Radius Arm and Cap matched Set?

[broncodriver99]

The discussion about whether or not the radius arm and cap are a matched set has come up a few times. I was cleaning up a set of radius arms(from a 76 or 77) for a suspension swap and got a couple of pics of the marks. I grabbed a couple of pics of the marks on the radius arms of my '73 as well. Just so anyone interested will know where to look, the marks are on the top drivers side bolt area. I have had 2 other sets of arms that were in good enough shape that the marks were still visible.

I believe the arms and caps can be mismatched without any problems, just wanted to show that they were matched from the factory for those interested in getting the correct caps with the correct arms. When the matched set is put together you can see where the top land for the spring plate was machined with the arm and cap assembled.

Sorry the first 2 pics are upside down.

 

[DirtDonk]

Thanks for the specific info. Been talked about of course, but don't remember every seeing it in detail.
I agree that they can usually be mixed and matched (and often are!) but that it's nice to keep them in pairs when you know which one goes with which.

Paul

 

[Crawdad]

I had a set of 73s with bolts for over 20 yrs. I decided to add them to my 77 build so I drilled out a spot for the antisway bar brackets. While taking the caps off I went ahead and marked each bolt to each hole by drilling small dimples. I wanted to make sure they went back on the same way they came off. I know they aren't bearing caps on a motor but I wanted to be sure.