Control arm bushings

[Harleyboy1]

Does anyone know if putting the control arm bushings in the freezer will cause any kind of damage to them thinking if i can shrink them i can get them in a little easier this are for a 1983 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Does anyone know if putting the control arm bushings in the freezer will cause any kind of damage to them thinking if i can shrink them i can get them in a little easier this are for a 1983 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup

Well up here in the winter it gets below freezing and well the bushings don't fall apart. I don't see a problem. Also you can put the control arms in direct sunlight to heat them up and make them go in easier.

 

[Harleyboy1]

Doing that as well should help get it in easier

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Doing that as well should help get it in easier

And for good measure throw some hair around it........

 

[chengny]

Also you can put the control arms in direct sunlight to heat them up and make them go in easier.

Exposure to direct sunlight is the right idea and might be slightly helpful, but if you want to ramp that concept up, try this:

Strip the arm frames of any rubber containing parts, clean them up good and just wait - until a day when your wife has to go out for a couple of hours. Then, as soon as the door closes behind her, put the arms directly into the oven (and put the bushings in the freezer). The oven door might not close completely, but that isn't an issue.

Keep the arms in the oven for an hour at 300 F. While they heat up, gather all your stuff together - a pair of leather palmed work gloves, Hi-Temp Never Seez and whatever tools you plan to use for pressing them in.

After they have been heated, take one arm from the oven and bring it to where you plan to work. Then, get the bushings from the freezer. The bushings will return to ambient temperature a lot faster than the arms will, so do it in that order.

Apply the Never Seez to the bushing OD's/arm ID's and press them in.

 

[Harleyboy1]

Thanks for the suggestions guys appreciate it

 

[smoothandlow84]

When I replaced my oem rubber control arm bushing with polyurethane units....the polyurethane went in a hell of a lot easier then removing the rubber ones. I found it easier to simoly press the polyurethane bushings in as much as you can by hand, then use the end washers and nuts to press them into place.

I had to burn (or at least try to) the oem bushings out....then drill, then a big f-ing hammer with a chisel....to get the old rubber bushings out. It was a pita! Thankfully my kids were at school when I did this since my vocabulary was well.....colorful at the least when removing the old ones.


I also sprayed some dry silicone lubricant as well as applying the lubicant that was supplied with the new bushings.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

When I replaced my oem rubber control arm bushing with polyurethane units....the polyurethane went in a hell of a lot easier then removing the rubber ones. I found it easier to simoly press the polyurethane bushings in as much as you can by hand, then use the end washers and nuts to press them into place.

I had to burn (or at least try to) the oem bushings out....then drill, then a big f-ing hammer with a chisel....to get the old rubber bushings out. It was a pita! Thankfully my kids were at school when I did this since my vocabulary was well.....colorful at the least when removing the old ones.


I also sprayed some dry silicone lubricant as well as applying the lubicant that was supplied with the new bushings.

Next time do this. Take a 1/4" drill bit in your drill and drill the rubber out all the way around the center. The center falls out and you can crush the outer steel part in and pop it out. Very easy way to do it. With no stinky mess and you won't mess with the spring eye or sheet metal control arm by applying heat and deforming it.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Yep...ended up drilling out as much of the rubber as possible. The bushings were rusted in place, so a deadblow mallet/cold chisel were used to massage them out of the arms.

 

[MikeB]

X2 on the poly bushings. I used Energy Suspension.

I let the bushing shells sit in the freezer overnight, and it was still tough to install them, especially the uppers. Once I got them started, I ended up using a body dolly between the shell and a 3-pound hammer to knock them in. Just DO NOT support the A-arm on one side while smacking the shell on the other side. And clean the bores in the A-arms first. I even hit mine with a medium abrasive roll.

Once the shells are in, the poly bushings themselves are a piece of cake. Just use lots of the supplied grease on both sides of the bushing, and buy new shaft nuts. I found these locally at an industrial supply house for 73 cents each. They are also known as "prevailing torque" nuts.

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