years ago. I will check a few other measurements when I can get the car out in the spring and go over everything to make double sure that everything is right. Thanks again everyone for your input. The reason I asked was the same reason we all ask for advice. I wasn't sure so that's why I asked. I will make sure I have it straightened out before driving the car again in the spring.
 
If bias is present the end links can be shimmed by adding a sleeve spacer, or making one shorter. When connecting links you will discover if they need to be shimmed for balance.

For certain conditions bias is desirable, if in the correct manner. I would think a rear bar could be shimmed for drag race to improve load transfer.

I shimmed the bar on my 2.2L Omni turbo 5/8" to get more traction, the improvement was significant, without a detriment in handling.
 
Thanks. I'll get back at it this spring and do some double checking to be sure everything is set correctly and then if there's still an, issue I'll be back asking for you guys input. Thanks again for all the tips and ideas. I really apppreciate it. This is Michigan and it's winter so I can't drive the car anyways so this can wait till warmer days return.
 
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