Front Lower Control Arm Bushing

[Synesthesia]

Originally posted by "ken inn"

 

i just finished the bushing on the rear of the front lower control arm. i was going to take pictures and send them to yel-low, but really only 2 pieces come off, and pics wouldnt really help. however, first i can tell you how to indentify if the bushing is bad. jack up the front, pull the wheel, and get a large pry bar. where the arm goes back towards the bushing, insert the pry bar between the arm and the crossmember, and pull. if it is bad, you will hear it clicking, just like a bad link, or motor mount. it sounds the same from inside the car. if the bushing is bad, you have to take the arm off to change it. here is how i did it. this was the left side. first, pull off the splash shield. now you can pull the arm. from here on, if i refer to the size of a bolt/nut, it is the wrench size. who gives a crap what the bolt size is. remove the 14mm nut from the lower link of the sway bar, and push the link aside. you will now have to unbolt the rear of the clarm where the bushing is, there are 2 19mm bolts, and they are ON there. my impact is 600 ft/lbs, so it is easy for me. the bushing is held on to the rear of the clarm by a 21mm nut, but you CANNOT access it unless you remove the arm. there are 3 17mm bolts on the front of the arm where it connects to the crossmember. one is long, and goes thru the xmbr. the other 2 hold the bracket for the front part of the arm. all 3 need to come off. the lower part of the strut/shock is held on by a 19mm, it goes on from the rear of the clarm, but then you have to push it out. what i did was thread in the bolt, and tap it till i got it out, then used a pry bar. the last part is the ball joint. i unbolt it by the 3 17mm bolts on the BOTTOM of the clarm. lastly, there is one nut that holds the xmbr to the frame, 19mm, iirc, and you can only access it thru the large hole in the clarm, and at least a 12" extension. only loosen the nut, this will allow the xmbr to drop slightly. when all the bolts/nuts are loose/off, you need to pry down where the bushing is, and at the same time, wiggle and pull it towards the front. this is awkward, because a part of the clarm kinda hits the xmbr, and you have to move the arm aside, wiggle, pull, and pry. be careful, because the xmbr is cast aluminum, and it can break or crack. i sprayed some silicon to help. it is a bit of a struggle to get the bushing out, esp if you are 64 years old and have a prosthesis for a right arm. once the arm comes out, the nut is really hard to get off, but again, one squirt with 600 ft/lbs, and it comes right off. otherwise, you might need a really good vise. the bushing only goes on ONE WAY. you will see a little dot on the outer part, that goes in the 6 o'clock position. iirc, the nut that holds the bushing on is like 86 ft/lbs, and i just couldnt get the leverage to torque it, so i just used the second setting on the impact, and blasted it back on. works for me. getting the bushing back in was also a challenge. even putting hair around it didnt help. that sucker was TIGHT. again, silicon spray, pry and jiggle, and push and wiggle. then bolt it all back, and you're good to go. i wasnt sure the noise was the bushing, but after it was all done, i did the pry bar thing, and there was nothing. so i know it was the bushing. it's really not bad, probably about 2 hours max, unless you are 64 and have a prosthesis. i was also going to change the bushing where the lower part of the strut goes thru the arm, but i didnt have a press, and i didnt want to take the arm all over town looking for one. i will probably just buy a used one for next time.

 

i just came back from a road test. nice and quiet now. and all this time i thought it was the transmission mount. at least now i know how to find out if the bushing is bad