hi guys,
i have been a member in the past but not very active. had to re-register just now to post - so i'm a newby i guess. anyway glad to be here.
my 83 c 10 has a broken upper control arm stud (the stud the alignment shims mount on) and i was wondering if anyone has had experience pulling one of these. i have the wheel off and was planning on releasing the spring tension via the bottom control arm, and then pounding out the stud with a sledge hammer.
does this sound like a good plan?
i have removed the alignment washers from the bolt. there is also something that looks like a very thick washer - an inch thick - on the bolt - it's the last thing before the frame bracket itself. does that thread onto the bolt?
any ideas much appreciated. i tried searching for info but didn't come with anything using control bolt and control stud as search terms.

 

also, the stud is soaking in pb blaster overnight

 

Sounds like a plan... Another suggestion...
Your gonna have to get a wheel alignment when your done anyways... You can just let the garage replace the bolt. They will probably only charge you an hour's work.

If your gonna do it? Be careful.

 

hi glenn, thanks for the feedback. the truck wasn't really drivable with the broken bolt and i don't have a trailer so that left diy mode.
the biggest hassle was getting the lower arm loose and unloading the tension on the spring - that's been covered in other threads - i found it was pretty simple to knock the bolts out of the chassis. the big washer mentioned above is more like a quarter inch thick, not an inch thick. it's a splined washer so there's no point in trying to pry it off - better to just hammer at the bolt itself.
i found that the remaining intact bolt was bent so i knocked it out too.
will try to find new ones tomorrow or maybe monday.
classic parts of america has what looks like the correct replacement bolts but they are listed as c20 and c30 bolts, whereas i have a c10.
will post again about a source when i find one.

 

just a follow-up info on the control arm bolts - they are a little hard to find for an older c10 pickup. local parts stores here in athens ga, including napa, don't list them.
the dealership here shows them as a discontinued part. in a post above i mentioned that c20 bolts are available at classic parts of america, but the dealer guy here told me that c10 bolts are not the same part number as c20 bolts - he didn't have a picture on his listing, so he didn't know the exact difference. the c10 bolt part number is 6263840.
the dealership didn't have any discontinued bolts in stock, but they are able to check other dealerships for you - in my case the greenville sc dealer still had several, so i called them. the cost is 4.95 each, without nut, plus shipping. i went that route.

 

Now that's some good info. I don't own a C10, but you know what, if I did I sure would be happy right now!

Personally, my first thought on getting replacement bolts was going to the local bolt manufacturer and showing them what I have (the bent one) and having them work their magic and seeing if they can come up with one.

 

that's a good idea - i think a high grade bolt with the right dimensions would work.
the stock bolt has splines around the shoulder, just like a lug bolt on a wheel - there's a thick washer with splines in its hole that goes onto the bolt first thing after it comes through the chassis (the chassis hole is splined too but probably that doesn't matter - the chassis metal isn't very thick and that metal is sort of soft).)
that thick washer seems to spread the force exerted on the bolt out onto the chassis surface.
you could get that same effect with a regular bolt but maybe the splines give more rigidity - don't really know.

 

I figure it's probably just to keep the stud/bolt from spinning while you tighten it or if you're aligning the car adding or removing shims it's easier to work on if the wheel is still on the truck.

 

HGA,

If you'd like, and you message me your old account name, I can probably merge your accounts and get you back into your old one?

What do you think?

 

hi kevin,
it was hga, same as my new one. i joined 1/24/10.
thanks for the offer - i don't have many posts so if it's a hassle it would probably be better not to do anything.
regards,
harvey