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Cutting UCA Shafts for Grease

6

65fast

Member
My reproduction arms developed the squeaks and I am getting around to fixing it since the arms wouldn't accept any grease. I have read multiple times the you can cut the shafts with a dremel so that is my plan of attack. Just want to make sure I cut the arms in the right spot. Can someone tell me where exaclty I should cut the shafts? My guess is along the threaded section, but just want to make sure. Thanks

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Make a small grove across the TOP of the shaft like this. It helps a lot to de-burr and pre-lube everything. Put the shaft back in and make sure it's centered in the arm. Snug the big nuts down and back them off one flat (1/8 turn), then weld on a tab or put a nut and bolt in place to keep the nuts from moving.


Tab
upperarmstreet-300.jpg


Nut -N- Bolt
http://www.stangfix.com/testforum/index.php/topic,3089.0.html
Couldn't get the photo to work here.
 
Thanks for the info! Whats do you usually de-bur the shaft with? I have some emory cloth lying around that might work....
 
We use a stiff wire wheel on a drill or bench grinder. Take the shaft down till it's smooth and shiny. It would be best to do it after the grove is cut. For the groove, you can use a thin cut off wheel, it dosesn't have to be wide or deep. Just down past the threads a bit.
 
Sounds easy enough.

Do you have any tips on keeping the shaft centered while putting the bushings on? Also, how tight should you make the bushings? It seems that if you crank them down until they are tight they bottom out on the shaft ends and make it very hard to move the shaft. Thanks
 
You'll want to back off the big nuts/bushings one flat from tight. That loosens up the shaft. If you leave them like that without some kind of stop, they will loosen up once they are on the car. Hence the reason for the weld on tab or nut -n- bolt.

Centering the shaft is a little tricky. The easiest way is to knock the bolts out and spin the shaft till it's centered and put the bolts back in. Both sides have right hand threads so spinning it one way or the other will move it to one side or the other.

You can also add some caster with that method. If you give the shaft one full spin from center (one arm one way and one arm the other way) you get an arm that adds static caster. You will the have a R and L side upper arm when your done.

On the 67-up cars, putting a washer under the front bolt will also add caster.
 
Got shafts cut, deburred, greased and centered on the arm with the bolts knocked out.

I am working with the drivers side arm, so to gain some postive static caster, I want to spin the arm so it would move the mounting bolts closer to the front of the car.....This would effectively shift the upper arm towards the rear of the car correct?
 
"65fast" said:
Got shafts cut, deburred, greased and centered on the arm with the bolts knocked out.

I am working with the drivers side arm, so to gain some postive static caster, I want to spin the arm so it would move the mounting bolts closer to the front of the car.....This would effectively shift the upper arm towards the rear of the car correct?
Click to expand...

Correct - That will move the upper arm closer to the shock tower also. You may have some zerk clearance issues. A little peening with a hammer will fix it if you have an issue. I didn't on our car.

Dave - The reason I do it is to keep the amount of shims down. The less shims you use, the more tire clearance you have. Putting shims under the front bolt moves the ball joint back and out. Hence the reason you always set the caster before you go after the camber.
 
Interesting, I did not even think about the benefit of increased tire clearance. I hope to get the one arm finished tonight and get the other started tomorrow.
 
Sometimes people install the lower arm camber kit not to make it easier to change camber, but to get tire clearance. With the lower arm camber kit, you can bolt the upper arm right to the shock tower, adding tire clearance.

Another reason I like to move the upper ball joint back to add caster is to keep from moving the lower ball joint forward. With the spindle being mounted just above the lower ball joint on the steering knuckle, moving the lower arm forward moves the tire closer to the fender and changes the wheel base. Moving the upper ball joint backwards moves the tire very little in the fender well.

Keeping the lower arm square to the chassis is also a plus. When you move the lower arm forward it also changes the location of the outer tie rod, down and forward. Not good.
 
Thanks for all the help. Got both sides finished up this weekend. Passenger side still has a squeak, but I think my grease gun ran out of grease when I was trying to put some in the zerks after is greased the shaft.
 
Got to inspect the UCA's a little closer tonight and I think I pinpointed the noise the the spring perches. I put my finger on the perches and could feel binding in the perch that was making the noise.

Looks like its finally time for a set of rollers!
 
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