Control arm seals fit issues
 

Little help please
1953 Customline Upper & Lower control arm seals.

Parts stripped to bare metal & painted
New seals purchased Dennis Carpenter.
Seals seem tight cannot install on the inside arms.
Any experience & guidance would be appreciated
Do they need to be trimmed?
Thanks
Randy N

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

Do you have the chassis parts manual that shows how those seals fit?

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

I have 1952 with 1953 supplement entire service book & illustration book & parts text.

Chassis section Chapter V describes seal installation however pictures are old & after many copies dark & zero help. Illustrations much clearer but don’t provide clear procedure or placement.

I took a lot of pictures during disassembly, but always seem to not be the exact area I am having difficulty with.

The new parts seem to be thicker rubber than original & not pliable to go into what I believe is correct place.
Any tips appreciated. Or source for different manual.
Although mine got to 800 plus pages
Thanks for replying

Randy N

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

Randy: I replaced all the rubber bushing in my 51 Mercury some years ago and used the red book below as a guide. The Ford and Merc part numbers are the same except the Ford numbers begin with 8A. Merc parts begin with 8M. The Merc suspension and spindle bolt parts are dimensionally larger. I recall it was not easy to install the rubber bushings but persistence did pay off. YOU DON" TRIM ANYTHING. I subframed the car later on so I can't take any photos. But, perhaps another Fordbarner can take some close up photos of their car with the bushings installed so that you can see how they fit. I still have some of the 8A rubber bushings left over as extras so if you need them let me know. I recall it was very frustrating but, you will figure it out.

Look at this photo. Different year but same idea.
https://stores.a-resto-parts.com/pro...BoCE8EQAvD_BwE

Zoom in on the photo in this ad and you can see how the rubber bushings fit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/15389900737...cAAOSwO5Belzb4

Here's more photos that will help you figure it out. Once you do one, the rest are easy.
https://shoebox-central.com/1949-195...nd-bushing-kit

It might be a good idea to buy another 1952-53 ford Chassis Book. Look here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=1952...hrome&ie=UTF-8 Be patient. All the best. My thinking always is, "I can't be the first person to install these bushings, so if others did it, so can I."

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

Try putting some Syl-Glide silicone grease on the inside of the rubbers. It will not harm the rubber and things should slide together much easier.

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

19Forty
Thanks for all the information you researched.

I gave it another try on the inner upper arm & was successful.

Still struggling with upper arm outer where spindle attaches. Pictures are unclear if seals are inside the “A”( pretty sure that is correct) however EBay pictures are missing clear view & parts in that area.

Going to give it a fresh start in the AM.

The pictures & links you provided helped.

Randy

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

TJ
Thanks I had some silicone spray & that helped in one section.

Small amount is trick I believe
Randy

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

On my Ford I moved the adjuster all the way to one side, put that rubber on then moved it as far as I could the other way to put the other one in......by the time I was done I used every bad word I knew and made up some new ones. A little lube and a lot of persistence.........Mark

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

I found the seals that come with the new repo parts are wayyy off base from the factory rubbers and the NORS bushings. I tossed most of my "new" stuff in the trash and used 50+ years old rubber seals off ebay. fit right and looked right.

how somebody could to the trouble to make something so wrong is downright baffling.

And you are right, its an aggravating job to start with. Wait till you start to bolt it all up and not scratch all your new paint!

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

I agree with JH ford 51 on his analysis of the new seals he tried to install, unfortunately NOS seals were not available to me. I checked with the jobber I purchased from that these parts were correct, these were DC parts, the numbers were correct for a 50 Ford. I used a combination of old seals which were in good shape and some of the "new" parts; my mistake as I should have used all of the old parts. I struggled the same as 53customline did with the install. The attached pics show the results, the new poor fitting parts failed after a short period. This begs the question as to who actually made these pieces, DC, Steele, or ???. As well if I purchase again will I get the same junk?

In order to be useful here, instead of just complaining, I was able to find a remedy which hopefully last a long time. I had kept the old seals (never throw anything away) and reused them. The process was to soak them in lacquer thinner for the time it took them to swell up and become really pliable, about a hour or so. Then make a straight cut with a sharp knife and then wrap them around the parts; then using glue (there are special glues for rubber parts but I just used crazy glue) glue the ends together. It is tedious as you must keep the ends where the glue is applied absolutely grease free; and do not ask why you wear gloves using crazy glue. After about a day the seals shrink back to their normal size and good to go. Be careful when greasing these parts as I am guessing there may be a pressure issue.

Is this a proper repair, probably not, can someone guarantee me that they can supply correct parts and that they will last, I am waiting for that someone. Do I tear my whole front end apart and install these parts, scary? Now off to replacing my trans to frame mount and rear spring hangers as they were also cracked, if I can find NOS. I hope the manufacturers read some these complaints about parts fitting and durability problems. This stuff takes the fun out of the hobby!

49 suspension same problems... Control arm seals fit issues
 

Doing the same on my 49 wagon, trying to reassemble the A arms bushings
with seals. Are these the correct parts to begin with? Original parts, not much left of what had been installed since 1949.

Does Carpenter even care about this stuff? All the bags of parts I received were labeled 'made in china'. When I called the expert at DC, all they said was the parts were made to Ford spec. Maybe ford of china, not Dearborn.

Failures after 4000 miles? Is that what we have to look forward to? No wonder the popularity of installing a modern suspension from Fat Man and others.

Will DC have a presence at SEMA this year? Hope they do!

Any other comments regarding the assembly would be appreciated. I printed out the responses and heading back out to the shop after I type this.

PS
The body mount kit from DC was el crapola as well. "Same specs as Ford"
What about wagons? "Don't know".

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

Some folks might think I'm crazy but this is what I have done for under size seals. I went round and round using certain seals for my 51 Merc projects. They are all too small so I put them in the solvent tank (mineral spirit/naphtha based) over night and let them swell up. Some of the reproduction rubber parts can't take this. I actually had better luck with the older NOS parts than some of the reproductions. It may take less time than over night but a person has to experiment with what they have. I coat everything well with the grease that I use for suspensions just to make sure they remain pliable and slick enough to fit where they need to. The rubber will take a set to the new size after it's assembled. I kept an eye on them for a long time and so far so good.

Re: Control arm seals fit issues
 

Rubber parts, just like a lot of the parts we buy, are made in china and just like the other parts, are junk. Sadly, I think Carpenter has outsourced to china too

Try Steele Rubber parts, I think their stuff is USA made.