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urethane bushing replacement help needed

Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
2,273
Location
Glen Burnie, MD, USA
Corvette
1986 Bright Red Coupe
I'm having the front control-arm bushings replaced with Energy Suspension urethane ones because the OEM rubber has begun to shred. I've taken it to my favorite mechanic because I don't have the tools necessary to press bushings and such.

However, he cannot get the second bushing into the top control arm. There's a long threaded rod that passes through both sides of the arm and through the bushings at those ends. The way the rod is designed, you can put one bushing in without the rod in place, but the second has to be slipped over the rod and then into the arm end.

The problem is that he cannot seem to compress the bushing far enough to slip into the arm end while that bolt is going through it. Does anyone have *any* suggestions for things we might try? He's heated the arm end, he's lubricated the bushing, and he's tried a press - but doesn't know how hard he can push on the bushing before it tears.

I've contacted Energy Suspension's tech support but haven't heard from them. Someone here has to have done this task before...

TIA.
[RICHR]
 
Can't help ya Rich, except to bump this back to the top. ;)

_ken :w
 
Rich

Had a similar problem with an old pontiac, the rod was flattened in the center portion.

I pressed in one side on the control arm, placed the other bushing over the rod end (other side was in the other bushing) and pressed in the second bushing, and onto the rod at the same time, the bushings had no collar but extended on either side of the control arm
 
Your gonna hate this!

But.... A buddy had the same problem.

And he is not very....paitent.


He BURNED EM OUT!


Propane torch/ low flame.


STINKY!

But did work! but he had to pull em off the car to do ball joints anyway.


Vig!
 
Ya know? I went through this same type of deal when I changed shocks on my '88 K-1500. The bushing came separate from the shocks. I finally gave up and drilled it enough o get them over the mounting flanges.

What's the deal with this? I hope someone explains it for me too.

_ken :w
 
Vigman, the old ones pressed out without too much difficulty - they were worn and dry-rotted. Unfortunately, I can't burn the new ones in :).

Warren, the problem is that while following the same procedure you outlined, the second bushing just won't go into its housing when the center bolt is in place. It won't compress enough. Plus, these have collars where the bolt passes through them.

It's odd, but *most* of Energy Suspension's bushings are in two parts so you can easily slip them in from both sides. These, however, are all one piece.

[RICHR]
 
another issue i have come across is thta somtimes you have to lightly sand the control arms where the bushings go, it may not look like a problem but even a small bit of rust or burnished in dirt in the hole in the control arm can be a problem. grasping at straws.
 
Thanks, Warren - that's something we can definitely look at.

<wah> I WANT MY CAR BACK!!! </wah>

[RICHR]
 
Sorry

Didn't read the whole post!

Whoops!

Vig!
 
rrubel
I have been there and have gone through the same issues. I replaced all the bushings front and back. It took me three days to do the front control arm bushings. What I used was a vice and lots of lube, an arbor press may be a big help. The trick is to get the shaft and bushings in at the same time, which I am sure you know. As a last resort I had to remove the outer lip off one bushing and slide it into place while tighting the bolt on the shaft. This was one of the hardest projects on my car to date. At one point I gave up and brought the parts to a garage, which they returned to me uncompleted. I think the bushing kit is a bad design all the bushings should have been two pieces.
I feel your pain!!!!!!
 
rrubel,I too replaced all of my bushings on my 85. I used the drill method for removal. I then cleaned and wire wheeled the insides . my bushings were from PST and were also 1 piece. What did was and your gonna love it, 1st I put the rod thru the 1st hole and then put on the washer and bushing and pressed it in to the bottom hole. you can press the first bushing in in the press. I put a large socket over the bottom end of the rod and pressed on the top of the rod untill the bushed seated. Now that the one is in, and you have the small washer on the inside of the other end you can put that in a vice shouldering on the lip under the washer. That way the rod can't move . On my bushing it had a smaller inner lip.With that facing down I put a large socket over the rod end on top of the outer washer . This is the good part . I used a 60 pound block of lead to pushdown on the socket ,cause i dont have enough lead in my own ass to do it, and with it greased all to hell it slipped in. Whew ....I might be a little late with this , been busy. Good luck:)
 
Well, I called the mechanic back this evening and talked to him. He wound up fashioning a tool of some sort (he didn't describe it, but I'm assuming a pipe length or something that was the right size to fit around the bolt and on the bushing end) and using that plus the press to get everything in. In fact, he apparently did all the remaining bushings today plus most of the u-joints (which were starting to wear, but were not the noise I was hearing) and I should have it back tomorrow. Yay! Then it's my turn to rip it apart as I install more engine mods... :)

[RICHR]
 
Picked up the car tonight. WOW, what a difference. I can't wait to get the rears done. The Vette is smoother, quieter, and corners MUCH better. Didn't take it out on the hwy yet to see if the u-joint replacement took care of the drivetrain shake (could be tires as well) but that'll be soon.


In case anyone's interested, what the mechanic did was cut a piece of PVC pipe in half and put it around the bushing with a fat hose clamp, then tightened the clamp to compress the bushing so the flange would slip into the control arm. Apparently went VERY smoothly using this method.

[RICHR]
 

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