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I want to replace my old lower control arm bushings. I already removed my upper arm bushings, a big pain in the butt. I really don't want to go through removing the lower arms outer bushing shell. Has anybody left the outer part of the bushing in place and used a poly bushing and just pushed in into the outer part? I would use rubber if it wasn't such a pain to get it out. Is the Nolathane a good material and won't crack?
It doesn't answer your question but for what it's worth...
I don't like hammering the crap out of the control arms with air-chisels so when I do them I cut the rubber out with a hole saw without any guide drill bit
When that's gone, I use a hacksaw to cut most of the way through the outer sleeve
A few hits with a hammer and chisel on either side of the cut will collapse the sleeve and it pops right out
M
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Unlike Mooser, I use an air chisel: The bushings and shells come right out with an air chisel, and the new ones easily press right in with a 3/4" drive socket set. You're going to spend twice as much time and effort getting the rubber out of the shells and trying to keep the shells intact as you would just popping the bushings/shells out.
20 minutes to pop the bushings out of all 4 control arms - 5 minutes each:
Looking at the condition of those A arms, mine are much more rusted. I got the upper bushings out, and I used an air hammer, they were really stuck in there. To give you an idea. I just tried to remove the lower arm. I got the single large nut off, barely, but with penetrating oil and an impact wrench the two smaller bolts will not budge yet. More time and penetrating oil, then I will try again, then a cutting wheel.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Geez, Kevin, it sounds like you know how to have a good time..! Are you doing this on the floor with a floor jack and jackstands to really increase your enjoyment..?
(If you heat those bolts up with a torch they will often break loose by running your 1/2" drive impact forward and reverse over and over)
Lars
At least I have a Quickjack. I did try forward and backwards. Probably not a strong enough impact wrench. All I have is a propane torch but didn't try it. Thanks, I will try that next. If you see big flames north of you,,,, it's my house.
The problem with poly in this application is that the poly will twist the end bolts loose. Not a good solution. Either do the rubber, or spring for a Del-a-Lum where the end nut is held in place with a cotter key. Installing Del-a-Lums requires welding on the LCA. I have Del-a-Lums top and bottom on the '64 vintage racer.
This is really stuck! I cut the head off of the bolt. The washer came off with a bit of effort. I center drilled the bolt and used my air hammer in the center,,,, it is still STUCK. I will try a punch and a BAH. After that I will try to drill it out. The bar itself can be moved a bit so it isn't rusted to the frame.
Well,,, I got the lower control arm off. I tried the BAH and punch, that didn't work. I tried drilling the bolt end out, this might have helped but didn't get it to come off. I was able to pull the mounting rod down, on the loose end enough to twist it back and forth and it popped off. I don't want to even think about what I went through to get the first bushing out. Lets just say it came out in about 15 pieces. The second bushing was easier. With the rod removed, I used a sawzall to cut two places on the inside of the bushing and a chisel, and it came right out. Even if you cut a small slot in the control arm bushing hole, it won't hurt anything. I used a round sander to clean up the bushing hole on the control arm. This is a MUST! It didn't seem to make a difference how much I beat the hell out of the arms, after cleaning up the inside edge, the bushings pounded in ok. Bushings in the freezes, propane torch on the control arm. OH,,,, now to try and get the spring into place.
DON"T screw up and install the mounting rod the wrong way!!!!!!! Check 10 times, install once.
I think a monster air hammer would have got that bolt out. But I'm not sure how the bushings would have been removed any other way, they were really corroded in there. When the mounting rod finally broke loose there was still 1/4 inch of bolt stuck in the mounting rod hole, I had to use a punch to get that out.
Lower control arm bushings.
