lower control arm - somethings up

[kenny]

last week i got my front suspension out of my car. one of the torsion bar adjustment bolts broke so i had to carefully take one entire side out mostly still together. after i had it out i was able to break it down into parts and i used a sawzall to cut the back of the torsion bar bolt off and removed that nut part throught the hole in the side of the lower contol arm. i noticed at that time that the lever on the top of that lca that the torsion bar bolts push against would not move freely and the other would move spineither way freely. i proceeded with getting the pins pressed out of the lca's and taking the suspension and k member to get it all sandblasted, thinking maybe cleaning up all the rust would free up the stuck lever. however it has not, i picked it the parts this morning and one still moves freely and the other can be moved by hammer but does not freely move. question is since they both are acting so different which should i worry about i seems like the stuck one since it seems the lever needs to be free moving so it can load up the torsion bar as the bolt is tightned. i can use the hammer and set it at the top portion of the nut hole in the side of the lca before installing the torsion bar and then use the bolt to push the lever and load the bar i guess just confused why they are not the same and wondering if that is an indicator of trouble. please advise please.

[road chicken]

They need to move freely. You'll need to get another lca for that side just because if it rusted shut it is probably getting unsafe , structurally , to do its job, which is to carry all the weight of that corner of the car. If it's the flakey salt road corrosion I'm picturing. If it's just lighter and not flaking or heavily pitted,soak the piss out of it with a good penatrating oil and give it a couple good smacks with a hammer to set in vibration,( allows the oil to seep in the micro fractures in the rust) and give it a day and try it again. Sometimes you can get them working smooth again, it just might take a few tries. Good luck

[kenny]

ok i am glad to hear that they both should be moving because i spent this morning working with it i took it by the machine shop had it hot tanked to clean out any grime down in the arm and bead blasted to clean off the primer put on by the sand blasting guy, then worked it back and forth a few more times with the hammer while putting in some penetrating oil and after a few times of moving back and forth in and out of the control arm it now moves by hand like the other one. i couldn't imagine that they both should be immobile, but i started questioning myself when i had read that sometimes people weld a strap accross the end to tighten them up. thanks for your reply. now ill proceed with painting and changing bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends.

[gcoupe72]

Most of mine have been a little too loose.
If you look at the way they're made, at last the pre 1973 arms, you can spread them a little with a suitable tool.
Those boxing plates that are sold, can be used to "lock in" clearance once your happy with it.
Once the front end height is set, they aren't supposed to move, so they can be pretty tight.
I mean, it's not going to affect the ride!