Rear Control Arm Question
Rear Control Arm Question I was jacking up my car yesterday on the rear axle and my helper put the jack stand under the black bar going from the frame where the shock connects to. I thought it was a good solid metal piece and when I lowered the jack the whole wheel and tire pivoted in. I jacked the car back up and removed the jack stand from here. I don't see anything bent and everything looks fine but I am curious what is this bar and how come the wheel tipped in at the top since it is all hooked to the rear axle and the hub is attached to it how come the whole tire turned sideways and did not stay straight. I have only owned rear wheel drives with leaf springs and I thought someone might explain why this happened. I don't believe it damaged anything. It made a low pop noise when the car was let down onto this bar and the tire did this strange thing.
Thanks for any info.
Thanks for any info.
Last edited by chevygirl; Feb 22, 2009 at 10:27 AM.
It sounds like you lifted the car from the pan bar.
This bar is a diagonal brace to center the rear end,
by lifting it you moved the rear to one side and up,
lowering it moves the rear the opposite way and down.
This bar is a diagonal brace to center the rear end,
by lifting it you moved the rear to one side and up,
lowering it moves the rear the opposite way and down.
It was not the pan bar. It runs the same direction as the frame opposite direction as the rear end and close to the wheel. There is one on each side. I am gong to post a pic now.
I thought it might be the LCA's after I saw the book but I wondered why when the pressure or weight was put on it did it tilt the wheel? The front control arms do not do that so it is new to me. I hope I didn't do anything to the car. I drove it and didn't notice or hear anything. Someone told me it looks like it pivots where the shock goes and that is why it tilted the wheel. Everything looks just like it did but I was a little concerned.
It doesn't look any different than the one on the other side. I don't see anything bent. The jack stand was placed on it. I had to lift it so high to find a place to put the jack stand under. That was the only place I saw without going 2 more inches. When I lowered the jack from the axle that is when it tilted the wheel but it went back when I lifted the car back up. It looks like a heavy piece of metal so it would take a lot to bend it. I was trying to remove the rear drivers side tire and didn't trust the jack without a stand under the car. I ended up lifting it higher and putting it on the frame. The sway bar is in the way of the axle to use it. Well I was hoping I didn't do any damage.
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They help with keeping the rear wheels from bouncing when you accelerate hard. Like mentioned above, if you end up replacing them, get adjustable ones, especially if you are thinking about lowering the car.
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: St. Louis
To the original poster, it was your LCA that your jack was on and the reason why it went inward at the top is because that side of your suspension was being compressed up more then the other side. If you noticed at all, your other wheel on the other side was going outward at the top because it wasn't being compressed as much as the other side. I highly doubt you bent it but you can tell if you did by looking at the gap between the tire and the outside of the wheel well and it should be the same on both sides of the car as long as your quarter panels are straight, the tires are the same size, and you don't have one bald tire and one new tire.
I was jacking up my car yesterday on the rear axle and my helper put the jack stand under the black bar going from the frame where the shock connects to. I thought it was a good solid metal piece and when I lowered the jack the whole wheel and tire pivoted in. I jacked the car back up and removed the jack stand from here.
Sounds like the control arm might have got bent a little bit when you used it to jack up the car. They are just a stamp piece not solid at all. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help.
Thanks Brad
