Lower Control Arm Brackets:

How are these brackets positioned for welding? Do they bolt-on first and then get welded in place? Will any weld shop know how to do it RIGHT? Please share your comments and experiences.

 

I am speaking about SPOHN brackets. Others, I assume, are similar. The brackets fit snugly on the rear lca mount. The stock bolt is fed through the bracket in the stock hole location and holds the new bracket in place. Next, remove the wheels, temporarily move the brake lines, and cover the rear disk and other items with a wet towel. The instructions say to visually place the bracket on the same plane as the stock mount by pivoting it along the stock bolt until flush. I made sure to check by mocking up the lca and making sure the holes were able to line up in both lowered locations. Next, run welds along the outside and inside of the brackets in every place they make contact. Bolt everything back up, and you're done.

 

The shop I used was familiar with the brackets and didn't remove the wheels or mess with the brake lines.

They simply raised the car by the wheels on a ramp style lift. Unbolted one LCA, lined up the relocation bracket, then using a MIG welder ran a bead along the outside edge and along the back edge. Bolted the LCA back up and moved on to the other side.

I was in-and-out in about 30 minutes.

 

Me and my neighbor did mine in about one half hour.

Back


Side


-Schultzy

 

I know the instructions say not to support the axle, BUT doing so will help to make sure your mounts are lined up correctly.

I raised the whole car by the wheels using ramps and what not, until all four wheels where the exact same high off of the ground.

Then where the LCA meets the chassis I lifted the car enough to put a decent amount of load on the jack stand without unloading the rear axle.

After raising the car I removed both wheels and brakes. THen proceeded to install the LCA brackets ONE at a time. Since I was not going to be using the old LCA's anymore I used them to align my bracket. I kept the front part of the LCA bolted up then I installed my bracket and lined it up by eye. I then swung the old LCA back through the mount to see if it aligned with both holes. Once I managed to get it to arc through both holes. I bolted it to the hole I would be using and tacked the bracket in place.

The last part of the install entailed grinding down the parking brake bracket so it would not contact the new mounts.

It seems like alot of work, but I measured the distance from the center of my front wheel to the center of the back wheel on both sides and the distance is even using a measuring tape.

 

Here are a couple pictures of my install

 

and another