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Well, much as i have tried, my attempt at replacing the rubber part of the lower control arm has not gone too well, only about 1/3 of the thing is inside the cup. i might be able to drive up on some ramps and get more room to work. May not be able to remove this and try again though. I think it's pretty much stuck lol
I would consider it a great challenge to replace one in place ! I have never even herd of somebody attempting this with out removing the Arm. I would try driving Cold Chisels between the Flange of the Bushing and the A Arm itself to remove it. But once You get it out how are You going to drive the new one in ? I guess with progressively shorter bolts you might be able to draw it in.
Wish you luck! This is one of those [few] things that I would not choose to DIY. Pull them and give them to someone who has the right equipment and experience to do them quickly and well.
was it just one bad? or was it to delay replacement of all?
i think a great time for a front end refresh..a very satisfying job when complete and NOT expensive at all.. even new springs are cheap..and you choose what you like.. The higher rated ones are also much easier to replace then the soft originals which are much longer!
Ask Lars for the latest paper too on how to do it.... i had much help and learning below..
That control arm is under spring pressure , kinda but not quite like changing spark plugs while the engine is running
Thats possible on in-line engines..
my father once unscrewed a spark plug with the engine running on his race mini, he was sure the engine had 0 compression on that cilinder. Fun fact, it had ample compression. Made a nice dent in the metal garage door and my *** still falls of when I laugh about it 🙈
History: I noticed a month or so ago, that the bushing rubber, washer and bolt had disappeared, don't know how long it had been gone. I posed this in another post and said I guessed I needed to find a shop to replace it. A couple of responses to that post asked why I needed a shop, just get another one and install it as is, that they do it all the time. So I decided to try it with the results as shown. So either I misunderstood their suggestions or my attempt just was done incorrectly. As the cup was still in place and quite 'clean', I am wondering if what was there was a polyurethane replacement (all the others are 'still' rubber). perhaps I would have been successful by installing a poly one, but I did not want to 'mix' them.
At least now I think I can safely drive the car to a shop for further work when the time comes. Experiment only cost $6.00 and some time and choice words. Have a good day.
Last edited by kansas123; Oct 6, 2021 at 09:59 AM.
shops take an air chisel and drive the whole thing out because the rubber is stuck to the shell .
Then they put the new one in place and use the bolt to move/slide it into the control arm.
Some use the original bolt others a little longer one to get it moving into the control arm.
You needed to remove the shell/cup that was left in the arm and then the new one goes in.
Lower control arm bushing replacement
