rear control arm bushing removal

[madkaw]

I had to do this job this past week so i thought I would post some pics. I had found threads on -how to- on removing the outer bushings but not to many pics. You know pics say a thousand words so I will post some. I also came across a better way (for me anyway) to remove that tough rubber of the old bushings. I took a 1" hole saw and it fits over the inner part of the bushing perfectly to use as a guide.It also takes out most of the rubber from the outer shell which helps you see what your doing better when you start cutting. The hole saw rips thru the rubber in 30 seconds and no burning rubber.A side note: I would highly recommend leaving the inner bushing bolts installed while you are working on the control arm. The reason being, is if the control arm -somehow:roll: - slips out of the vise, it will not fall on the floor and possibly damage the threads on the outer bushing.

The outer bushing shell is just hard careful work. I would NOT recommend any power tools(i.e. sawzall) to cut the bushing shell-too much chance of cutting too much!! Take a file or sander and clean off the edge of the bushing so you will see accurately the cut you are making.This would be a good time to spray some penetrant on the bushing to help it slide off easier later. I like to make atleast 2 cuts if not three to really weaken the bushing. Then I work the area between the cuts and start peeling back the bushing until it finally gives way.

I hope this helps out someone with a job that can be very frustrating.

[buZy]

Great info indeed. I removed mine the same in the same manner but cut 90% through the bushing sleeve then "burned" the remaining thin wall section with a oxy/acy torch. Takes a little torch finesse, but it works great! Also having the heat helps peel out the sleeve. One the sleeve starts to peel away from the arm it can be heated to a red hot condition while the arms stays cool and undamaged. Made the job much easier.

[MrFancypants]

When I cut the sleeves on mine I soon figured out if you make two cuts ~1/2" apart you can pop a small channel out of the sleeve. Then a couple taps on the remainder allows the sleeve to flex inward into the channel. The entire sleeve pops out very easily. Some torch action helps a lot, too. On the first sleeve I used opposing cuts like you did and found it much more difficult. I tried to find a picture I took of this but failed!

 

 

 

- Greg -

[JMortensen]

When I cut the sleeve I cut it so that the blade faced the arm. That way if I did cut into the arm itself I was cutting in a reinforced area rather than the thin round tube that is welded onto the end. Also, I made one cut with a hacksawto release the spring of the press fit and then tapped the sleeve out with a hammer and chisel until I could get a pair of pliers on it. No heat, no multiple cuts, and it was easy to do on my CA control arms.