Two different upper control arms on same truck

[Big6ft6]

Why is my driver's side upper control arm a one-peice metal triangle..while my passenger side upper control arm seems to be a contraption of nuts and bolts and two peices that would appear to be for alignment?

Wouldn't one need the alignment bolts on both sides of the truck? Why would ford use one of each? Or does this mean one was replaced at some time? (just bought the truck)

 

[Turdle]

That is for caster adjustment--the passenger side is adjusted to match the fixed-driver side caster angle

 

[Dan Whitaker]

It's original equipment. Ford for some reason thought that you only need caster adjustment on the passenger side of th Explorers/Mountaineers.

 

[5.0]

What about the guys who replace the 2 piece passenger arm with a 1 piece arm, do they have any alignment problems?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

No, because I beleive the one piece still allows for caster adjustment

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, you can still adjust the one-piece unit, it's just tougher to do. The two-piece unit makes it very easy to adjust the pass side to match the driver's side, that's all...

-Joe