No movement

Stuntmanmike77

Original poster
Member
May 6, 2018
137
Sanford, ME
Hello all. Just took the TB in for the alignment today and would hate to mess with it but, something still feels shacky. Was thinking about the upper control arms. After i installed them I did put it on the ground before tightening the bolts all the way. When I replaced the ball joint I could barely push them up out of the way. Is this normal with new arms? Are they supposed to be that tight up against the body?
 

Reprise

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Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 22, 2015
2,724
If you put new UCAs on, those come with new bushings, and yes, they make the new arm harder to move than the old ones you took off, because of those bushings. After some time, they'll get a bit looser, but they're stiff when new (and that stiffness doesn't hamper the kind of movement the arm does under load; the forces acting on it while driving are much stronger than the force of your arm)

Usually, people advise to make sure the truck is on the ground for lower bushing replacement; I don't think (?) UCAs require the truck to be on ground before final torquing (I've never done it, and I've replaced UCAs on both my Envoy and my Sierras.) .
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Exactly. The rubber itself doesn't move. It just stretches within itself allowing for movement. It's worn when the rubber separates from either the inner or outer metal casing and allows it to rotate.

I don't know if the manual says to have it on the ground or not before tightening the UCA however I would as it also works on the same principle as the LCA.
 

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