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ball joints or the entire control arm?

14K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  Royce Peterson 
#1 ·
According to the Cougar repair manual if you want to repair the lower ball joint you have to replace the entire lower control arm. But on the Oreilly auto parts website they sell the lower ball joint without the control arm. After looking at the lower control arm, i see that the ball joint is riveted to it. Can I just cut the rivets and replace it with the new ball joint (which comes with bolts to replace the rivets)
 
#2 ·
Yes you can. I replaced the lower ball joints on a 68 XR-7 I owned about 30 years ago. I did install new upper ball joints and new lower control arms on my current cat. That way I also replaced the worn lower control arm bushing. While I had the upper arms off the car I installed 90 degree grease fittings and relocated the upper control arm mounting location. It made a world of difference.
 
#5 ·
You are correct, 65-66 mustang control arms will not work. You can install '67 Mustang lower control arms or '68-'73 Mustang/Cougar lower control arms. Don't waste your money buying the cheapest ones you can find. The metal is thinner and the ball joints are cheap. MOOG makes excellent replacement control arms for not much more and Virginia Classic Mustang has the best prices.

http://www.virginiaclassicmustang.com/67-LOWER-CONTROL-ARM-P5127.aspx
http://www.virginiaclassicmustang.com/68-73-LOWER-CONTROL-ARM-P5128.aspx

You will need to get new strut rods to match the control arms you pick. The '68 strut rods attach to the control arms with larger diameter bolts. I'm not sure it really matters, since that isn't the weak part of the strut rod.

http://www.cjponyparts.com/STRUT-ROD-WITH-NUTS-1967/p/SR2/
http://www.virginiaclassicmustang.com/68-73-LOWER-CONTROL-ARM-STRUT-RODS-PAIR-P122637.aspx

Depending on your budget, you could go with heavier duty strut rods with heim joints instead of rubber bushings. In my opinion, they make a huge difference and they are less likely to break. Street Or Track makes the highest quality and least expensive set (although still very pricey).

https://www.streetortrack.com/Street-or-Track-Adjustable-Strut-Rods-pr-16135.html
 
#8 ·
For the money they cost vs. the effort to put new joints in old greasy, rusty arms, replacing them is a no-brainer in my book.
 
#9 ·
Check for cracks starting at the outer end of the upper control arm and working their way towards and around the ball joint install area.
 
#10 ·
I just had the lower control arms replaced in my '67 GT. The only difference between 67 and 68 is the size of two of the bolt holes. You can buy the Moog control arm for '67 Mustang and just enlarge the two holes that are bigger on the Cougar. As others have noted, if the ball joints need replacing, the control arm bushings also likely need replacing.
 
#11 ·
Bill, the '67 Cougar and '67 Mustang strut rod bolt holes are the same size, but the spacing is not the same. The bolt holes are closer together on the Mustang control arm. The '67 and the '68 control arms are very different. The '67 has four holes while the '68 only has two. The '67 strut rods are not side specific and the bolt holes are in line with the strut rod. The '68 strut rods are side specific. You can't mix and match strut rods and lower control arms.


From left to right: Original '67 Cougar, Cheap '67 Mustang, MOOG '67 Mustang


'68 Lower control arm
 
#13 ·
I stand corrected on the comparison to '68.

When you look closely at the original '67 Cougar control arm in the picture, it appears that the bottom left and top right holes are larger than the other two. That's what my original lower control arms looked like as well. The Moog LCA we used was the '67 version with all four holes the same size. All we had to do was enlarge the two holes to take the '67 strut rod.
 
#12 ·
What I doin on my 67 was get the new lower control and 68 strut rods so no drilling and every thing fit like it should. On my uppers Im using the moog bushing kit in my oem arms Seem like a better design no threads for the bushings or grease fittings.
 
#14 ·
The larger bolt holes were the ones used to attach the strut rod to the lower control arm. The bolts that were used were rib necked (like wheel studs or upper control arm shaft bolts). After a lot of hard stops, the bolt holes were enlarged through wear. I don't think anyone enlarged those holes on purpose.

You could certainly elongate (or enlarge) the holes to get the '67 Cougar strut rods to work with '67 Mustang strut rods. I wonder if this would cause your caster setting to move around at all. Braking puts a lot of strain on those bolts.
 
#15 ·
I replaced my lower control arms with 1968 ones on my forst restoration and ened up using the 68 strut rods. Ther reason you cant use 67 strut rods with 68 lca is because the angle is different. I you try to use the67 strut rods on the 68 lca's the hole in lower frame will be off. Also, if memory serves me correctly, the 67 lca ball joints extend out toward the center of the car and have four holes in the end that tie into the strut rod mounting bolts. I believe this strengthens the whole assembly. I am not sure if the 68's do ths. Does anyone know where you can just buy the lower ball joint?
 
#16 · (Edited)
I wish I had found this thread earlier. I purchased a set of 67 mustang lower control arms. They have 4 holes like the moog ones above.

I have a couple of questions.

Are TRW lower control arms any good?

