Another 97 control arm idea...

Hello, back once again here to bitch about my, and our, wack control arm problems.

After looking into old forum posts here, it seems like the W body FCAs will fit a 95/96 steel arm Riv, and I've also heard those 95/96 arms might match up to the 97s since they also have one vertical and one horizontal bushing...

In my case, I'm kinda desperate here, my 97 won't go over 50mph sure to the arms being so rotten. If anyone's tried putting 95/96 arms on a 97 and it worked I would love to hear it or tried the Lacrosse or another W body arm I'm very open to that. I can't afford subfame swapping and neither I nor my mechanics wanna weld or fab frankenshit to the frame so if this idea has worked I would absolutely love to hear it. Or any other bushings that fit in the 97.

Looking back in the other forum threads, a lot of guys seem to find a bushing that potentially fits but never seem to come back with the results Hopefully there's someone here who can help a brother out! I'd greatly appreciate it.

Rockauto lists control arms for 97-99, not what you need?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,1997,riviera,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1022050,suspension,control+arm,10401

Jbird

I wish but no... The 98-99 arms are completely different than 97. Rock Auto and every website is wrong, but I can't blame them for not knowing about a one year specific FCA that's been out of production since 08

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

Hello, back once again here to bitch about my, and our, wack control arm problems.

After looking into old forum posts here, it seems like the W body FCAs will fit a 95/96 steel arm Riv, and I've also heard those 95/96 arms might match up to the 97s since they also have one vertical and one horizontal bushing...

In my case, I'm kinda desperate here, my 97 won't go over 50mph sure to the arms being so rotten. If anyone's tried putting 95/96 arms on a 97 and it worked I would love to hear it or tried the Lacrosse or another W body arm I'm very open to that. I can't afford subfame swapping and neither I nor my mechanics wanna weld or fab frankenshit to the frame so if this idea has worked I would absolutely love to hear it. Or any other bushings that fit in the 97.

Looking back in the other forum threads, a lot of guys seem to find a bushing that potentially fits but never seem to come back with the results Hopefully there's someone here who can help a brother out! I'd greatly appreciate it.

i put an 02 monte carlo control arm, spindle, and shock assembly in my riv, but i kinda had to fabricate. im still trouble shooting to this day its not a hard thing to do though, the monte carlo struts just got a different mount so you’d have to drill some new mounting holes

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

Hello, back once again here to bitch about my, and our, wack control arm problems.

After looking into old forum posts here, it seems like the W body FCAs will fit a 95/96 steel arm Riv, and I've also heard those 95/96 arms might match up to the 97s since they also have one vertical and one horizontal bushing...

In my case, I'm kinda desperate here, my 97 won't go over 50mph sure to the arms being so rotten. If anyone's tried putting 95/96 arms on a 97 and it worked I would love to hear it or tried the Lacrosse or another W body arm I'm very open to that. I can't afford subfame swapping and neither I nor my mechanics wanna weld or fab frankenshit to the frame so if this idea has worked I would absolutely love to hear it. Or any other bushings that fit in the 97.

Looking back in the other forum threads, a lot of guys seem to find a bushing that potentially fits but never seem to come back with the results Hopefully there's someone here who can help a brother out! I'd greatly appreciate it.

i put an 02 monte carlo control arm, spindle, and shock assembly in my riv, but i kinda had to fabricate. im still trouble shooting to this day its not a hard thing to do though, the monte carlo struts just got a different mount so you’d have to drill some new mounting holes

What parts did you fabricate? I saw in some Aurora forum a guy said to rotate the vertical bushing connector
on the frame 90° to make them both horizontal, but didn't have pictures or other hard results and I'd consider that too if it actually worked...cars suck

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

Hello, back once again here to bitch about my, and our, wack control arm problems.

After looking into old forum posts here, it seems like the W body FCAs will fit a 95/96 steel arm Riv, and I've also heard those 95/96 arms might match up to the 97s since they also have one vertical and one horizontal bushing...

In my case, I'm kinda desperate here, my 97 won't go over 50mph sure to the arms being so rotten. If anyone's tried putting 95/96 arms on a 97 and it worked I would love to hear it or tried the Lacrosse or another W body arm I'm very open to that. I can't afford subfame swapping and neither I nor my mechanics wanna weld or fab frankenshit to the frame so if this idea has worked I would absolutely love to hear it. Or any other bushings that fit in the 97.

Looking back in the other forum threads, a lot of guys seem to find a bushing that potentially fits but never seem to come back with the results Hopefully there's someone here who can help a brother out! I'd greatly appreciate it.

i put an 02 monte carlo control arm, spindle, and shock assembly in my riv, but i kinda had to fabricate. im still trouble shooting to this day its not a hard thing to do though, the monte carlo struts just got a different mount so you’d have to drill some new mounting holes

What parts did you fabricate? I saw in some Aurora forum a guy said to rotate the vertical bushing connector
on the frame 90° to make them both horizontal, but didn't have pictures or other hard results and I'd consider that too if it actually worked...cars suck

i didn’t really fabricate anything, i was exaggerating a little bit lol. i just drilled new mounting holes for the struts. its not too bad

I actually just had my rear lower bushing pressed out and replaced. I will have to find that part #. Also, you can cut the heads off of the bolts on the ball joint, punch them out, then just replace the ball joint with your favorite brand name. In the mean time if they are totally shot. I did "temporarily" have one on my 97 from which I believe was a stamped FCA from a 95 Buick PA for about a good 3 years.. Did you totally destroy your bushings? I will have to find pics and upload If I can not find the PN.

