Upper control arm.... 1pc or 2? | Ford Explorer Forums

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Upper control arm.... 1pc or 2?

treybaxter

Member
Joined
March 11, 2008
Messages
15
Reaction score
1
City, State
memphis, tn
Year, Model & Trim Level
'97 xlt
Ok, so I got my driver's side ball joint and UCA replaced, now time to move to the pass side. I have the 2pc design. I was looking at RockAuto this morning and looks like they have both the one pc and two pc. I thought read once that you can replace the 2pc with the 1pc? Can I just replace the piece on the outside? I'm confused.
 



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The 2 piece is the factory OEM design. You can replace just the outer "half", as this piece has the ball joint in it. The only alignment adjustment that could be affected by this is your caster, as the purpose of the 2 piece design was to allow easy caster adjustment of the passngr side, which in turn allows for adjustment of caster split.

If you are very careful in measuring the postion/number of thread turns on your old bolt, you could probably change the outer piece without needing an alignment.

On the other hand, switching to the aftermarket one-piece design will require removing your entire right upper control arm. In this case, you will need an alignment immediately after installing the part. You would also lose some of the adjustablilty that the front end had from the factory. It may or may not prevent the alignment shop from getting it "perfect". However, what you gain is new control mount bushings, and most of the aftermarket 1-piece control arms have replaceable ball joints, so that in the future you can just replace the ball joint.
 






Thanks bud. I'm looking at an alignment pretty quick since I replaced the driver's side already. Whichever way I go it will prob be with a whole new setup so I'll have new bushings.
 






I went with the one-piece design myself and had no problems with alignment. It probably doesn't make any real difference, but I feel better with less hardware that could potentially fail or come loose.
 












I just did this repair. Personally i will go with the two piece next time. I replaced both upper control arms, the lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends since i was doing the install myself. I ended up doing the alignment myself, since i couldnt find a competent shop where i live, and i just dont trust anyone to work on my stuff. I did a crap load of research and bought a couple of tools, then took a day to do it. I had a hard time getting the passenger side in spec with the one piece. The camber castor alignment kit that i bought was from rock auto. I personally think that the eccentrics were not quite large enough for the passenger side adjustment. I searched the internet for the largest one i could find, but didnt see anything larger than the 2 1/4 degree range available. It could be just my set up, but i have the passenger side turned out to just about the max range. I do have a slight ride height adjustment that is needed, about a half inch on the drivers side that could be the issue i guess. I think it would have just been alot easier with the two piece and the alignment kit for the passenger side. The explorer drives great now though.
 






The 2 piece is the factory OEM design. You can replace just the outer "half", as this piece has the ball joint in it. The only alignment adjustment that could be affected by this is your caster, as the purpose of the 2 piece design was to allow easy caster adjustment of the passngr side, which in turn allows for adjustment of caster split.

If you are very careful in measuring the postion/number of thread turns on your old bolt, you could probably change the outer piece without needing an alignment.

On the other hand, switching to the aftermarket one-piece design will require removing your entire right upper control arm. In this case, you will need an alignment immediately after installing the part. You would also lose some of the adjustablilty that the front end had from the factory. It may or may not prevent the alignment shop from getting it "perfect". However, what you gain is new control mount bushings, and most of the aftermarket 1-piece control arms have replaceable ball joints, so that in the future you can just replace the ball joint.


EXCELLENT info..just about to do mine and this just gave me the go ahead.
 






so to clarify the question at the top if I replace the 2 piece design with the one piece will it still work without damaging the vehicle? I figured it would be more stable and sturdy than the two piece design.
 






I wouldn't over-think this. Just replace the outer and be done with it. The original on mine lasted 150K miles. Seriously doubt I'll be replacing it again. Do go with quality parts, though...unless you love doing this kind of work repeatedly.
 






Did the one piece replacement a couple of years ago.
 






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