Floppy control arm
 

So this weekend i gave my girl all new ball joints. While installing however I noticed my upper control arm/ A arm whatever you will.....on my passenger side flopped about freely. I could easily manipulate it up and down. Now on the driver side it was different. It appeared to be spring loaded. The upper arm would always return to center if I let go of it. My assumption is that this is how both of them should operate. So my question is what exactly do you think is wrong with my passenger side? Both cam bolts seemed to be in good health with a visual inspection while still mounted. Is there in fact a spring mounted in there somewhere? I would think it relies on the bushings to achieve this springy state....

Did you torque the mounting bolts?

I didn't torque anything. I left the control arms on and pressed in ands out new ball joints. No need to remove them.

You said upper arm so unless its been replaced before its a complete replacement. As most dont have press out balljoints.

Back to your original question though. I would check the torque on the cambolts to make sure they are tight. What you are describing is when the bolts are loose.

Hmmmm Idk ..... pressed on and out with no trouble. I'll check the bolts

their is definitely not a spring in the upper control arm mount, its just a bushing. The reason the one springs back to one spot is because it is used to being in that position over time. I believe vista is correct that the bolts are probably not torqued all the way. My old bushings acted like youre drivers side. When i put new bushings in and torque the bolts the arms move with friction but dont spring back to any position.