I have a 65 barracuda with a front-end rebuild kit in a box in the trunk when we bought the car. I have started with replacing the contol arm bushings{upper}. Now I was wondering, would anyone know if the upper ball-joints are pressed in or screw in or something. The kit did not have ball-joints in it, I just figured it would be a good time to replace them. I have only replaced bolt-in style ball joints before. The top of the ball joint has squared off edges similar to a nut, but it won't budge. Is it just stuck or are they pressed in?

Also the strut rod bushings on the car are mounted with the entire bushing on the front side of the crossmember. On other cars I have worked on, the bushings are mounted on the fore and aft side of the crossmember. Is this right?

My good old slant 6 Barracuda is a daily driver(approx. 80 miles a day for the past 1 1/2 years) Hope to be done with this front end by Monday(back to work). Having a heck of a time pressing the control arm bushings out with a large c-clamp and big sockets.

If anyone knows these front ends or has any tips with any of it, please let me know.
I appreciate it.
Terry.

Cuda-lane@att.net

The upper ball joints are screw in and it takes a special socket and an air impact gun to remove them, using plenty of lubricant (WD-40 or such). At the shop I worked at 9 years ago it was standard practice to put two spot welds around the top edge to ensure they would not rotate loose or even pop out of the control arm, so look for those spot welds (if any) also.

Yup. And the strut rods bushings are supposed to be in front of and behind the frame mount. In a Chrysler the lower control arm takes the most abuse, and that is where you get the most benefit when you overhaul them. The strut rod bushings and lower control arm pivot bushing and lower ball joint(bolt-in) are the key. I wouldn't bother replacing the old strut rod bushings with the oem style bushings. Opt for the HiPerf strut rod bushings, they greatly outperform stock, and they practically last forever.


fglmopar@aol.com

Thank you both for the quick responses. This helps a lot. After all this I can finally get that much needed front-end alignment(tired of replacing front tires)
Thanks again
Terry.

cuda-lane@att.net