Conrol Arms and x-bars help pls.

[Dan Ratner]

Ok, so I give up how do you remove the bushings from the cross bars in the control arms. The manual just says to have it taken to a dealer (yeah...right).

I supposed they need to be pressed out. Is there a 'bubba' way to do this? I am kinda strapped for cash, and the whole reason I am doing this myself is that I didn't want to pay a lot of money for someone to rebuild the front end.

Alternately, is there someone with a press near N. Alabama that would be willing to let me use it?

-Dan
73 Stingray

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Are these that rubber bushings that everyone is burning out with a blow torch?

Do a seach and you'll find several posts on this subject.

Bob

 

[Tom73]

I took my control arms to a local machine shop. They pressed the old out and the new in. Forgot the cost but was very reasonable. Call a couple of machine shops in your area, may well be worth the cost to save the hassle.

tom...

 

[DDLS3]

If you take the trailing arms to the machine shop yourself to be pressed out, most will do it while you wait. Any time I've had to do this $20-25 bucks has covered the cost and is money well spent. IMHO The trailing arms are somewhat fragile, you can distort them quite easily by improperly forcing out the bushings.

Dale

 

[wolf_walker]

Ahh, that's easy, you cook the **** out of em.


I actually do have a hydralic press and I still prefer the propane torch method.


Grab you a hammer, big flat head screwdriver/prybar, torch, and head well away from your shop/house. Clean all the dirt and crud you can off the bushing area before this, it will burn and be messy if you had oil leaks and such. Heat the area aound each bushing, try and do it evenly. It eventually start to sizzle and smoke(a lot!), when it does that you've about got it. A helper is nice for this too, but you basicaly hold the controll arm and just tap the buching out, being hot and half melted, it comes right out.
I forget the speicifcs, been awhile, but you'll see, it isnt very hard at all.

Good luck..

 

[Big Fish]

Those things are pretty gnarly getting out, but once they are out, getting the new ones in is fun too. I used 2 large c-clamps and a piece of 1/2" steel to force the new polyurethane busings in, one side at a time. Seems to have worked ok, had to give the clamps a little help with a rubber mallet as the process was going on. If you are using the poly bushings be sure to grease them things up really good with the special grease provided, and clean the bores of the control arms with emery cloth before you start.