replacing lower control arm bushings.

[wambus]

Now that I have my bushings, what is the best method for replacing them? I was under the car over the weekend replacing the downpipe and observed that it looks like one could unbolt the ball joint from the lower arm, unbolt the lwer end of the strut from the arm and then remove the arm mounting bolts. I am not sure if this helps as I still need to do the uppers...

[bgrieger]

yup. That would work. For the uppers, you need to take the single long bolt out. The drivers side will just need the bolt removed, and perhaps to remove a couple of bolts from the fender liner to gain clearance. For the passenger side, you will need to take the bolts off the washer reservoir and leave it hang so you can push it out of the way of the bolt.

[wambus]

How hard is it to get the old bushings out and the new ones in? Can I do the upper ones while the arm is in still connected to the knuckle or is that not going to work?

[bgrieger]

You are going to likely need a press to drive them out. I would count on it not being an on the car job.

[wambus]

This is a follow up post on this topic. I finally got around to replacing the lower bushings. It was very entertaining for the neighbors as I used a propane torch to melt/burn the rubber as a part of the process. Once I got the crush tubes out I used a hacksaw assembled inside the bushing to slice it enough to drive a screwdriver into it to split the steel and force it out. The urethane bushings went in super easy with the use of a large C-clamp with a double head on it! I am posting a separate question regarding the wheel bearing process.

[Jeeves]

I was actually going to suggest a torch :-D

[dwebb99]

torch'em, works like a charm, just torch the crap out of em....burn baby burn....then just take a big ole screw driver and push the gunky mess out...