9ty7rivi wrote:

I actually just had my rear lower bushing pressed out and replaced. I will have to find that part #. Also, you can cut the heads off of the bolts on the ball joint, punch them out, then just replace the ball joint with your favorite brand name. In the mean time if they are totally shot. I did "temporarily" have one on my 97 from which I believe was a stamped FCA from a 95 Buick PA for about a good 3 years.. Did you totally destroy your bushings? I will have to find pics and upload If I can not find the PN.

That's pretty helpful actually! No this poor car sat from 2010 until now so I'm more or less restoring it. Everything rubber you can thing of is rotted and worthless, ALL bushing and mounts, so it rides like a sack of potatoes haha... but I just changed struts, tie rods, sway bar bushings and links, strut mounts (cuz holy f- one wrong bump and they would've punched thru the hood) and I did actually have my guy put ball joint on the old arms just to see if that would help but they didn't fix the Death Wobble.

I have new rear lateral arms, wheel hubs and bearings, and engine mounts to put on asap. I might just try the 95 FCAs if I can't find bushings, they're cheaper than having some fab up some nonsense I guess.

Hahaha I know how that ride feels all to familiar! I did not have to fab anything when the shop I was at replaced my Arm with the one mentioned. Cheap stamped steel. Keep in mind you do have body mounts and rear mounts also, FYi. If you have ) rust changing those wont be too hard even though they might be disintegrated..

Are you experiencing a rough ride in the front, rear, left or right side of the car?

9ty7rivi wrote:

Hahaha I know how that ride feels all to familiar! I did not have to fab anything when the shop I was at replaced my Arm with the one mentioned. Cheap stamped steel. Keep in mind you do have body mounts and rear mounts also, FYi. If you have ) rust changing those wont be too hard even though they might be disintegrated..

Are you experiencing a rough ride in the front, rear, left or right side of the car?

Considering the driver's side mirror vibrates constantly, I think the front left is my main issue haha. But I've been told by two shops the bushings are all dead but the body seems ok, haven't said anything about mounts other than engine and trans mounts which I've got ready to go. This time were going poly! I don't wanna deal with those things for a damn while!

HAHA. Maybe once you've replaced those wheel bearings you will notice I loss in the vibration that you see/feel. I have dealt with vibration diagnosing in this car on several occasions. what I have found is that if you don't have near perfect suspension and/or good tires you will "feel" a lot of vibration from everywhere. I just recently replaced my rear level control arm for the rear shock height adjustment and when I was finally able to air my shocks with the pump on board what a difference in ride quality!

One more thing. Are you feeling it in the wheel or your butt? or just by sight of things vibrating?

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

yup, been there. that’s the first stage. then slowly over time, ur max speed will drop from 55mph till u get down to damn near school zone max speed, then you will start hearing a rhythmic clunking sound that sounds like something is right about to fall off. that’s exactly what made me start f*cking with the front suspension.

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

yup, been there. that’s the first stage. then slowly over time, ur max speed will drop from 55mph till u get down to damn near school zone max speed, then you will start hearing a rhythmic clunking sound that sounds like something is right about to fall off. that’s exactly what made me start f*cking with the front suspension.

Haha well good to know I'm not the only one. Thankfully I've got good connections with guys who can put in parts for dirt cheap, just need to get all the parts together. I get the "welp-he's-here-so-often-let's-give-him-a-discount" discount... But that's my fault when I get a car for almost no cost

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

yup, been there. that’s the first stage. then slowly over time, ur max speed will drop from 55mph till u get down to damn near school zone max speed, then you will start hearing a rhythmic clunking sound that sounds like something is right about to fall off. that’s exactly what made me start f*cking with the front suspension.

Haha well good to know I'm not the only one. Thankfully I've got good connections with guys who can put in parts for dirt cheap, just need to get all the parts together. I get the "welp-he's-here-so-often-let's-give-him-a-discount" discount... But that's my fault when I get a car for almost no cost

best of luck my friend, please do keep us posted

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

bbyshrk wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

yup, been there. that’s the first stage. then slowly over time, ur max speed will drop from 55mph till u get down to damn near school zone max speed, then you will start hearing a rhythmic clunking sound that sounds like something is right about to fall off. that’s exactly what made me start f*cking with the front suspension.

Haha well good to know I'm not the only one. Thankfully I've got good connections with guys who can put in parts for dirt cheap, just need to get all the parts together. I get the "welp-he's-here-so-often-let's-give-him-a-discount" discount... But that's my fault when I get a car for almost no cost

best of luck my friend, please do keep us posted

Will do! I appreciate the help and want to post my results for any other poor bastard who reads this in a few years with the same problems lol

What your car is exhibiting are symptoms of the worm dance. Very popular for old cars that hasn't seen the dance floor for a few years! Are you just changing parts hoping to fix the vibration or are you taking "steps" towards eliminating the problem for good?

Both honestly. I'll be driving this thing for a while so I want it to last

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

Both honestly. I'll be driving this thing for a while so I want it to last

Nothing like it either! I've driving this car for 8yrs since bought used from a 1 owner. I loved and and hated every moment and lesson learned. I can't see myself selling or being without the car. I'm her bitch! hahaha

For those chronic vibrations, don't forget to check the axles.

albertj wrote:

For those chronic vibrations, don['t forget to check the axles.  

I think they're ok. For now. Until I downsize pulley and E85 swap it and get them wheels burning...

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

Heyyyy. Pulsing. Only when sitting with breaks on like it's humping the air? No revs. Just humps.

widgets wrote:

Spacecowboy067 wrote:

My man the whole thing shakes lmao. Wheel, front end, body, but only after 55mph. And it kinda... pulses? Like it vibrates in waves over and over. Very weird.

Heyyyy. Pulsing. Only when sitting with breaks on like it's humping the air? No revs. Just humps.

It's with and without brakes. As long as I'm over 55 it shakes. I'm sure there's a little rotor warp but it's not the big deadly issue at hand