The one with the bushings is the one I use now and I can't get more than 2.75 degrees of front caster at the left side.
(Now I know why)
The top one, without the bushings is my old one, but the hole where the caster bushings goes is stretched, caused by me because I used the wrong pressing tool.


My first thought was: get a new / another arm (the second one )
Then I started thinking: remove the bushings, heat the arm up where I want to bend it and bend it back to its original shape.
I have the tools to do it (at work)

But how much will the heating-up affect the forged steel?

I know for a fact that some lifting equipment (hooks, eye bolts - and they are forged too) are heat treaded to relieve the tension caused by deformation caused by lifting.

Hmmm.....

Anyone?

 

How much is a new arm?

 

Personally, I'd buy a new one. For starters, these control arms are not forged - they're made of ductile iron. They can be bent a little, but you will have reduced the fatigue limit of this control arm significantly and you really don't want it to fail.

 

I don't believe they are forged either. I would probably replace it.

 

No way in hell they are forged and REPLACE for sure.

 

I suggest replacing the whole thing.


If you choose to heat it, keep the heat low and make sure it does not turn cherry, you want to keep the heat evenly dispersed and allow the arm to cool naturaly. Try packing the bushing in dry ice for about an hour before you insert in to the arm...

Good luck.

 

wouldn't hurt to try

 

To start with the end: I did replace it.

I did try to bend it back into shape and that partly worked.
Partly because I noticed it was bend in another plane as well.
The caster and camber bushings weren't perpendicular.
To get that straight I would have needed to heat the entire arm up.

Ductile iron ( slalom44) can IMO stand some heat without loosing its properties.
If the arm would have been straight after the first try I would have used it.
Why?
Because, with both bushings removed my old arm gave a nice "Thingggg" when I tapped it with a hammer.
Like chrystal glass has a nice "Thinggg" and ordinary glass doesn't.
The heated arm also had the same "Thingggg", in every place, also the heated part.
That is not a scientific method to determine the strenght of a suspension arm.. but it gave me some confidence the arm was structurally still ok.

Oh well....
I hope to get some pics of the heating & bending.
When I do I'll post them.