changing front upper control arm bushings

[87grandnat]

i went to get an allignment and they said that my front upper control arm bushings on the left side are shot, he showed me and they have been pushed off to the side and appear worn and cracked, how hard is it to change these myself? what all do i have to do?

Thanks,
Joshua

 

[pacecarta]

get the tool from advance , (upper control arm bushing kit)
and four bushings (oe type are about 7.00 ea)
jack up the car take off the tire and put something under the lower control arm to keep the rotor sheild from getting damaged and let the car down so the upper control arm is relaxed
pull the cotter pin unbolt the upper ball joint

now unbolt the two nuts that hold the shaft to the frame
knock the bolts inward and take the arm off
take it to a table to work on of put it in a vise if you have one
take the nuts off the ends of the shaft
the tool makes taking off the old one and rreoinstalling the new one a breeze
loosly assemblethe nuts on the shaft and reinstall on the car , torque the ball joint nut and replace the cotter pin , replace the shims and torque the shaft bolts that go to the frame (you may have to hold the bolts with a wrench from underneath )

now replace the wheel and let the car down , now tighten shaft the end nuts

the driverside is the same and might as well do them while you have the tool

if you have a close fitting downpipe you may have an easier time removing

 

[pacecarta]

i didnt mention it but when i si ad get the tool from advance i dont mean buy it , most auto chains will loan out the tools

if you want to buy the tool they run about 65-85 for the kit

the tool is also designed to change the bushing while the arm is still on the car but i think its too tight for the pass rear on our cars

 

[87grandnat]

cool man, i really appreciate your info

I'll give it a shot and let you know how it went.

Thanks,
Joshua

 

[Roc87]

Apologies for bringing back a very old thread, but just wanted to thank Paul for writing up the "how to" on replacing the bushings. Going to call around and see who has the tool tomorrow. I'm glad to hear that I don't have to find somewhere to press out/in the bushings!

 

[Blown&Injected]

I guess that kit has the coil spring compressor - right?

Be carefull and remember how the spring sits in the control arm

 

[Roc87]

Nah, no real need for a spring compressor with the G-body. Just put the jackstands under the frame, and have the jack under the lower control arm with some pressure on it. Pull the lower ball joint nut, and SLOWLY let the jack down, while making sure that no one is toward that side of the car if the jack were to bleed down too fast Course it would probably be safer to use one.....

 

[pacecarta]

for just doing the uppers the upper is not under the spring tension as long as the lower arm has the vehicle weight on it enough to get the upper arm off the rubber bump stop
just jack under the lower control arm , no need to mess with spring

once you pop the upper ball joint (remove the castle nut ,apply pressure between spindle and the upper arm and rap the side of spindle near the balljoint with a BFH and it should pop free ) you can then remove the upper , replace the bushing(s) and put it back

 

[Blown&Injected]

Ahhhh, the top of the spring is in the frame and the bottom in the lower arm - always did both arms and had not thought about a control arm without thinking spring - them things are powerful:wink: