by Burtis S. Homer
A potentially dangerous condition has come to my attention on two occasions. It is quite probable that this defect exists on other cars also. A thick steel ring into which the upper ball joints are pressed had broken away from the stamped steel portion of the upper A-arm. This ring is only spot-welded on originally. This ring should be welded on as completely as possible, front and rear. This can be done on the car by freeing the upper ball joint from the stub axle carrier and pushing up as far as possible. Also, the flat wire upper ball joint retainer has been found to be missing on some cars. This can lead to the ball joint coming free of the control arms. This wire retainer can be replaced with a 175 outside snap ring, which is much better.