I've no idea how old the front control arm bushings are in my driver '71. I've put a little over 1,000 miles on it since purchasing it 1 year ago.
I suspect the bushings may not be original, as some of the fasteners have marks like someone may have had them off at some point.

What I do know:
1. visually, they look fine. No cracks or weather checking in the rubber bushings, all in place where they belong, they don't look dry or crumbly.
2. The car tracks pretty decent, no wandering, pulling or anything. I can hold a line on the road straight or curves, while barely moving the wheel at all. Thus, assuming alignment is good.
3. no weird noises from the front over bumps or when cornering.
4. tire wear is good and even.

I'm going to be doing ball joints and tie rod ends only because the boots are torn on some of them, so it's only a matter of time, but I'd rather not do the bushings if I don't have to right now, as frame off resto is coming in a couple years, and it will be way easier then.

FWIW, car has leaky factory power steering. Borgeson conversion is in the near future.

Any thoughts?

 

if there is no play in the ball joints maybe just replace the boots.

 

Agreed, you can just purchase new boots. I run poly boots on my ball joints and tie rod ends.

 

My advice would be to let sleeping dogs lie on the matter of the bushings. They don’t last forever but from your description, they still have life left.

Check the ball joints for looseness and if ok, then just replace the boots as the other posters have recommended.

 

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

“If it ain’t broke, fix it till it IS.”

 

Spoken like a true Bubba! (Just kidding)

 

Checking the wheel movement by wiggling at 12 & 6 o’clock, left side had a definite small movement, right side solid as a rock. Looked closer at the left side and noticed the movement was not at the ball joints, but seemed like the hub was moving. I was able to
turn the castle nut 1 “flat” with a very small effort on a channel locks. Movement was gone. So probably will just do ball joint boots.

 

My C3 had about 73000 miles on when I acquired it. I still removed the entire front suspension and replaced all the parts and bearings and installed Polyurethane Bushings back in the early 1990's. The Polyurethane bushings make noise when cold and when they need lubrication so I carried a bottle of spray Graphite to use on the bushing to quiet them down.

I do remember that one of my ball joints looked fine from the inspection but when removed it showed signs of wear so I replaced the four ball joints just to be safe. I would also replace the rag joint and be sure to flush the brakes so you don't have any brake issues. I ended up replacing a brake line because the previous owner did not flush the fluid often enough. At the mileage on my Corvette the front suspension needed some help, regular maintenance is a good thing.

So from your user name I would assume that a flight of six P-51 Mustangs flying in formation over you at 500' elevation would get your blood pressure up. It happened a long time ago but I still remember that sound of those RR Merlin's roaring by like it was yesterday. I lived in South America in the mid 1960's and Bolivia used the P51 as their most advanced fighter back in 1966. I have flown in B17's and B24's converted to civilian usage in south America. It was an amazing time as DC3's were everywhere. The last DC3 I was in, I swam through at 65' underwater in the Caribbean. I too love the older War-birds. I am going to Tucson in a few weeks and I am anxious to see the Air museum and mothballed aircraft they keep there.

 

Or just one flying over your house...



I live by a small airport and every so often Gunfighter makes a stop.
Early one morning last August the roar of that Merlin woke me up!
I wish he could do that everyday......

 

You are correct, sir. It is an old username from other forums. Though current infatuations have captured my interest, I still harbor a deep admiration for the aviation advances made during that era. I live an hour from Oshkosh, and try to get there for the warbird shows every year.