dvandentop

I am pretty good with the tools will be removing all the A arms, how many hours does it usually take to removed and reinstall the poly bushings??

I have been told it takes some shops 8 hours to do it

sounds like i am in for some fun!, going to use a ball joint press to remove some of the uppers.

any tips or trick appreciated!

Gatorac

Use a torch and heat up the inner sleave until it falls out. The rubber will come out easy then.

Rob's 73

I do all my own work but after reading how much of a pain it is I paid the local GM Corvette Mechanic $400 (his price) to do it. He did it as a side job. I tipped him $40 and he even aligned the car afterwards. Money well spent in my opinion.

I will say you will feel every knat you run over afterwards.

dvandentop

is this the kind of ball joint press that makes this project easier??

if not please let me know as i only have 1 of the bushings out which is the bad one that was pretty easy to remove with some heat on the rubber (damn alum stays hot for quite a while after heating)

dvandentop

i might get all the pieces off any pay some shop to install them and get the old ones out possible if they are going to be a real b!tch to get out like the 1st one has been,

i dont have a vice so that makes it even more fun

mgarfias

I just melted the front uppers out with a torch (on the dogbone), if you put enough heat in they come right out. For the others i used an arbor press.

trackboss

The front uppers are stupid simple to remove. Just clamp one end of the cross shaft in a vice and start twisting the a-arm while pulling it up. There is not single busing on the suspension that needs to be destroyed with heat, drill, saw, etc. to be removed.

0Robert@SPEEDSOUTH

Just be sure not to let those calipers hang.

Good luck on the install!

dvandentop

how many ton arbor press did you use??



front and rea uppers should be the same on teh c6z i might buy a vice tomorrow since will need one anyways for pressing together the lower ones once i get them out.

any tricks to the rears??


thanks man, the calipers are laying on the ground so no worries, they arent hanging

dvandentop

damn spindle on drivers side wont come off a arm either, doesnt really have to come off but sure does make it easier guess i need to buy a fork to seperate them

mgarfias

Everytime I've seen a fork used it rips up the boot. GM specs a tool from Kent-Moore that grabs onto the upright, and pushes the taper out. Dunno how many ton arbor press, it was a hand crank deal, not a hydraulic setup.

dvandentop

for the lowers did you have to cut one of the metal ends off 1st?

trackboss

I simply used a bearing separator on top of some notched press plates to hold the exit end of the bushing and I built a tool to go around one leg of the a-arm when in the press and pushed the bushing out with that on top of a socket. For the rear lower shock mounts I found a piece of tube just the right size to place the arm on and push the bushing out. This tool is similar to what I built:
http://corvetteforum.shelor.net/bushings/
do not use a pickle fork to separate the ball joints. The correct tool is a pitman arm puller. Its just a ball joint puller, but in my kit I've found the one to be the correct size. Ball joints can be separated with a heavy hammer blow or rattled off with an air hammer, but I'd rather not do it that way. Especially on an aluminum casting. If for some reason you do use that method do not hammer on the ball joint or it's stud.

dvandentop

thanks for the info. i will just leave the one spindle on i dont think it will be in the way anyways..

will have more to post tomorrow since i didnt have the big enough size rear axle nut to get those lowers off the car.

ajg1915

33mm nut on rear axle. With the right equipment and not killing yourself it's a weekend job. I also did ball joints and a Big brake kit along with coil overs at the same time. Coil-Overs make taking the suspension apart easy, especially with a lift and air tools.

A local machine shop should press out all of your busing for like $80 bucks, just remember don't accidently push out the shock bushings.

0Randy@DRM

NO FORKs should be used, Give it a good whack on the spindle on the side right by the ball joint.

Clean those shocks off so they look as pretty as they work!!!

Randy

naschmitz

Use this: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00996404000P

It's only $20 and works great!

dvandentop

ok just got back in the house got all the bushings out except for the rear bottoms due to i didnt have a big enough socket, it is a 1 5/16 but it has to be a damn deep socket!! dam if only i had known that today earlier when i bought the regualr size socket.

also got all the upper bushings in those were no problem.

the problem is the bottom big bushings keep popping themselves apart?? i was like WTF we pressed them together in my vice i bought today but they keep falling back apart with minimal grease wiped arond the inner and outer diameters.

let me know what teh solutions is to that otherwise it went well tonight

ajg1915

Don't see how the bushing would pop out on the bottom if you installed the metal outside washers as they are pressed on.

dvandentop

yeah tell me about it, it is f'ed up

here is a few pics of how it pushes itself out

unless maybe the shafts are shorter for the small ones on the bottom then the bigger bushings but even when pressing them together without the washers they still spread apart