Big red72

OK...I have taken my front suspension apart. A friend and I are working on replacing control arm bushings and ball joints on the stock control arms. Neither of us have ever done this......we are having alot of trouble getting bushings to go in....I have seen flexing, bending, and misalignment that scares me. Is this normal when pressing and or hammering in bushings? Control arms were in great shape....but Im concerned we may be hurting them.... almost ready to just buy jegs upper and lower loaded arms and be done....any opinions or advice?

oldcutlass

I've used large sockets and short pieces of pipe to hammer them in. The uppers are a little more complicated as you need to install the cross shaft at the same time. The upper ball joints should be riveted or bolted if they were replaced once. And on mine the lowers were pressed in, I'm not sure of yours. I used a hammer and a short piece of pipe to drive them in.

RetroRanger

You need to support the space between the arm when pressing in the bushings, if you don't the metal can bend and cause alignment issues. Also be sure the bushing or bj starts and goes in straight.

You can rent (free rent) a ball joint press at autozone or advanced auto, this helps and comes w big cups that are made for pressing stuff in or out

Indy_68_S

Or find an older auto repair or hot rod shop that can handle these. I got all of my front & rears pressed in for like $30-40 cash at a local shop (always ask for the cash discount! ).

Octania

When in doubt, rely on others to help

this would be a great time to take a few $ to the local garage and have them do the parts requiring a press. Worth the cost in time savings alone.

Are you good on getting the springs back in, with the pigtail oriented properly, and no dangerous flying springs?

66luvr

First I clean and deburr the holes in the arm, lube both the arm and bushing. Then I use a piece of 1/2" all thread long enough to go through the bushing/ control arm/ and a socket big enough for the bushing to slide into it as it comes through the control arm. I put a nut and a lock nut on one end, slip a couple washers big enough to cover the entire bushing on the outside so the pressure hits the outside of the bushing, then stick the all thread through the bushing/ control arm/ and the socket, add another washer to protect the socket, put a nut on and tighten it a little at a time. When I see the outside edge of the control arm begin to move in/ collapse, I use a brass hammer and give it a tap to move it back into place and not bend it, it goes back very easy and you don't hit it hard enough to damage it. Take your time and tighten a little at a time, watch the control arm, tap it as needed, make sure the bushing is actually going into the socket and NOT grabbing the edge of the bushing (the socket naturally wants to fall down and can easily grab the edge of the bushing). It helps if you have a helper. You can subsitute a big pipe nipple and cap with a hole big enough for the 1/2" all thread to easily go through it for the socket.
It works for me, I just did this again about a month ago on a wagon I have.

Mike

oldcutlass

For every job there is a multitude of engineering conquests, and failures. We've all screwed up many a part at some point or another. I prefer to screw them up myself vs paying others to do it.

joe_padavano

X2. More importantly, this is how you learn. I rebuilt my first front end back in high school when I had a 68 VC. Burned out the rubber bushings with a propane torch and hammered the new bushings in with a 2 lb sledge and pieces of pipe. Worked fine. Now I have a press and all the Kent Moore special tools (ebay is a wonderful thing, sometimes).

Indy_68_S

Good points...it's all good for learning.... I did plenty of wailing-on/pounding back in the day...

However, with old machinery like these cars, you now have to consider what happens if you ruin the part trying to do it yourself. Its not like you can just run down to the local yard and grab another control arm if you mash yours...particularly if you're trying to keep your car original.

And even if you have such a yard, the cost of the arm would've probably covered the install by a shop...

oldcutlass

Maybe - I and many others have been doing this since the 70's, I have yet to screw one up to the point of replacement. Not saying it can't be done because I know of people who can screw up a ball bearing with a feather. However, I do see what a lot of todays so-called mechanics are and are not capable of, there is no-one that will take better care of my car than me.