upper A-arms.rebuild or replace ?

[blazer2007]

Just cleaning up fr. suspension for the winter .Needs ball joint and new bushings. Cheaper to buy a new a-arm done vs. cleaning painting and getting new bushings pressed in. If so what is a good company , Doorman etc.

[Wgesnerjr]

I tried to do the whole new A-arms on my Caprice Station Wagon during a suspension rebuild. I bought the new arms at NAPA and was assured the parts were MOOG.
Once installed I made it exactly 1/4 mile before the ball joint nut stripped off the ball joint stud and the bottom A-arm came off the spindle. Luckily I was only going about 10 MPH and still in my neighborhood. But car had to be towed home and I had to press in real MOOG ball joints before I would drive it again. (replacing ball joints on the car with the proper tool rented from the auto parts store is a GIANT PITA!)
Moral to my story is that it may cost more to rebuild, but at least you can know what parts are used.
when it came time to do the truck, I chose to rebuild with quality parts rather than trust rebuilt arms.
Not saying all rebuilt arm are the same, but this was my experience.

[rpmerf]

My thoughts...

I've been looking into this as I am putting 1982 suspension on my 1970 and want everything to be fresh and new when it goes together.

Always use premium parts. AC Delco, or typically MOOG for suspension stuff. Do not use the value line of parts, always use the premium or professional.

I always like to have parts matching. Not sure what year / model you have. Looking at Rock Auto for a 73 and 86 C10. None of the parts listed have a full set of upper, lower, left and right. In this case I think it would be preferable to use your factory control arms with matching replacement bushings and ball joints. If the AC Delco Professional series or MOOG Problem Solver series had the full set, then I would be all for it.

[blazer2007]

OK thanks

[Justins76]

The Dorman arms are stamped CHINA.

[epfatboy]

I rebuilt entire front end and went Moog for joints and Energy suspension for bushings. I still have an odd twitch every time I think about the LCA bushing replacement but I got it done and I know everything I did was right and has quality parts that will last.

[calvin78612]

Just installed my uppers this morning, got them at Summit for 72 bucks apiece, and they are Moog. Rebuilt my lowers my self. Not to bad of a job, it can be a pain. Replaced every thing else w/ Moog. Rebuilt my calipers, and new bearings in the rotors. 2.5 drop spindles and 3/4 ton Moog springs with one coil cut. Hope to have it back on the ground in a couple of days.