Hey everyone:

So, I asked about installing an upper control arm on the 01 Ranger about a week or two ago. I finally got around to it and I ran into some issues with the install.

The control arm in there was one of the two-piece arms, where the ball joint attaches to the control arm that's already bolted into the frame. Unfortunately, the bushings were going on the control arm, so I decided to replace the two piece arm with the one piece arm. This was all well and good until I couldn't get the left side of the new piece into the frame housing. The bushings on the new control arm are about 1/8 of an inch too thick. I will say that the left side of the old control arm was stuck in that frame housing and I had to hammer it out.

So, anyone have any suggestions? I've tried compressing the bushings, but it didn't work. Should I file down the bushings, bang the piece in, or what? The piece is definitely the right one (and the other side fits into the housing). I'm at a loss.

Thanks for the help.

 

Use the proper Ford part, it's sure to fit.