getting those freaking old bushings out!!!!

wicked_TurboLV

wana race my lowrider???
Joined
Nov 26, 2002
I need help getting the old bushings in my lower control arms out and replace them with new ones. Any suggestions on how to get those old crust bushings out the are really stuck in there. tried hamering, stabing ,heating i dont know what else to do. thanks
 
Front or rear, you don't say. In either case I assume you don't have a press. Drill out the rubber which takes a lot of time drilling, picking, poking. Burn it out with a propane or hotter torch (outdoors please). Heating is a no go, the rubber has to be removed. Then slice through the flange in a couple of places and crush the shell. Once it buckles even slightly it will fall out. A big C clamp will be enough to buckle the empty shell.

For the rear arms. You will need to make support pieces to keep the arm from collapsing when pushing in the new bushing. The pressing in part is quite easy in a big vice or even a big hammer using a metal plate over the bushing where you are hitting it. On the bottom side I place a large 3/4" drive socket (about 2" socket or whatever fits like that) to be a receptacle as the bushing drives in. The support pieces I made by slicing about 1-1/8" long piece of 2.5" pipe, whateve the width inside the arm is. I cut he resulting circle into two "C" shapes which I tuck into the arm around where the bushing goes. After pressing in the bushing I wiggle them out and free. You need to support the arm at least 80% around the bushing hole. The lower fronts are much the same as the rear lowers. You need to make the "C" supports before putting in the bushings.

For the front uppers, use large sockets and a vice to squeeze the first one in. Insert the shaft and then press in the second one by either making a support between the two "wings" or by placing the "Wing" of the arm on a slightly opened vice and I used an air hammer to slowly push the bushing on.

The reassembly of the arms once you are prepared is only minutes on each one. Removal without a press is time consuming.
 
Took mine to a local auto machine shop that does heads, blocks, etc. Took one day and $20.00 per arm. They even sand blasted the parts so they were ready to paint and installed the new bushings. Some thing are not worth trying yourself. :)
 
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