If I keep these 67 mustang Lower Control Arms, can I really use 67 Mustang strut rod as mustangsunlimited.com suggests?

http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=CA67+01
 
#17 · (Edited)
Well, I guess I will figure this one out and post the results here. I ordered the 67 mustang strut rods to go with the 67 mustang lower control arms. I figured it would save some work refurbishing or rebuilding the 67 cougar articulated strut rod and now my entire front end - steering and suspension will be new parts.

I opted not to attempt to drill the mustang lower control arms. If I don't get the drilling right, they would be ruined.

I will keep you posted.
 
#21 ·
I just ordered myself a pair from West Coast Classic Cougar for 49.95 each...I'm pulling the strut rods from a 73' Mercury Comet in the local junk yard. The lower control arm ruined my bearings and drums, so I figured I'm going to have to make the jump to disc finally...what a relief, drums make me scared to go fast haha
 
#23 ·
I made my own adjustable strut rods. The stock ones with the bushing set-up are just annoying. As far as the control arms, I ordered new lowers and rebuilt the upper ones. I plan to build my own tubular control arms with coil overs someday so I didn't want to spend much on the front end right now. I just want to get it running and drive it. View attachment 29081 View attachment 29080
Thats exactly what i was thinking, I dont want toblow a bunch of money on the front just to rip it of to put in an IFS...
 
#26 ·
@ tig_21 those struts look great tig_21, you've honed your skill well! I'll be attending welding and blueprint classes for TIG this fall. I want to learn the right way before I build a bad habits. Maybe you can benefit from this site www.rodplans.com I've ordered a few plans already of which I will be taking to class.

As for the repair, it turns out I wont be getting my lower control arms until next Tuesday, I was hoping to do the work over the weekend but thats what I get for ordering from WCCC late Wednesday evening. I ended up grabbing those strut rods from the 73 comet in the junk yard today for $20 bucks.

@ 1969XR7Vert as far as the brake set up I think I'm pretty close to having the pieces I need, I just need to buy a Master Cylinder (4 wheel disc), Proportioning valve, Rotors, hoses and bearings. I have the spindle, calipers, and tie rods so I think I can round everything else up. I'm using a Ultrastang kit for my rear end disc from a Mark VII and Granadas discs on the front.
 
#27 ·
@ tig_21 those struts look great tig_21, you've honed your skill well! I'll be attending welding and blueprint classes for TIG this fall. I want to learn the right way before I build a bad habits. Maybe you can benefit from this site www.rodplans.com I've ordered a few plans already of which I will be taking to class.


Thats awesome. Biggest key is patience and practice. the more time under the welding hood the better you will be. thanks for the site! I will definitely be able to learn from that. i better save up for stainless parts and steel now that I can get plans for everything. post up some pics when you get everything put together.
 
#28 ·
I know this is an old thread but it is some of the information I would like to know more about.
I have a 69 Cougar with power front disc bakes and a tilt adjustable column. I also have a 67 Mustang with manual drum brakes.
What I would like to do is swap out the 69 Cougar complete suspension, including power disc brakes, power steering, upper and lower control arms, tie rods, etc.. and the steering box complete with tilt steering column and swap into the 67 Mustang.
From what I have read here it is possible to swap the suspension out, but the tilt steering column may or may not be possible??
I am open and looking forward to any input, suggestions, comments, or warnings on this swap.
:wave:
 
#29 ·
It all fits and works. For the tilt column you will need all the mounting brackets from the Cougar. The wiring harness is also different for 1967 / 69 but you can de - pin the connectors and use the '67 connector - both sides - on the 67 to make it work. The color coding of the wires is identical, just the connectors themselves are different.

To make the tilt - away part work will involve adding a door jamb switch and supplying 12 volts to the tilt harness yellow wire.

I did all this on a '67 Mustang, using a '68 Mustang as a donor. Swapped the tilt away, power steering system, and changed the car from automatic to 4 speed at the same time. Took me two weekends to finish.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Thank you Royce for your explanation. This is all good news for me, especially from someone that has been there done that and knows what will work. For now I am still in the seeing what will or won't work stage of what to expect on this swap. I see on m 69 Cougar the extra door jam switch and without digging in and removing parts to see how this works, what does this switch actually do with the tilt steering? The link below is a schematic for a 67 tilt wheel. Is it the same as the one in the 69 Cougar?

Since I am a new member I am not allowed to post a picture or link for now. There is a schematic of the 67 tilt column on the average Joe restoration site.

averagejoerestoration.com 1967-mustang-wiring-and-vacuum-diagrams 67vactilt.jp
Is the two weekends a challenge?:ego: If it were just swapping the parts from one car to the other, two weekends for this swap is very doable for me except, not at this time. The engine and trans are still in the Cougar and I would like to detail all of the removed parts before installing on the Mustang.
 
#31 ·
The 1967 wiring is entirely different. You will need to use the 1968 or 1969 wiring diagrams. The turn signal wiring diagrams are the same, just the connectors are different from 1967 to 1969. You simply match up the color codes, red to red, light blue to light blue, etc. There is a yellow power wire that plugs into your three receptacle yellow Accessory plug harness near the fuse box.


The door jam switch, if the ignition is off, causes the column to unlock and tilt to the right when the door is opened.
 
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