Close Call

[katsi]

Don't really know who to thank but thanks. I am attempting to re-do my front suspension. I have never worked on suspension before an I fugure this is a great time to edumakate myself. So, I've been reading just about everything I can about the subject. Anyway, someone, somewhere wrote about being carefull not to punch through the sheet metal that the shock bolts to in the engine compartment when compressing the spring. I was millimeters away from ruining everything when this dawned on me. I checked it and sure enough, I was just about to do some dammage. I purchased a bunch of washeres to take up the slack on the spring compresser bolt and that did the trick. One side off. HMM, now how to get it back on

By the way, anyone know how or where to take the control arms to get the bushings in \ out?

[124JOE]

call around and ask if the repair shops have a press.

i just bought a lower control Aarm and it came complete with bushings and ball joint for 72.50 ay iap.joe

[manoa matt]

"By the way, anyone know how or where to take the control arms to get the bushings in \ out?"

Be very careful who and where you take them to be removed. If not done properly, you can easily ruin the control arms. They must provide some support between the two legs of the arm when pressing the bushings back in, or the A-arm will deform.

The upper arms are easy, a whack with a hammer will usually remove the bushings and they don't get pressed back in, simply assembled with the arm and when the bolt is tightened everything comes together.

The lowers are a bit more difficult until you get the pivot pin out. The first bushing must be pulled out with the pin, using the pin to pull it out. Once the pin is out you can use large sockets and all-thread to pull the second bushing out. Use the all-thread and sockets to pull the new bushing in, insert the pivot pin and use the pin to pull the other new bushing in. When doing the second bushing you need two pieces of angle iron cut so they fit between the legs of the arm to keep the legs from bending in.

FYI: I recently bought a set of bushings from a prominent parts vendor in Virginia. The uppers were undersized, and the lowers were over sized. And by sized I'm referring to the interference fit between the outer shell of the bushing and the hole in the control arm. I had to make a jig to hold the lower bushing in a drill press so I could turn it down to an appropriate size. The first bushing I tried to install cracked the control arm around the hole. The outer shells of the lower bushings were "orange pealed" which to me was an indication they were reused/re manufactured and were media blasted in the process, regardless the shells were way to big to press into the control arm.

Also the complete control arm with ball joints and bushings currently being offered are made with thinner steel than the original control arms.

[DocGraphics]

[quote="manoa matt
The upper arms are easy, a whack with a hammer will usually remove the bushings and they don't get pressed back in, simply assembled with the arm and when the bolt is tightened everything comes together.
[/quote]

Thanks Matt, that answered the question I was just going to ask.
I just received my new control arm set & noticed that the upper bushings were only pressed in till they were flush to the inside but still sticking out beyond the outside of the arms on each side.
So I just tighten it all together once the arms are in place & that will pull it all together?

This is why I love this site, it's like you guys can read my mind sometimes & I get my answers without even asking!

[katsi]

Thanks for the advice.