Front Upper A-arm. Wasted Bushing. (pic)

[HighMileage]

Took some time in my 35'F garage to remove my right side upper control arm a little while ago. I've got some tubular ones from g-body to put on.

Two things here..

1) The bushing nearest the downpipe is toast. It's not because of my new downpipe that was installed about 500mi ago. My GN has about 80k on it. It just might be time to check your bushing.

The hardest parts of this arm removal was getting the kotter-pin out and knocking the arm bolts out. They are knurled. It's tough to get in there with the downpipe in the way and knock them out. (using new hardware) Then came time to get the arm out. It took some thought and wiggling because of the dp and inner fender well.

If you are running around with the original bushing,maybe it wouldn't hurt to check it.

2) Another issue: It looks like the control arm has been contacting the downpipe. The tubular arms will not contact the dp. Either it has been doing this under power? ...or only under full suspension compression. The dp only has a slight dent. Not visible,only felt. The motor mounts looked dry and tight when the rear main seal was put in last fall.

 

[scgnx2]

Took some time in my 35'F garage to remove my right side upper control arm a little while ago. I've got some tubular ones from g-body to put on.

Two things here..

1) The bushing nearest the downpipe is toast. It's not because of my new downpipe that was installed about 500mi ago. My GN has about 80k on it. It just might be time to check your bushing.

The hardest parts of this arm removal was getting the kotter-pin out and knocking the arm bolts out. They are knurled. It's tough to get in there with the downpipe in the way and knock them out. (using new hardware) Then came time to get the arm out. It took some thought and wiggling because of the dp and inner fender well.

If you are running around with the original bushing,maybe it wouldn't hurt to check it.

2) Another issue: It looks like the control arm has been contacting the downpipe. The tubular arms will not contact the dp. Either it has been doing this under power? ...or only under full suspension compression. The dp only has a slight dent. Not visible,only felt. The motor mounts looked dry and tight when the rear main seal was put in last fall.

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That bushing (passenger side/down pipe) is notorious for failing first. It is subjected to intense heat from the DP and headers. I would highly recommend installing a heat shield on it. Kirbans carries one as does hotchkis.

 

[we4Mateo]

That bushing (passenger side/down pipe) is notorious for failing first. It is subjected to intense heat from the DP and headers. I would highly recommend installing a heat shield on it. Kirbans carries one as does hotchkis.

The heat shield sounds like a good idea, but I've never seen anyone waste a new bushing in short order from either replacement stock bushings or aftermarket arms. Additionally, stock cars with a shield added a long time ago still seem to have that bushing go bad, so I'm not sold that the heat shield really does anything. Anyone with different experience please chime in.

 

[HighMileage]

That bushing (passenger side/down pipe) is notorious for failing first. It is subjected to intense heat from the DP and headers. I would highly recommend installing a heat shield on it. Kirbans carries one as does hotchkis.

Thanks for the reply. I bought a heat shield from Kirbans a while back in prep for this project. I actually requested one as a New Product Request here. Then someone told me they already exist. Duh!

No one mentioned Hotchkis,tho.

I'm still puzzled as to why the dp was making contact with the a-arm. (see pic in orig post)

It looks like the tubular arms was one of the best upgrades I've bought so far. Got one side off..

Hopefully that rubber-squeak sound will be gone after this. My GN sounds like a worn out taxi when going over dips or when pushing down on the front bumper.

As I mentioned before,if you haven't checked your bushings,maybe it's time to look. Be prepared for bad news if they are original.

 

[T- Type Tim]

If you have cut springs then the down pipe will hit the a arm

Found that out the hard way

 

[hawkfan]

Thanks for the reply. I bought a heat shield from Kirbans a while back in prep for this project. I actually requested one as a New Product Request here. Then someone told me they already exist. Duh!

No one mentioned Hotchkis,tho.

I'm still puzzled as to why the dp was making contact with the a-arm. (see pic in orig post)

It looks like the tubular arms was one of the best upgrades I've bought so far. Got one side off..

Hopefully that rubber-squeak sound will be gone after this. My GN sounds like a worn out taxi when going over dips or when pushing down on the front bumper.

As I mentioned before,if you haven't checked your bushings,maybe it's time to look. Be prepared for bad news if they are original.

You might want to recheck your motor mounts. Mine looked 'whole' but the driver side was actually in 2 pieces. Torque from the motor pulled the rubber off of the metal. I couldn't tell it was in that bad of shape until I got it out.

 

[T- Type Tim]

By the way I put moog s 10 front springs in and a set of global west drag tubulars in and all is well

 

[T- Type Tim]