GEN 1 Lower Control Arm Mount Reinforcements DIY

[rawfuls]

A couple years back I took a dip too fast and smashed my front end - 2013 F150 (not a Raptor, I know). Only front LCA mounts damaged, rears are fine.
About 25k into some new Wildpeaks, and my inner shoulder is cording... better fix this now before I throw on new tires.

I have the SPC cam kit and SDHQ Lower A-Arm doubler plates.
I know there are a little more intricate kits out there, but being a F150 SuperCrew, 6.5ft bed, my 'jumping' days are over and now I'm just looking to bend these tabs back and not ruin them again.
I'll be replacing the lower control arms (may as well, since the rubber bushing is likely shot now) so I'll have full access to the inside mounts.
How are people bending this metal back, just a crescent wrench and heat?
Any 'gotchas' to be looking for? Tried googling DIY threads but couldn't find much.
Mostly nervous I will goof any not line the plates up correctly and cause alignment issues, but it seems very straightforward..
Drop LCA, smash metal back into alignment, put bolt through with the doubler plates, tack weld with bolts still in place, remove bolts and finish weld.

Anything else I'm missing here?

Driver Front... Driver Rear


Passenger Front... Passenger Rear

 

[rawfuls]

Closing this thread out, I ended up doing the repair/upgrade myself.
2x SPC 86250 camber kits from SDHQ
I decided this was better for me than the other more expensive SPC kit as the amount of abuse my F150 won't be as gnarly as they used to be.
(no more jumps, and I'm a bit more responsible now..)

After removing the LCA, knuckle and all, I ratchet strapped everything upwards. The repair took me about a week, but that included waiting 3 days for my SPC parts to come in, day of disassembly, a day of welding then paint, then a day of re-assembly.

After removing the LCA, the ears were pretty messed up. I used a bit of heat (heat temper was a concern, until I realized I was going to be welding.. so whatever), a large crescent wrench and breaker bar. Once mostly straight, I threw on the new chromoly plates and ground down the bumps until the plates sat flush with the ear mounts. From here I used the original through bolts and got a 5/16 bolt to secure the locating hole. I decided not to drill through the other ear mounts that didn't have the locating holes.. if I needed to go back and do that, I could. but was not important on this go-around.

I do wish I left the welds bulbous instead of grinding down because they look duly when the plates are ground flush with the welds, but still looks good.

Ear mounts prior to bending back.

LCA bushings and arm looking fairly worn.. I decided not to replace this due to budget, and mostly looking okay. Chewed up, but otherwise okay.


FYI, you will need two sets of this. SDHQ took care of me and rush-shipped the second set out when I needed it, even though I had ordered it 11mo prior (laziness)

 

[rawfuls]

None of the plates fit flush, even the rear-most ear, even though that one was not the one that was bent.
I ground with a flap wheel to get the plates to fit flush. Not correct, but it was better than bending the ears back and forth to get it mostly straight and weakening it more.
Welding the chromoly plates would reinforce the ears pretty well, way more than what I would have removed with the flap wheel.


One of the plates fully welded up. Note the welding apron I have draped in the background. I didn't want any of the sparks to damage the axles, rubber boots, etc.
I ground the plates flush just in case the SDHQ kit needed more clearance or the plate to be flush on the exterior. It looks way better like this.
I'm still pretty new at welding, know just enough to be dangerous. These seem to relatively low risk to mess up on, so I full sent it


Having the ratchet strap hold up the axle, tie rod came in very handy. This gave me full access to everything I needed