trunnion question

OK, good points. And sure, a small tack wouldn't hurt, and would be a decent indicator should it crack loose and rotate. And this stuff is old, especially when you have less-than-optimum used parts. I take it back, you're right.

That upper arm still gave me a hard time. Thin extra spacer didn't do the trick. Upon tightening the spacer bolt, the trunnion locked up each time, meaning I couldn't (or hardly) move it. Then someone gave me a tip; first put the upper arm on the car and then give it another try. That did the trick. I took out my self made thin spacer and everything worked out for the upper arm, even after tightening the spacer bolt to TSM torque specs.

That motivated me to get going with the lower arm, but that didn't go flawless... Coudn't get the strut rod in. The lower control arms holes for the strut rod were anout half an inch off. I tightened the strut rods bolt (at chassis bracket) very tight in an order to get the holes of the lower arm and strut rod lined up. Didn't work. Then I loosened the upper and lower arms bolts. Adjusted the cam/caster bolts in order to rotate the upper arm forward. That apparantly also rotated the lower arm forward, so the holes lined up. That solved the strut rod issue.

Still wondering about the thrust bearing though. They are new, got them from one of the AMC vendors. They did inform me that they are a fraction to large, causing them to be tightly squeezed between the upper arms. Worked fine on the passengers side, but seems to twist a bit on the drivers side. I've included some pictures. I noticed how the lower arms seem to point forward a bit, so not being totally perpendicular to the car. Caused by the strut rod I suppose. To me it seems that on the drivers side this is more pronounced. Maybe resulting in the steering pin not going straight upward into the trunnion? Or is this geometry of the lower arm - steering pin - upper arm normal?

I hope my description is somehow clear. 

I still have the impression though that the strut rods push the lower arms forward. Resulting in them not being prependicular to the car, maybe causing the knuckle pin not to go totally straight through the trunnion (and thrust bearing). Are the lower arms supposed to point forward of the car a bit? Doesn't really show in my picture unfortunately.

How far should the knuckle pin's castle nut be tightened? Tightening it pulls the knuckle pin further upwards and straightens the thrust bearing better in it's position. Would expose the hole in the knuckle pin too much though (maybe too far above the castle nut). So: tight enough for the knuckle to still turn, or looser so the pin's hole is just about exposed?

Thanks again.